CPU Scheduling Affinity options not available

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• The virtual machine is part of DRS cluster
• CPU Scheduling Affinity options not available under Virtual Machine Properties > Resources > Advanced CPU

Environment

VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

Resolution

Changing Virtual Machine Resource Settings in the Basic System Administration Guide states:

This option is not allowed when the virtual machine resides on a DRS cluster, and its values are cleared when a virtual machine is migrated to a new host. The value of the option is only in tuning the performance of a precise set of virtual machines on the same host.

CPU Scheduling Affinity options do not appear if the ESX host is in a cluster with DRS enabled. This is expected behavior. The exception are virtual machines which are not fully automated in DRS.

Additional Information

You may access the CPU Scheduling Affinity options using one of these methods:

• Disable Full DRS Automation on the individual virtual machine.
  
  To disable Full DRS Automation:
  
  
  1. Right-click the cluster and select Edit Settings .
  2. Click Vmware DRS > Virtual Machine Options and locate the virtual machine that will have CPU affinity set.
  3. Change the virtual machine Automation Level to Disabled, Manual or Partially Automated.
     
     
• Change the DRS automation level to Manual or Partially Automated.
  
  To configure the DRS automation level:
  
  

  1. Right-click the cluster and select Edit Settings .
  2. Click VMware DRS .
  3. Change the automation level to Manual or Partially Automated.
     
     
• Disable DRS on the cluster.