Hot-add memory and CPU will not operate for Windows virtual machines when Virtualization Based Security (VBS) is enabled within OS

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vSphere ESX 8.x
• VMware vSphere ESX 7.x
• VMware vSphere ESX 6.x

Issue/Introduction

Virtualization Based Security (VBS) is a new feature introduced in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.  vSphere supports running Windows with VBS enabled starting in the vSphere 6.7 release. However, hot-add memory and CPU will not operate for Windows virtual machines when Virtualization Based Security (VBS) is enabled in the OS.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

The following features are not supported in a virtual machine when VBS is enabled:

• Fault tolerance
• PCI passthrough
• Hot add of CPU or memory

Resolution

To resolve this issue, power off the virtual machine to make Memory and CPU changes.

Additional Information

For additional details refer:

• Virtualization-based Security Best Practices 7.x
• Virtualization-based Security Best Practices 8.x
• Virtualization-based Security Best Practices 9.x