Sometimes it is very annoying that your settings in the .vmx won't be
respected / changed back by the VI client.
A very slow, but bullet-proof method is the following:
1.) Connect directly with the VI client to the ESX
(I do not have virtual center)
2.) Stop the VM and remove it from the inventory.
(right click on the vm in the left pannel,
then "Remove from the Inventory")
3.) Change the .vmx file, i.e., append something like
(if you want to use the em driver and have 3 interfaces)
ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet1.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet2.virtualDev = "e1000"
or (if you want to use use the vic driver)
ethernet0.virtualDev = "vmxnet"
ethernet1.virtualDev = "vmxnet"
ethernet2.virtualDev = "vmxnet"
4.) Add the VM again to the repository.
(With the VI client, go to the global Configuration Tab,
click on "Storage (SCSI, SAN and NFS)", then right-click
on the storage (i.e., typically "storage1") and choose "Browse
Datastore...". Search for the .vmx file and then via
right-click "Add to Inventory".)
