Network Adapter "Connect at power on" is not enabled after deploying Server 2012R2 from Template with customization script or from a vCO workflow

Hi,

When I try to deploy a Windows Server 2012 R2 in the following ways (see below) any sysprep/customization like connect to Active Directory etc fail because the Network Adapter is never connected when the virtual machine is powered on:

- Deploy Server 2012 R2 from template using custom specifications results in the new virtual machines vNIC not being in a connected state.

- Deploy Server 2012 R2 from vCO using one of the "Clone Windows Sysprep" workflows results in the new virtual machines vNIC not being in a connected state.

The Server 2012R2 Template has it's NIC set to "Connect at power on" = true and it's a VMXNET3 vNIC and we're using vCentre 5.5 U2.

Any thoughts as to why the vNIC doesn't get connected? or any workarounds?

Cheers,

Dean