Enabling jumbo frame support on a virtual machine requires an enhanced VMXNET adapter for that virtual machine.

Procedure

  1. Locate the virtual machine in the vSphere Client.
    1. Select a data center, folder, cluster, resource pool, or host and click the VMs tab.
    2. Click Virtual Machines and click the virtual machine from the list.
  2. From the Actions menu, select Edit Settings.
  3. Select the Virtual Hardware tab in the dialog box displaying the settings.
  4. Expand the Network adapter section. Record the network settings and MAC address that the network adapter is using.
  5. Click the times-circle button to remove the network adapter from the virtual machine.
  6. From the Add new device drop-down menu, select Network Adapter.
    The New Network section is added to the list in the Virtual Hardware tab.
  7. Expand the New Network section.
  8. From the Adapter Type drop-down menu, select VMXNET 2 (Enhanced) or VMXNET 3.
  9. Set the network settings to the ones recorded for the old network adapter.
  10. Set the MAC Address to Manual, and type the MAC address that the old network adapter was using.
  11. Click OK.

What to do next

  • Check that the enhanced VMXNET adapter is connected to a standard switch or to a distributed switch with jumbo frames enabled.
  • Inside the guest operating system, configure the network adapter to allow jumbo frames. See the documentation of your guest operating system.
  • Configure all physical switches and any physical or virtual machines to which this virtual machine connects to support jumbo frames.