CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vmwarevirtual-machine
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Reputation: 21

CPU ID in VMware environment

I have a software that creates an installation key when it is installed based on the CPU ID and Motherboard serial number. The software is installed on a VMware virtual machine and stopped working stating that the registration is for different hardware.

My question is can the program see my actual hardware it is running on, or does it only see VMware virtual hardware? And if the program only sees the VM "CPU ID" can that change?

Also, does the VMware hardware serial number actual have anything to do with physical hardware?

Thanks

Upvotes: 2

Views: 11983

Answers (1)

PhonicUK
PhonicUK

Reputation: 13864

The information provided by VMware (or any other virtualizer) has absolutely no bearing on the machine it's run on. In fact you can move a VM from one physical host to another and the software inside the VM would have no clue that this had happened. That's largely the point of a VM.

The hardware serial number VMware generates (Which is just a GUID in fact) is just specific to that virtual machine, and that serial number is carried around when the VM is moved between hosts.

VMs are a pain in the ass to deal with in terms of hardware-based licencing. What you can do easily enough is detect that the software is running in a virtual environment and decline to execute.

Upvotes: 1

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