unable to disable per-vm EVC

[xingchan]

Recently I upgraded a test vm the hardware version to 14. I noticed that EVC was enabled for this vm. When I shutdown the vm and looked at the per-vm EVC setting, EVC was disabled. When I started the VM, EVC was enabled again.

EVC is disabled on host and cluster level. I also looked at the vmx file: evcCompatibilityMode = "FALSE".

I'm running vCenter on build number 6.7.0.21000 and ESXi build 6.7.0, 10302608.

How can I disable EVC for this vm?

[RickVerstegen]

It is pretty easy to configure per-VM EVC from vSphere H5 client (flex client does not support).
Click on the VM >> Configure >> VMware EVC >>Edit >> Configure EVC mode.

VM must be powered off before configuring per-VM EVC

[xingchan]

Hi Rick,

that is the problem. When the vm is turned off the setting shows that EVC is disabled. When I turn the vm back on, EVC is enabled.

[RickVerstegen]

Can you check the EVC mode of the VM by using EVC Mode column?

In the vSphere Client, select a cluster or a host in the inventory. lick the VMs tab. Click the arrow in any column title, select Show/Hide Columns, and select the EVC Mode check box.

[xingchan]

It states Ivy Bridge Generation just like the other vm's. Other vm's EVC is not enabled.

[a_p_]

... that is the problem. When the vm is turned off the setting shows that EVC is disabled. When I turn the vm back on, EVC is enabled. ...

What's the physical CPU model that's installed in the host on which you start the VM?

Does the EVC mode that shows up after powering on the VM correspond to the physical CPU's generation.

André

[ferdis]

I have exactly the same behaviour. Any resolution for this?

[theclap]

Did anyone ever find a solution to this?

I'm hitting the same issue with a Win2k8R2 VM, HW version 15, on VMware ESXi, 6.7.0, 15160138

[cpetry7c1]

Was this ever resolved?  I'm having the same issue with 6.7g.  The cluster has EVC disabled, I power the VM off, it show's EVC disabled on the VM.  As soon as I power the VM back up, it shows EVC being enabled on the VM only.  I've tried going into the settings of the VM and resetting the CPUID under CPU/Advanced but that doesn't resolve the issue.

[a_p_]

If the VM's EVC level corresponds with the physical CPU on which the VM has been powered on, then I wouldn't consider this being an issue.

André

[holden777]

I have the same problem did you ever find a fix?

[wbishop_78]

Still waiting on a solution here.....

[silviogrotto]

I still have the same problem

[nathanp]

As per https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/59801?lang=en_US this is expected behavior.

The column for EVC mode (and also the per-VM EVC section, when the VM is powered on) is reporting the EVC mode the VM would need to be in (say if it migrated to an EVC cluster).

Although I think this information is very useful, the way it is represented in the UI definitely leads to confusion.

[Igubu]

This is unfortunately not true, or a bug exists in ESX 7 U2/Vcentre 7 U2. - I have a call open at the moment to troubleshoot - some information that might be useful for others:

In my case have the same issue, only problem is the detected EVC mode (per vm - only visible when the VM is powered on) is higher than physical supported EVC level of the host cpu's underneath! Our example: cluster with 4x hosts supporting Cascadelake (Xeon Platinum 8200 series) - no cluster EVC enabled, no per VM EVC either, and a LOT of vm's show " Icelake"  as the EVC supported mode when booted up.

Added 2x newer hosts that do support Icelake (Xeon Gold 6342) - created a new cluster for them, set Cluster EVC to Cascadelake, and unable to vmotion these "Icelake capable"  Vm's to it. So it seems the "supported"  EVC mode is identified incorrectly, and also the incorrect values are actually enforced and blocks cluster operations.

Hope this is resolved urgently, and more importantly without shutdowns of 1000+ production VM"s that are affected.

[lusos]

I have the same issue, did you find a solution ?

[Igubu]

Not yet nope - TBH have not experienced such poor service in 15+ years - not sure what's going on lately. Took 3 weeks of emails and waiting - no help - yesterday it was again transferred to a new engineer, (I was told previously a PR was done - 2 weeks ago!) - he's seen " something in the logs"  and busy with the PR request now - will update when I have something.

I did test this on completely new cluster with latest u3 patches hosts - same issue, so does seems to be an issue, not related to environments.

[mattmasse]

I had (/have) what I assume is the same issue.

VM's powered off show "VMware EVC is Disabled"

Powering VM's on they change to EVC Mode "Intel® "Cascade Lake" Generation"

Was unable to migrate VM's between two dis-similar ESXi hosts, (higher feature CPU unable to migrate to lower feature CPU)

After a lot of troubleshooting I was able to get a workaround in place that allows my VM's to migrate between hosts.

System Versions

vSphere Server 7.0.3.00100

ESXi hosts - VMware ESXi, 7.0.2, 18538813

Workaround that worked for me, I am sure there may be a more optimal method, and some steps irrelevant.

Per VM from ESXi host (NOT from vCenter) 

State: VM Powered On

"Edit Settings" -> "VM Options" -> "Advanced" -> "Configuration Parameters" -> "Edit Configuration"

"Add Parameter"

      Key: evcCompatibilityMode

      Value: FALSE

Save/OK

(Tests at this point still show VM unable to migrate to lower featured ESXi CPU)

Power off VM.

(The next may be optional, it is possible a reboot is the only next step)

Unregister VM.

On lower ESXi host register VM

If using distributed virtual switch, you may need to log into the VCSA, edit the VM settings, and connect the network.

Power back on VM.

VM will still show "EVC Mode "Intel® "Cascade Lake" Generation"

But will now successfully migrate between ESXi hosts.

[Steven1973]

We have a environment with Intel Gold 6148 CPU's that has the same issue but we were not aware of it until we added two new hosts with newer Intel Silver 4316 CPUs.
We wanted to enable EVC on the 6148 cluster to be able to add the new hosts but enabling EVC was impossible.
After some investigation we found that about 50% of our VMs were running in 'EVC CPU Mode = Cascade Lake' on the old 6148 Skylake hosts.

This combination of physical hosts being Skylake and VMs running Cascade Lake, makes it impossible to enable EVC.

Enabling EVC in CPU Mode to Skylake comes with error "The host cannot be admitted to the cluster's current Enhanced vMotion Compatibility mode. Powered-on or suspended virtual machines on the host may be using CPU features hidden by that mode."

Enabling EVC in CPU Mode Cascade Lake comes with error "The host's CPU hardware does not support the cluster's current Enhanced vMotion Compatibility mode. The host CPU lacks features required by that mode."

Further investigation showed that vmx-version is causing this issue.
A new created VM with vmx-16 or earlier results in VMs running in 'EVC CPU Mode = Skylake' where new VMs with vmx version 17 or 18 results in VMs running in 'EVC CPU Mode = Cascade Lake'

[locco]

The problem is with the virtualHW.version.

per-VM EVC appears to be enabled from version 14 and after therefore you'll need to edit your vmx file and set the following in order to disable the EVC On power up.

virtualHW.version = "13"