When you create a virtual machine, you can specify a resource pool location as part of the creation process. You can also add an existing virtual machine to a resource pool.

When you move a virtual machine to a new resource pool:
  • The virtual machine’s reservation and limit do not change.
  • If the virtual machine’s shares are high, medium, or low, %Shares adjusts to reflect the total number of shares in use in the new resource pool.
  • If the virtual machine has custom shares assigned, the share value is maintained.
    Note: Because share allocations are relative to a resource pool, you might have to manually change a virtual machine’s shares when you move it into a resource pool so that the virtual machine’s shares are consistent with the relative values in the new resource pool. A warning appears if a virtual machine would receive a very large (or very small) percentage of total shares.
  • Under Monitor, the information displayed in the Resource Reservation tab about the resource pool’s reserved and unreserved CPU and memory resources changes to reflect the reservations associated with the virtual machine (if any).
    Note: If a virtual machine has been powered off or suspended, it can be moved but overall available resources (such as reserved and unreserved CPU and memory) for the resource pool are not affected.

Procedure

  1. Find the virtual machine in the vSphere Web Client inventory.
    1. To find a virtual machine, select a data center, folder, cluster, resource pool, or host.
    2. Click the VMs tab.
  2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Migrate.
    • You can move the virtual machine to another host.
    • You can move the virtual machine's storage to another datastore.
    • You can move the virtual machine to another host and move its storage to another datastore.
  3. Select a resource pool in which to run the virtual machine.
  4. Review your selections and click Finish.

Results

If a virtual machine is powered on, and the destination resource pool does not have enough CPU or memory to guarantee the virtual machine’s reservation, the move fails because admission control does not allow it. An error dialog box displays available and requested resources, so you can consider whether an adjustment might resolve the issue.