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didymus_alpha
Contributor
Contributor

Anyway to disable `side channel mitigations` in VMware Workstation 16 Player?

So I've done some reading and all I can find is how to disable it in `Workstation Pro`. If it's only available in `Workstation Pro` why would `Workstation Player` tell me I could disable it? I hope this isn't done intentionally to try to pressure users into making a `Pro` purchase. Please advise.

I really appreciate the help. Thank you.

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Well, I assume that it's simply based on the fact that the Pro, and Player binaries are similar.

Take a loo at e.g. https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Player/Poor-performance-after-update-with-messa... for how to disable it manually.

André

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xcent
Contributor
Contributor

Hi there,

This setting comes with some performance issues as shown in your attached image. To improve performance, it is recommended to disable side-channel mitigations. This article shows the steps to perform this task: https://techdirectarchive.com/2024/01/23/how-to-disable-side-channel-mitigations-on-vmware-workstati...

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ChHi
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Add this line to .vmx file and you will have the same as disabling it by GUI
ulm.disableMitigations = "TRUE"

xcent
Contributor
Contributor

Great input mate!

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crawdaddydoo92
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for this. Having the free version I don't have all the GUI options shown in the help section but this does the trick.

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