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.

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.

Virtualize IOMMU (IO memory management unit)

Select this feature to provide the Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O for virtual machines.

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

When you enable virtualization-based security (VBS) for a virtual machine, Workstation Pro automatically selects the Virtual IOMMU feature for you.