Vmmem High Memory Usage? Fix it Here

One of a computer’s most crucial components is its memory. The memory of a computer consists of three parts. RAM (random access memory), ROM (read-only memory), and cache. However, the majority of users claim about Vmmem High Memory Usage in Windows 10 and Dock interaction is also not very positive. Other criticisms include the fact that Docker consumes up to 70% of total RAM. Due to Docker using up so much space, latency increased significantly.

An object called Vmmem is made to launch and manage processes as well as virtual machine memory. One of the fundamental operations of the virtual machine is this procedure and all Vmmem programs and functions are run by this kernel. The major cause of Vmmem’s memory requirements is users installing virtual machines with plenty of memory and CPU because doing so often leads to them utilizing all resources, which raises the demands placed on the Vmmem process therefore in order to rectify high memory usage follow the guide indexed below.

Before You Start:

Linux uses the memory to store files in the cache and it is shown in the free command’s cache part therefore run the below command to remove the cache:

echo 3 | sudo tee /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches

Fixing the Vmmem high memory usage docker issue:

Solution 1: Restart WSL From Command Prompt

Windows Subsystem For Linux (WSL) is an essential component in Windows that provides virtualization solutions for Windows users but sometimes also becomes the cause of Vmmem high memory usage. So, in this case, simply restarting WSL from the command prompt can help resolve the error. To do so try the following steps:

1. In the search bar near the Start menu type in “cmd” and right-click on it to select “Run As Administrator”.
2. Now type in the following command in the command prompt window and hit “Enter” to shut down WSL:

   wsl -shutdown

3. If the command doesn’t respond here then you can move on to the following location:

   C:\Users\your-username\.wslconfig

4. Next, add the following code to your Notepad and “Save” it:

   [wsl2]
   
   guiApplications = false

5. Restart your PC at this stage and check how much RAM Vmmem utilizes in the Task Manager.
6. If you want to use the utility of Linux it’s better to “Restart” the WSL service. In order to do so type in “Windows PowerShell” in the search bar near the Start menu and click on it to select “Run As Administrator”.
7. Here type in the following command and press “Enter” to restart the WSL service:

   Restart-Service LxssManager

Solution 2: Adjust the Memory Of Your Virtual Machine

One prime reason behind Vmmem high memory usage wsl2 error could be that your virtual machine might be using a lot of RAM so you need to confirm this and then adjust the allotted memory of your machine so it doesn’t utilize much of system resources.

Solution 3: Terminate the Running Virtual Machine

You can also try to disable the running virtual machine in order to address this issue. To do so proceed with the steps below:

1. Type “Windows PowerShell” in the search bar near the Start menu and right-click on it to select “Run As Administrator”.
2. In the pop-up window type in the following command in the command line and press “Enter”:

   wsl -l -v

   Note: Running this command will display a list of all running virtual machines on Windows 10.

3. Now close all of those running virtual machines by using the below-mentioned command:

   wsl -t kali-linux

Solution 4: Tweak Docker Desktop Settings

This specific fix is for the users who have Docker Desktop running on Windows or Mac. WSL 2’s dynamic memory allocation functionality is used by Docker Desktop to significantly reduce resource use. This implies that Docker Desktop speeds up CPU- and memory-intensive processes like constructing containers by only using the necessary amount of CPU and memory resources. Memory and CPU allocation is simple to control with WSL-2, it’s still feasible but a little trickier, hence follow the steps stated below to allocate only 4 CPU Cores and a Maximum of 3GB of memory:

1. First of all, run the following commands in Windows Terminal to get started but turn off all wsl instances such as docker-desktop:

   wsl --shutdown
   notepad "$env:USERPROFILE/.wslconfig"
   

2. Now, edit the .wslconfig file with notepad and write down these settings one by one:

   [wsl2]
   
   memory=3GB
   
   processors=4

Hopefully, the Vmmem high memory usage wsl2 might have gone by now but if you need further assistance, contact here.