vPMCs are not supported by VMware Fusion on macOS Big Sur or VMware Workstation with Hyper-V

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

 

 

 

Attempting to power-on a VM using virtualized performance monitoring counters fails when using VMware Fusion on macOS Big Sur or when using VMware Workstation for Windows with Host Hyper-V enabled.

Environment

• VMware Workstation Pro 16.x (Windows)
• VMware Fusion 12.x
• VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows)

Cause

 

 

 

Resolution

Note: This issue is specific to these environment types:

• Fusion 12.0 and later on macOS Big Sur
• VMware Workstation 15.5.5 for Windows and later with Hyper-V enabled

There is no resolution, see the Workaround section.

Workaround:

Note: vPMC must be disabled before attempting to power on a VM using ULM. Disabling vPMC requires the VM to be in a powered-off state (not suspended).

In Fusion:

1. Power off the VM. For suspended VM, click the Virtual Machine menu, press and hold the 'option' key, then click Power Off.
2. Open VM Machine from the menu bar,
3. Choose Settings
4. Click Processors&Memory > Advanced options
5. Uncheck the option 'Enable code profiling applications in this virtual machine' and close the settings window.
6. Power on the VM.

In Workstation/Workstation Player:

1. Power off the VM.
2. Open VM Settings and select "Processors" in "Hardware" table.
3. Uncheck the option 'Virtualize CPU performance counters' in the right panel.
4. Click OK to save and close the setting window.
5. Power on the VM.