How to relax and disable vMotion Compatibility checks

Although it is not recommended sometimes it is desirable to relax or completely disable the vMotion compatibility checks.

This is possible by configuring certain advanced vCenter settings. These are set through the legacy vSphere Client (for vSphere versions prior 5.1) in the Administration / vCenter Server Settings / Advanced Settings menu, or (since vSphere 5.1) in the new Web Client (see vCenter / Manage / Settings / Advanced Settings).










1. Adding the key config.migrate.test.CpuCompatibleWithHost with value false will completely disable all compatibility checks. This is the brute force method, and I would really not recommend doing this, because this will also suppress any warnings to be shown.

2. Adding the key config.migrate.test.CpuCompatibleMonitorSupport with value false will only disable checking the VMM (Virtual Machine Monitor) on the source and target hosts for supported CPU features (preventing any "product version does not support features" error messages).

3. Adding the key config.migrate.test.CpuCompatibleError with value false will display all compatibility check errors as warnings only that do not prevent starting the migration (still not recommended, but at least you have been warned).

The settings take effect immediately, you do not need to restart any vCenter services! To revert to the default behavior you need to change the values of these options to true.

Please note: Changing these values is not supported by VMware.

Credits

This goes back to a VMware Communities post by Jon Munday.