6.5.1

2 On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand CPU, and enter a comma-separated list of hyphenated
processor ranges in the Scheduling Affinity text box.
For example, "0,4-7" would indicate affinity with CPUs 0,4,5,6, and 7. Selecting all processors is
identical to selecting no affinity. You must provide at least as many processor affinities as you have
virtual CPUs.
3 Click OK.
Change CPU Identification Mask Settings in the
vSphere Web Client
CPU identification (CPU ID) masks control the CPU features visible to the virtual machine's guest
operating system. Masking or hiding CPU features can make a virtual machine widely available to ESXi
hosts for migration. vCenter Server compares the CPU features available to a virtual machine with the
CPU features of the destination host to determine whether to allow or disallow migration with vMotion.
For example, masking the AMD No eXecute (NX) and the Intel eXecute Disable (XD) bits prevents the
virtual machine from using these features, but provides compatibility that allows you to migrate virtual
machines to ESXi hosts that do not include this capability. When the NX/XD bit is visible to the guest
operating system, the virtual machine can use this feature, but you can migrate the virtual machine only
to hosts on which the feature is enabled.
Caution Changing the CPU compatibility masks can result in an unsupported configuration. Do not
manually change the CPU compatibility masks unless instructed to do so by VMware Support or a
VMware Knowledge base article.
Prerequisites
Turn off the virtual machine.
Procedure
1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
2 On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand CPU, and in the CPUID Mask drop-down menu, select an
NX/XD option.
Option Description
Hide the NX/XD flag from guest Increases vMotion compatibility.
Hiding the NX/XD flag increases vMotion compatibility between hosts, but might
disable certain CPU security features.
Expose the NX/XD flag to guest Keeps all CPU security features enabled.
Keep current Advanced setting values
for the NX/XD flag
Uses the NX/XD flag settings specified in the CPU Identification Mask dialog box.
Enabled only when current settings specify something other than what is specified
in the other NX/XD flag options, for example, if the NX/XD flag bit setting varies
with processor brand.
3 Click OK.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
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