VMware does not support User Level Monitor on this host

Some users are unable to turn on VMware Workstation Pro due to an error VMware does not support this host’s user-level monitor. This error occurs due to a compatibility issue. It is not possible to run VMware Workstation Pro on a Hyper-V enabled Windows host due to some features such as VBS (virtualization based security). Therefore, you cannot run VMware on a Hyper-V enabled Windows host. If you are getting this error message while enabling VMware, the solutions provided in this post may help you resolve the issue.

VMware does not support User Level Monitor on this host

If you are running VMware Workstation Pro on a Hyper-V enabled Windows host, you may see the following error messages in addition to “VMware does not support this host’s user level monitor” error.

This host does not support Intel VT-x.

This host does not support “Intel EPT” MMU hardware virtualization.

This host is running in a virtual machine with VHV disabled. Make sure VHV is enabled in the virtual machine configuration file.

VMware Workstation and Device/Credential Guard are incompatible.
In all of the above cases, VMware Workstation Pro does not start. The following solutions may help you resolve the issue;

1. Disable Hyper-V
2. Stop all Hyper-V related services
3. Disable virtualization-based security (VBS)

Let’s take a look at all these fixes in detail.

1]Disable Hyper-V

As described earlier in this article, VMware Workstation Pro is not compatible with a Hyper-V enabled Windows host. Therefore, if you have enabled Hyper-V on a Windows host machine, you will not be able to run VMware Workstation Pro on it. To fix this problem, you must disable Hyper-V in Windows advanced features. The following steps will help you with this:

1. Open control panel .
2. Choose Category in the view.
3. go to “Programs > Programs and features“.
4. Click Turn Windows features turn on or off on the left side.
5. Clean up the Windows hypervisor platform and virtual machine platform. If you see Hyper-V instead of these two checkboxes, disable it.
6. Click OK and restart your computer.

Check if the problem persists. If yes, try the next fix.

2]Stop all Hyper-V related services.

If VMware still refuses to start and shows the same error message, you may have some Hyper-V related services running on your system. Check this in the Windows Services Manager and stop running Hyper-V services. Follow the steps written below:

1. Open Run .
2. Enter services.msc and click OK.
3. In the Services Manager app, scroll down and find all Hyper-V services.
4. Stop all Hyper-V services one by one. To do this, right-click on them and select stop.

Services that are set to Automatic start automatically at system startup. If the startup type of any Hyper-V service is set to Automatic, change it to Manual so that the service does not start by itself at system startup. To do this, right-click Hyper-V servicewhose status is Automatic, and select properties. On the General tab, select Manual in startup type. Click apply and then click OK.

After completing the above steps, restart your computer.

3] Disable virtualization-based security (VBS)

One possible cause of the problem is VBS technology. If virtualization-based security is enabled on the Windows host machine, you will not be able to start VMware Workstation Pro. To check if VBS is enabled on your system, follow these steps:

1. Press Windows Search and enter System Information.
2. Choose System Information from search results.
3. Under System Information, select System Summary on the left.
4. Scroll down on the right side and see the status of virtualization-based security.

If VBS technology is working, it must be disabled. To do this, follow these instructions:

1. Open Run and enter gpedit.msc. Click OK. This will open Local Group Policy Editor .
2. Expand Computer Configuration on the left side.
3. Go to “Administrative Templates > System > Device Guard“.
4. Double click on Virtualization Based Technology on the right side.
5. Choose disabled.
6. Reboot the system.

If you have a home version, you don’t have the Local Group Policy Editor. Hence, you can disable Virtualization Based Security (VBS) through the Registry Editor. The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database of the Windows OS. Any mistake while modifying the registry can lead to serious errors in your system. Therefore, before you start, we recommend that you create a system restore point and back up your registry.

Open Run and type regedit. Click OK and press Yes at the UAC prompt. This action will open Registry Editor .

Copy the following path, paste it into the address bar of the registry editor and press Enter.

ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlDeviceGuard

Make sure the DeviceGuard subkey is selected on the left. Check if the EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity value is available on the right side. If not, create it manually by following the steps below:

1. Right click empty space on the right side.
2. go to “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value“.
3. Right click on the value you just created and select Rename.
4. Name it EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity.

Right-click the EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity value and select modify. Its value data should show 0. If not, enter 0 in its value data and click OK.

Now copy the following path, paste it into the address bar of the registry editor and click Enter.

ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlLsa

Make sure the Lsa subkey is selected on the left. Now check if the LsaCfgFlags value exists on the right. If not, manually create a DWORD (32-bit) value by following the steps above and rename the value to LsaCfgFlags.

The LsaCfgFlags data value should show 0. Right-click it and select Modify to check what its value data shows. If 0 is not there, change its data value to 0 and click OK. Close Registry Editor and restart your computer.

Does VMware support nested virtualization?

Nested virtualization is the process of running a virtual machine inside another virtual machine. An external guest is a virtual machine running on physical hardware, while an internal guest is a virtual machine running inside another virtual machine. Similarly, a host hypervisor is a hypervisor that runs on physical hardware, while a guest hypervisor is a hypervisor that runs inside a virtual machine.

Type 1 hypervisors are not supported as guest operating systems for any VMware product. ESXi is also not supported as a guest operating system in production environments. However, if you want to use ESXi or ESX as nested virtualization, you need to obtain additional licenses for nested ESXi/ESX.

VMware products require hardware virtualization for 64-bit guests on Intel and AMD hardware. This means that you can only enable nested virtualization if your processor supports hardware virtualization. Hardware virtualization is called VT-x for Intel and AMD-V for AMD. You will see these options in the BIOS if your processor supports these technologies. Enter your BIOS and look for Intel Virtualization Technology if you have an Intel processor and AMD-V or SVM mode if you have an AMD processor. If you see these options in the BIOS, enable them.

How to enable nested virtualization in VMware VM?

You can enable nested virtualization on a VMware virtual machine by enabling Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI virtualization on the virtual machine. But for this, your CPU must support hardware virtualization. You can enable hardware virtualization on your system by entering the BIOS. We have already talked about how to check if your processor supports hardware virtualization.

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