VMXnet3 Adapter Missing after upgrading to Server 2019

[ATester]

H,

I've upgrade a Windows Server 2012 to Server 2019 and now the Network Adapters are missing.

The only thing listed in Device manager is Microsoft Kernel Debug Adapter. This means obviously that the VM has no network connectivity. I can only connect via the Host console screen.

Host is Running esx 6.0 (update 2).

When I run "ipconfig /all" or Get- NetAdapter nothing is listed. I have tried 1) the Network Troubleshooter, 2) Network Reset, 3) adding a 2nd NIC to the VM, 4) VMWare Tools Repair (which says I have to install vmxnet3 manually)

Any other ideas?

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

What may be worth a try is to update VMware tools to the latest (see https://customerconnect.vmware.com/en/downloads/details?downloadGroup=VMTOOLS1226&productId=1259&rPI...)

André

[steve_goddard]

Hello there

Can you  provide the Tools install logs which hopefully the repair will have generated?

These might help understand why the vmxnet3 driver was not installing or being reinstalled.

They are usually located in the following locations:

 %temp%/vminst.log

 %temp%/vmmsi.log

 C:\windows\temp\vminst.log

 C:\windows\INF\seupapi.dev.log

Also with OS in-place upgrades we have seen issues with drivers and Tools functionality being lost . The general recommended practice is to create a new VM with the later OS instead.

Having stated that, customers often do this. When issues like this occur, it is because during the OS upgrade process the plug and play drivers will be reinstalled. This means that the installation data the Tools installer caches in the registry can become stale and incorrect. That leads to repair breaking and possibly Tools upgrades to the next newer version not working correctly. 

To workaround this issue, it ls probably simplest to uninstall the Tools and install again as new,

This type of issue, I have just fixed and should be much improved in the next release of Tools.