What actually happens when i boot a VM? VM starting very slow.

[TonMachielsen]

Fusion Professional Version 11.0.2 (10952296) on 15" 2018 MacBook Pro 32Gb mem 1TB NVMe SSD running Mojave 10.14.3

Can someone explain to me what exactly happens when i boot a VM in Fusion? The reason i ask is because i notice that it takes a long time, sometimes minutes, between the moment VM shows up on the screen (black screen with large Play icon greyed out) and the moment the OS inside the VM starts booting.

This is quite annoying if you quickly need a VM to do something rapidly or if, like me yesterday, a customer is looking over your shoulder how you set up an environment waiting for you to deliver a demo.

Again, it takes minutes to pass from the black startup screen to the first boot messages. I think it's a Fusion issue.

Config of my two main VM's:

.encoding = "UTF-8"

displayName = "Windows 7 x64"

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "16"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0.virtualDev = "lsisas1068"

sata0.present = "TRUE"

memsize = "2048"

mem.hotadd = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.fileName = "Virtual Disk.vmdk"

sata0:1.present = "TRUE"

sata0:1.autodetect = "TRUE"

sata0:1.deviceType = "cdrom-image"

sata0:1.startConnected = "FALSE"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"

ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"

ethernet0.addressType = "generated"

usb.present = "TRUE"

ehci.pciSlotNumber = "35"

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"

sound.fileName = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

mks.enable3d = "TRUE"

svga.graphicsMemoryKB = "1048576"

serial0.present = "TRUE"

serial0.fileType = "thinprint"

pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge4.functions = "8"

pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge5.functions = "8"

pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge6.functions = "8"

pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge7.functions = "8"

vmci0.present = "TRUE"

hpet0.present = "TRUE"

usb.vbluetooth.startConnected = "FALSE"

tools.syncTime = "TRUE"

guestOS = "windows7-64"

nvram = "Windows 7 x64.nvram"

virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"

tools.upgrade.policy = "upgradeAtPowerCycle"

powerType.powerOff = "soft"

powerType.powerOn = "soft"

powerType.suspend = "soft"

powerType.reset = "soft"

extendedConfigFile = "Windows 7 x64.vmxf"

numa.autosize.vcpu.maxPerVirtualNode = "1"

numa.autosize.cookie = "10012"

uuid.bios = "56 4d 5f 6d 39 fb 33 d8-11 27 e7 ab c0 0f 80 a4"

uuid.location = "56 4d 00 fb c4 a8 d1 17-f2 78 a5 31 37 b1 c1 26"

migrate.hostlog = "./Windows 7 x64-58ff889b.hlog"

scsi0:0.redo = ""

pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"

pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"

pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"

pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"

pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"

scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "160"

usb.pciSlotNumber = "32"

ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "33"

sound.pciSlotNumber = "34"

vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "36"

sata0.pciSlotNumber = "37"

scsi0.sasWWID = "50 05 05 6d 39 fb 33 d0"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0C:29:0F:80:A4"

ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

vmci0.id = "-1072725852"

monitor.phys_bits_used = "43"

vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "8388608"

vmotion.checkpointSVGAPrimarySize = "268435456"

softPowerOff = "TRUE"

usb:1.speed = "2"

usb:1.present = "TRUE"

usb:1.deviceType = "hub"

usb:1.port = "1"

usb:1.parent = "-1"

ethernet0.bsdName = "en7"

ethernet0.displayName = "USB 10/100/1000 LAN"

checkpoint.vmState = ""

gui.lastPoweredViewMode = "fullscreen"

svga.guestBackedPrimaryAware = "TRUE"

gui.fitGuestUsingNativeDisplayResolution = "FALSE"

tools.remindInstall = "FALSE"

toolsInstallManager.updateCounter = "10"

toolsInstallManager.lastInstallError = "0"

gui.viewModeAtPowerOn = "fullscreen"

isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "FALSE"

hgfs.mapRootShare = "TRUE"

hgfs.linkRootShare = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.readAccess = "true"

sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "true"

sharedFolder0.hostPath = "/Users/tmachielsen/Documents/SDK"

sharedFolder0.guestName = "SDK"

sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

sharedFolder0.shareTags = ""

sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"

hgfs.redirectShellFolder0.name = "documents"

hgfs.redirectShellFolder0.enabled = "FALSE"

hgfs.redirectShellFolder.maxNum = "1"

proxyApps.publishToHost = "FALSE"

vmx.buildType = "release"

vmxnet3.serialNumberV2 = "FALSE"

gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "TRUE"

checkpoint.vmState.readOnly = "FALSE"

cleanShutdown = "TRUE"

floppy0.present = "FALSE"

sharedFolder1.present = "FALSE"

ehci.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"

ethernet0.connectionType = "custom"

ethernet0.vnet = "vmnet2"

usb:0.present = "TRUE"

usb:0.deviceType = "hid"

usb:0.port = "0"

usb:0.parent = "-1"

ehci:0.present = "TRUE"

ehci:0.deviceType = "video"

ehci:0.port = "0"

ehci:0.parent = "-1"

And

.encoding = "UTF-8"

displayName = "ItemSense"

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "16"

vcpu.hotadd = "TRUE"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

sata0.present = "TRUE"

memsize = "4096"

mem.hotadd = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.fileName = "Virtual Disk-000001.vmdk"

sata0:1.present = "TRUE"

sata0:1.fileName = "auto detect"

sata0:1.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"

ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"

ethernet0.addressType = "static"

usb.present = "TRUE"

ehci.present = "TRUE"

ehci.pciSlotNumber = "35"

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.fileName = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

mks.enable3d = "TRUE"

svga.graphicsMemoryKB = "786432"

serial0.present = "TRUE"

serial0.fileType = "thinprint"

pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge4.functions = "8"

pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge5.functions = "8"

pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge6.functions = "8"

pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge7.functions = "8"

vmci0.present = "TRUE"

isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "FALSE"

hpet0.present = "TRUE"

usb.vbluetooth.startConnected = "TRUE"

tools.syncTime = "FALSE"

guestOS = "ubuntu-64"

nvram = "ItemSense R1.nvram"

virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"

sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.hostPath = "/Users/tmachielsen"

sharedFolder0.guestName = "tmachielsen"

sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"

tools.upgrade.policy = "upgradeAtPowerCycle"

powerType.powerOff = "soft"

powerType.powerOn = "soft"

powerType.suspend = "soft"

powerType.reset = "soft"

extendedConfigFile = "ItemSense R1.vmxf"

numvcpus = "2"

gui.lastPoweredViewMode = "fullscreen"

uuid.bios = "56 4d f9 60 b6 38 2f 3d-47 c7 06 c1 8b 0d 25 9b"

uuid.location = "56 4d 1f e1 98 28 33 db-00 87 7e 43 eb de 32 be"

migrate.hostlog = "./ItemSense R1-2d9eefc7.hlog"

scsi0:0.redo = ""

pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"

pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"

pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"

pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"

pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"

scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"

usb.pciSlotNumber = "32"

ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "33"

sound.pciSlotNumber = "34"

vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "36"

sata0.pciSlotNumber = "37"

vmci0.id = "-1962072677"

monitor.phys_bits_used = "43"

vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "4194304"

vmotion.checkpointSVGAPrimarySize = "268435456"

softPowerOff = "FALSE"

usb:1.speed = "2"

usb:1.present = "TRUE"

usb:1.deviceType = "hub"

usb:1.port = "1"

usb:1.parent = "-1"

svga.guestBackedPrimaryAware = "TRUE"

sata0:1.startConnected = "false"

sata0:1.autodetect = "TRUE"

tools.remindInstall = "FALSE"

toolsInstallManager.updateCounter = "2"

toolsInstallManager.lastInstallError = "21004"

gui.viewModeAtPowerOn = "fullscreen"

ethernet0.bsdName = "en7"

ethernet0.displayName = "USB 10/100/1000 LAN"

ethernet0.address = "00:0C:29:C6:4E:F3"

checkpoint.vmState.readOnly = "FALSE"

checkpoint.vmState = "ItemSense R1-2d9eefc7.vmss"

gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "TRUE"

cleanShutdown = "TRUE"

vmxnet3.serialNumberV2 = "FALSE"

ethernet0.connectionType = "custom"

sata0:0.present = "FALSE"

floppy0.present = "FALSE"

ethernet0.vnet = "vmnet2"

ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"

usb:0.present = "TRUE"

usb:0.deviceType = "hid"

usb:0.port = "0"

usb:0.parent = "-1"

ehci:0.present = "TRUE"

ehci:0.deviceType = "video"

ehci:0.port = "0"

ehci:0.parent = "-1"

[ColoradoMarmot]

It doesn't look like they're oversized for your machine.  I presume the VM's are on the internal SSD?  Do you have a large number of snapshots and/or autoprotect turned on?  If so, you can try (after backing up the VM) deleting them to improve boot speed.

[TonMachielsen]

Nope. No snapshots. I use snapshots for when i experiment. Also according to the specs of the VMs they should overload the host. It must be something else. Something Mac specific. I suspect the new APFS filesystem to be the culprit.

[ColoradoMarmot]

There were APFS problems with resume when it first came out, but those seem to have been solved.  But you can test by using our workaround from back then - create a sparsebundle image using HPFS+ (Mac OS Journaled) format, copy the VM to it, and then launch from there.

[TonMachielsen]

Glad you say this. I suspect APFS since the day i upgraded to Mojave. Different Mac, same problem. Long time for applications to launch. It's getting better with every update, but it's not 100% resolved yet. I will Google (that has become a verb now) "create a sparsebundle image" and let you know what i find out.

Thanks,

Ton.

[TonMachielsen]

What i noticed is that when you chanfge the disk driver to NVMe, the VM loads and performs so much faster. Unfortunately this works on the Ubuntu VM, but not on the Windows 10 VM.