Tech Tip – R82 Upgrade (SMS): Virtual Machine NIC Type

Chris_Atkinson — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 01:22:27 GMT

Background

From sk104848 we learn:

The default virtual network adapter emulated in a Virtual Machine is commonly an AMD PCnet32 device (vlance / "Flexible").

Using "Flexible" NIC driver with Gaia OS is not recommended, as it has been shown to carry a significant performance penalty.

Problem

The GAiA machine’s upgrade to R82 fails after network connectivity is lost mid import process, logs report a license issue among other symptoms, and the system eventually rolls back to the previous version e.g. R81.20

Specifically, this was observed with a Security Management Server which loses it’s eth0 interface and IP address during the upgrade process when using the non-recommended NIC type.

Solution

Important: Ensure you have necessary backups & snapshots of the system.

In a maintenance window power-off the VM and replace / switch the NIC type of the Virtual Machine from Flexible to E1000 (not a long term solution refer: sk180572) or preferably vmxnet3 as outlined in sk104848.

Be wary to preserve the previous mac-address for licensing reasons etc.

Re: Tech Tip – R82 Upgrade (SMS): Virtual Machine NIC Type

the_rock — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 00:22:02 GMT

Excellent tip, Chris 👍

topic Tech Tip – R82 Upgrade (SMS): Virtual Machine NIC Type in Firewall and Security Management

Tech Tip – R82 Upgrade (SMS): Virtual Machine NIC Type

Re: Tech Tip – R82 Upgrade (SMS): Virtual Machine NIC Type