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How to adjust “static memory” in Hyper-V 2012 without shutting down the virtual machine

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Dynamic Memory allows you to set a range of memory to allocate to your VMs. Hyper-V 2012 has added a Startup RAM feature to allow you to allocate more memory at startup than you might need for normal operations, which can speed up reboots.

What’s really cool about dynamic memory is that you can change it while the VM is running. There are limitations, and you can’t change all of the settings, but you can change the minimum and maximum settings, as shown here:

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But what if you are running something where you don’t want to use dynamic memory, or where dynamic memory is not recommended? What if you want to set a static amount of memory, but still be able to give it more memory without shutting it down?

Simple. Just set the VM to use dynamic memory, and set the minimum and maximum amounts to the same amount! If you need to increase the memory later, just change the maximum value to the new, higher amount. Note that you won’t be able to increase the minimum amount while it is running, but this will buy you some time until the next shutdown, where you can set the minimum and maximum amounts to the new higher amount.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2016
    I just tried to change the min and or max and was told I can't while its running
    • Anonymous
      July 18, 2016
      There are limitations. You can't decrease the maximum or increase the minimum while it is running. However, you should be able to increase the maximum, which is the more common need. Then, you can make more permanent adjustments the next time you bring the VM down.
  • Anonymous
    September 12, 2016
    I just wish we could change it for the next reboot. That is, put in the new settings, and it will honor them when the machine is next booted.
  • Anonymous
    March 01, 2017
    Min set to 32mb of Dynamic. Max set to 6144mb of Dynamic. Try to change Min to 6144mb and it says "Out of Bounds" and 'Specify a number between 8 and 32." Does anyone test this stuff before posting
    • Anonymous
      April 11, 2017
      @Mike - re-read the last paragraph and comments - you can't increase the minimum while running.