During memory hot-add, the error “Memory hot plug is not supported for this virtual machine.” occurs.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• During the memory hot-add process, the error “Memory hot plug is not supported for this virtual machine.” occurs.
  
  
• In the vpxd log, logs like the following are recorded.
  

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.ZZZZ error vpxd[07557] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=[opid] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-[taskid]-- [sessionID] -- vm-[vmid]-- vim.VirtualMachine.reconfigure: :vim.fault.MemoryHotPlugNotSupported
  
  --> Result:
  
  --> (vim.fault.MemoryHotPlugNotSupported) {
  
  -->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null, 
  
  -->    faultMessage = <unset>
  
  -->    msg = ""
  
  --> }

Environment

vCenter Server 8.x
ESXi 8.x

Cause

The virtual machine is configured with a guest OS that does not support memory hot-add (e.g., Other Linux (64-bit)).

Resolution

Verify in the Compatibility Guide whether the guest OS actually running on the target virtual machine supports memory hot-add.

If it is supported, change to the exact guest OS version via vSphere Client -> Edit Settings -> VM Options -> General Options -> Guest OS Version.