Encrypting a Virtual Machine

Encrypt your virtual machine to control the use of the virtual machine and access to its contents.

Fusion supports the following types of encryption:

Fast VM Encryption

Fast encryption refers to the encryption of a minimal set of VM files as follows:

• Ancillary data files such as snapshot/screenshot/NVRAM files. These are encrypted with the key in the configuration file. List of files encrypted- .nvram, .vmsn, .vmss, .vmem
• Partially encrypted VM configuration file.

Full VM Encryption

Full encryption refers to encryption of all VM files as follows:

• Disk file headers. These are encrypted with the key in the configuration file.
• Disk file data. These are encrypted with the key in the configuration file.
• Ancillary data files such as the snapshot/screenshot/NVRAM files. These are encrypted with the key in the configuration file.
• VM configuration file is encrypted with authentication keys.

When you encrypt a virtual machine, you set a password that is required to open the virtual machine. You can remove the encryption or change the password at any time.

Note: Large virtual machines, such as those that exceed 50GB, might generate a low disk space warning.