Verifying the Virtual Hardware configuration of a virtual machine

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to perform any of the following actions on a VM:

• Checking the Virtual Hardware that is associated with a virtual machine.
• A new device needs to be added to a virtual machine.
• The amount of memory assigned to a virtual machine needs to be changed.
• The option to add virtual hardware is greyed out even when the VM is powered off.

Environment

VMware Workstation
VMware ESXi

Resolution

Using the virtual machine properties editor to add, edit, or remove hardware from a virtual machine:

To view or edit an existing virtual machine's configuration:

1. Connect the vSphere Client/VI Client to your vCenter Server or your ESX/ESXi Server host.
2. Select the virtual machine you want to view or edit from the inventory.
3. Power off the virtual machine.
   
   Note: Powering off the virtual machine is optional. However, the virtual machine must be powered off to change the properties of a virtual machine. The properties editor can be opened regardless of the power state.
   
   If the property to be modified is read only, the virtual machine must be powered off first before making any changes.
   
   
4. Right-click the virtual machine and choose Edit Settings:
   
   
   
   
5. The selected guest operating system determines the devices that are available to be added to a given virtual machine. The devices that can be added are:
   
   
   • Serial port
   • Parallel port
   • Floppy drive
   • DVD/CD‐ROM drive
   • Ethernet adapter
   • Hard disk
   • SCSI device
     
     
   Click Add to add any of these devices.
   
   
6. Use the slide bar to modify the memory assigned to a virtual machine. This is visible when Memory is selected in the Hardware pane.
   
   Note: The virtual machine must be powered off to modify the memory assignment.
   
   
7. For more information about each of these devices, see the relevant VMware Documentation site.

Note: If the option to add virtual hardware is greyed out when the virtual machine is powered off:

1. Check the version of the virtual machine against the version of the ESX/ESXi Server host it resides on. It is likely the virtual hardware needs to be upgraded.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and choose to upgrade the hardware.
3. Make any changes you want to make to the virtual machines configuration.
4. Power on the virtual machine.
5. Upgrade VMware Tools.

Additional Information

Further information on Virtual Hardware is contained in the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Guide.