vmware

disabling the balloon driver

WARNING

this is the process of disabling balloon driver for linux machines only

you need to set the maximum balloon size to zero.

1. using the vsphere client, connect to the vcenter server or the esxi/esx host where the virtual machine resides
2. log into the esxi/esx host as a user with administrative rights
3. shut down the virtual machine
4. right-click the virtual machine listed on the inventory panel and click edit settings
5. click the options tab, then under advanced, click general
6. click configuration parameters
7. click add row and add the parameter sched.mem.maxmemctl in the text box
8. click on the row next to it and add 0 in the text box
9. click ok to save changes

re-enable the balloon driver in a virtual machine

1. using the vsphere client, connect to the vcenter server or the esxi/esx host where the virtual machine resides
2. shut down the virtual machine if it is powered on
3. ssh to the esxi/esx host. for more information, see connecting to an esx host using an ssh client
4. change directory to the datastore where the virtual machine's configuration file resides
5. back up the virtual machine's configuration file
6. edit the virtual machine's configuration file (virtual_machine_name.vmx) and remove the line sched.mem.maxmemctl = "0"
7. save and close the file
8. power on the virtual machine

WARNING

you cannot remove the entry via the configuration parameters ui once it has been added. you must edit the configuration file (.vmx) for the virtual machine to remove the entry.