Enable / Disable VMware VAAI Plugin in ESXi Host

There are two ways to enable / diable VAAI plugin, One via command line and one via vSphere Client UI

Using command line

Login to ESXi using putty / terminal

Use “esxcfg-advcfg” command to manage your VAAI settings

 To Check the Status

esxcfg-advcfg -g

(returnvalue 1 = enabled)

~ # esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove

Value of HardwareAcceleratedMove is 1

~ # esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit

Value of HardwareAcceleratedInit is 1

 To disable VAAI

~ # esxcfg-advcfg -s 0 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit

Value of HardwareAcceleratedInit is 0

~ # esxcfg-advcfg -s 0 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove

Value of HardwareAcceleratedMove is 0

To enable VAAI

~ # esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit

Value of HardwareAcceleratedInit is 1

~ # esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove

Value of HardwareAcceleratedMove is 1

Using vSphere Client

Login to vSphere client

1. Select Host
2. Change to “Configuration Tab”.
3. Under “Software”, click “Advanced Settings”.
4. Select “DataMover” in the Advanced-Settings-Tree
5. Now you can disable/enable HardwareAcceleratedMove and HardwareAcceleratedInit by changing the value

0: Enable ; 1: Disable