The DR IP Customizer comma-separated value (CSV) file consists of a header row that defines the meaning of each column in the file, and one or more rows for each placeholder virtual machine in a recovery plan.

Note: This release of Site Recovery Manager allows you to define subnet-level IP mapping rules to customize IP settings on virtual machines, as well as by using the DR IP Customizer tool. You can use subnet-level IP mapping rules in combination with DR IP Customizer. For information about how you can use subnet-level IP mapping rules and DR IP Customizer together, see Customizing IP Properties for Multiple Virtual Machines.

You can provide settings for only the protected site, or settings for only the recovery site, or settings for both sites. You can configure each site to use a different set of network adapters in a completely different way.

Certain fields in the CSV file must be completed for every row. Other fields can be left blank if no customized setting is required.

Table 1. Columns of the DR IP Customizer CSV File
Column Description Customization Rules
VM ID Unique identifier that DR IP Customizer uses to collect information from multiple rows for application to a single virtual machine. This ID is internal to DR IP Customizer and is not the same as the virtual machine ID that vCenter Server uses.

Not customizable. Cannot be blank.

VM Name The human-readable name of the virtual machine as it appears in the vCenter Server inventory.

Not customizable. Cannot be blank.

vCenter Server Address of a vCenter Server instance on either the protected site or the recovery site. You set the IP settings for a virtual machine on each site in the vCenter Server column.

Not customizable. Cannot be blank.

This column can contain both vCenter Server instances. Each vCenter Server instance requires its own row. You can configure one set of IP settings to use on one site and another set of IP settings to use on the other site. You can also provide IP settings to be used on both sites, for reprotect operations.

Adapter ID ID of the adapter to customize. Adapter ID 0 sets global settings on all adapters for a virtual machine. Setting values on Adapter ID 1, 2, 3, and so on, configures settings for specific NICs on a virtual machine.

Customizable. Cannot be left blank.

The only fields that you can modify for a row in which the Adapter ID is 0 are DNS Server(s) and DNS Suffix(es). These values, if specified, are inherited by all other adapters in use by that VM ID.

You can include multiple DNS servers on multiple lines in the CSV file. For example, if you require two global DNS hosts, you include two lines for Adapter ID 0.

  • One line that contains all the virtual machine information plus one DNS host.
  • One line that contains only the second DNS host.

To add another DNS server to a specific adapter, add the DNS server to the appropriate Adapter line. For example, add the DNS server to Adapter ID 1.

DNS Domain DNS domain for this adapter.

Customizable. Can be left blank.

If you do enter a value, it must be in the format example.company.com.

Net BIOS Select whether to activate NetBIOS on this adapter.

Customizable. Can be left blank.

If not left empty, this column must contain one of the following strings: disableNetBIOS, enableNetBIOS, or enableNetBIOSViaDhcp.

Primary WINS DR IP Customizer validates that WINS settings are applied only to Windows virtual machines, but it does not validate NetBIOS settings.

Customizable. Can be left blank.

Secondary WINS DR IP Customizer validates that WINS settings are applied only to Windows virtual machines, but it does not validate NetBIOS settings.

Customizable. Can be left blank.

IP Address IPv4 address for this virtual machine.

Customizable. Cannot be blank.

Virtual machines can have multiple virtual network adapters. You can configure each virtual network adapter with one static IPv4 address. If the field is not set to a specific static address you must set it to DHCP.

Subnet Mask Subnet mask for this virtual machine.

Customizable. Can be left blank.

Gateway(s) IPv4 gateway or gateways for this virtual machine.

Customizable. Can be left blank.

IPv6 Address IPv6 address for this virtual machine.

Customizable. Can be left blank if you do not use IPv6.

Virtual machines can have multiple virtual network adapters.You can configure each virtual network adapter with one static IPv6 address. If the field is not set to a specific static address you must set it to DHCP.

If you run Site Recovery Manager Server on Windows Server 2003 and you customize IPv6 addresses for a virtual machine, you must enable IPv6 on the Site Recovery Manager Server instances. Site Recovery Manager performs validation of IP addresses during customization, which requires IPv6 to be enabled on the Site Recovery Manager Server if you are customizing IPv6 addresses. Later versions of Windows Server have IPv6 enabled by default.

IPv6 Subnet Prefix length Ipv6 subnet prefix length to use.

Customizable. Can be left blank.

IPv6 Gateway(s) IPv6 gateway or gateways for this adapter.

Customizable. Can be left blank.

DNS Server(s) Address of the DNS server or servers. Customizable. Can be left blank.

If you enter this setting in an Adapter ID 0 row, it is treated as a global setting. On Windows virtual machines, this setting applies for each adapter if you set it in the Adapter ID rows other than Adapter ID 0.

On Linux virtual machines, this is always a global setting for all adapters.

This column can contain one or more IPv4 or IPv6 DNS servers for each NIC.

DNS Suffix(es) Suffix or suffixes for DNS servers.

Customizable. Can be left blank.

These are global settings for all adapters on both Windows and Linux virtual machines.