How to Release Inactive IP Addresses for VM Networks in VMM

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager

With Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) in System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or System Center 2012 R2, you can use the following procedure to release inactive IP addresses that are in an IP address pool on a VM network. When you release an inactive address, VMM returns the address to the static IP address pool, and considers it available for reassignment. An IP address is considered inactive when either of the following conditions is true:

• A host that was assigned a static IP address through the bare-metal deployment process is removed from VMM management. When you remove the host, any IP and MAC addresses that were statically assigned to virtual machines on the host are also marked as inactive.

• A virtual machine goes into a missing state because it was removed outside VMM.

To release inactive IP addresses for VM networks

1. Open the VMs and Services workspace.

   Note

   Because this IP address pool is for virtual machines, it is located in the VMs and services workspace, not in the Fabric workspace.

2. In the VMs and Services pane, click VM Networks.

3. On the Home tab, in the Show group, click VM Networks.

   The VM Network tab appears.

4. Click the VM Network tab.

5. In the VM Networks and IP Pools pane, expand the VM network.

6. Right-click the desired IP address pool, and then click Properties.

7. Click the Inactive addresses tab.

8. Select the check box next to each inactive IP address that you want to release, or select the check box in the table header row to select all the addresses, and then click Release.

Configuring Networking in VMM
How to Release Inactive IP or MAC Addresses in VMM
How to Create a VM Network in VMM in System Center 2012 SP1
How to Create a VM Network in VMM in System Center 2012 R2