With the release of vCenter 7 Update 1, VMware introduced the vCLS (vSphere Clustering Service). More information can be found here.

Failed to power on VM due to missing CPU features in vCLS setup.

Looking at the error details it looks like it is looking for a feature called cpuid.mwait

Error stack shows ‘FeatureCompatLate’ failed, ‘MWAIT’ absent but required.

Reviewing the VMX file it seems like EVC is enabled on the vCLS VMs. I didnt want to enable EVC on the whole cluster so i wanted to do it only on the specific VMs.

Doing some research i found that the VMs need to be at version 14. After upgrading the VM i was able to disable EVC on the specific VMs by following these steps:

In the vSphere Client, navigate to the virtual machine

vCLS is powered off, showing details like CPU, memory, and vCenter management.

Under the Actions -> Compatibility -> Upgrade VM compatibility

The image shows the “Upgrade VM Compatibility” options in a VMware vSphere interface.

We can disable EVC on per VM level on version 14 and above, so in my case i chose ESXi 6.7U2 and later

Configure VM Compatibility dialog showing ESXi 6.7 and later as selected.

Next go to the Configure Tab

Configure tab shows VM SDRS Rules with Add, Edit, Delete options.

Pick VMware EVC and click on Edit

Configure VMware EVC settings showing CPU Mode and Feature Set.

Click on Yes

Editing VMware EVC… warning about vCLS VMs. Click Yes to proceed.

Click on Disable EVC and Click OK

The image shows a wizard step for changing EVC mode, with options to disable EVC or enable it for AMD or Intel hosts.

The next time it tries to power on the VM it should go through.

Power On virtual machine: vCLS (2) Completed

Once the first VM starts up it will most likely deploy a few additional ones, follow the same steps as above again on the new VMs