Maintaining virtual hardware device ID in a virtual machine

1. A method for maintaining services in a cloned virtual machine, the method comprising:

detecting a cloning operation of a virtual machine, by an agent process executing within the cloned virtual machine, the cloning operation causing the cloned virtual machine to be generated from a source virtual machine having a first virtual network interface card (VNIC) with a first machine access control (MAC) address, the cloned virtual machine having a second VNIC with a second MAC address unique from the first MAC address, wherein the detecting of the cloning operation comprises:

from the context of the cloned virtual machine, detecting a change in VNICs, wherein the first VNIC having the first MAC address of the source virtual machine is no longer present in the cloned virtual machine, and a new VNIC having a different MAC address is present, the new VNIC being the second VNIC of the cloned virtual machine; and

causing a device identifier associated with the second VNIC of the cloned virtual machine to be changed, by the agent process executing within the cloned virtual machine, to match a device identifier associated with the first VNIC of the source virtual machine, the device identifier of the cloned virtual machine being generated by a guest operating system running in the cloned virtual machine upon detection of the presence of the second VNIC with the second MAC address.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the agent process is installed prior to the cloning operation and maintains a stored copy of the first MAC address and a device identifier associated with the first VNIC of the source virtual machine, and after the cloning operation, detects that the second VNIC has the second MAC address and changes the device identifier associated with the second VNIC with the second MAC address to match the stored copy of the device identifier.

3. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that includes a set of instructions for maintaining services in a cloned virtual machine, which in response to execution by a processor, causes the processor to execute an agent process within the cloned virtual machine, and the agent process is configured to:

detect a cloning operation of a virtual machine, the cloning operation causing the cloned virtual machine to be generated from a source virtual machine having a first virtual network interface card (VNIC) with a first machine access control (MAC) address, the cloned virtual machine having a second VNIC with a second MAC address unique from the first MAC address, wherein the detection of the cloning operation, from the context of the cloned virtual machine, includes detecting a change in VNICs, wherein the first VNIC having the first MAC address of the source virtual machine is no longer present in the cloned virtual machine, and a new VNIC having a different MAC address is present, the new VNIC being the second VNIC of the cloned virtual machine; and

cause a device identifier associated with the second VNIC of the cloned virtual machine to be changed to match a device identifier associated with the first VNIC of the source virtual machine, the device identifier of the cloned virtual machine being generated by a guest operating system running in the cloned virtual machine upon detection of the presence of the second VNIC with the second MAC address.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein the agent process is installed prior to the cloning operation and maintains a stored copy of the first MAC address and a device identifier associated with the first VNIC of the source virtual machine, and after the cloning operation, detects that the second VNIC has the second MAC address and changes the device identifier associated with the second VNIC with the second MAC address to match the stored copy of the device identifier.

5. A method for maintaining services in a cloned virtual machine, the method comprising:

detecting a cloning operation of a virtual machine, by an agent process executing within the cloned virtual machine, the cloning operation causing the cloned virtual machine to be generated from a source virtual machine having a first virtual device with a first property, the cloned virtual machine having a virtual device with a second property different from the first property,

wherein the detecting of the cloning operation comprises, from the context of the cloned virtual machine, detecting a change in the first property to the second property, wherein the first virtual device having the first property is no longer present in the cloned virtual machine, and a new virtual device having the different second property is present, the new virtual device being the second virtual device of the cloned virtual machine, and

wherein the first and second virtual devices include a first VNIC and a second VNIC, respectively, and the first and second properties include a first machine access control (MAC) address and a second MAC address, respectively; and

causing a device identifier associated with the second virtual device of the cloned virtual machine to be changed, by an agent process executing within the cloned virtual machine, to match a device identifier associated with the first virtual device of the source virtual machine, the device identifier of the cloned virtual machine being generated by a guest operating system running in the cloned virtual machine upon detection of the presence of the second virtual device with the second property.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the agent process is installed prior to the cloning operation and maintains a stored copy of the first property and a device identifier associated with the first virtual device of the source virtual machine, and after the cloning operation, detects that the second virtual has the second property and changes the device identifier associated with the second virtual device with the second property to match the stored copy of the device identifier.