You can configure processor settings for a virtual machine, including the number of processors, the number of cores per processor, and the preferred execution mode for the virtualization engine.

To configure processor settings for a selected virtual machine, select VM > Settings, click the Hardware tab, and select Processors.

Table 1. Processor Settings

Setting

Description

Number of processors and Number of cores per processor

Select the number of processors and the number of cores per processor.

Workstation Pro supports up to 16-way virtual Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) for guest operating systems running on multiprocessor host machines. You can assign processors and cores per processor to a virtual machine on any host machine that has at least two logical processors.

Preferred mode

Select the preferred execution mode for the virtualization engine. You usually do not need to change virtualization engine settings.

Automatic

Workstation Pro chooses the execution mode based on the guest operating system and the host CPU.

Binary translation

Workstation Pro uses a mix of directly executing guest code and binary translation to run the guest operating system. Guest memory mapping is performed by using shadow page tables.

Intel VT-x or AMD-V

Workstation Pro uses hardware extensions to run and isolate guest code. Guest memory mapping is performed by using shadow page tables.

Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI

Workstation Pro uses hardware extensions to run and isolate guest code. Guest memory mapping is performed by using hardware paging.

Note:

You cannot configure this setting for a shared or remote virtual machine.

Disable acceleration for binary translation

In rare instances, you might find that Workstation Pro appears to freeze when you install or run software inside a virtual machine. This problem typically occurs early in the execution of the program. In many cases, you can prevent the problem by temporarily disabling acceleration in the virtual machine. After the program passes the point at which the problems occur, deselect this setting.

Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI

Workstation Pro forces the virtual machine execution mode to VT-x/EPT or AMD-RVI. Physical Address Extension (PAE) mode must be enabled to use virtualized AMD-V/RVI.

If the execution mode is not supported by the host system, virtualized VT-x/EPT or AMD/RVI is not available. If you migrate the virtual machine to another VMware product, virtualized VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI might not be available.

Note:

You cannot configure this setting for a shared or remote virtual machine.

Virtualize CPU performance counters

Turn on this feature if you plan to use performance monitoring applications such as VTune or OProfile to optimize or debug software that runs inside the virtual machine.

This feature is available only if the virtual machine compatibility is Workstation 9 or later.