CompTIA Cloud+ Practice Test

What should an administrator do to resolve a network card MAC address conflict in a new VM?

1. Ping the IP address to determine the location of the conflict.

2. Add an additional NIC with a loopback interface.

3. Change the MAC to ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff and obtain a new address.

4. Remove the virtual NIC and configure another one.

The correct answer is: Remove the virtual NIC and configure another one.

The best way to resolve a network card MAC address conflict in a new virtual machine (VM) is to remove the virtual NIC and configure another one. This approach effectively eliminates the conflict by starting fresh with a new network interface card (NIC) and its associated MAC address. Virtual NICs are often dynamically assigned MAC addresses by the virtualization platform, and removing the existing one can prompt the system to allocate a unique address when a new NIC is created. In situations where a MAC address conflict occurs, retaining the same NIC can lead to ongoing connectivity issues, as two devices cannot successfully operate on the same network segment with the same MAC address. By configuring a new NIC, the administrator ensures that it receives a valid, unique MAC address, thereby restoring proper functionality to the VM's network connectivity while avoiding further conflicts. The other options do not directly address the MAC address conflict in a practical manner. For instance, pinging the IP address could help identify the device causing the conflict, but it won’t resolve the underlying issue. Adding an additional NIC with a loopback interface would not resolve the conflict, as it does not change the existing MAC addresses in use. Changing the MAC address to the broadcast address (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff