12 Replies Latest reply on Aug 15, 2017 8:49 PM by excolo

Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

rgadsdon May 22, 2017 8:26 PM

vmnet (from VMware 12.5.6) compiles OK with Kernel 4.12-rc2, but vmmon fails:

...............................

/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only/./include/pgtbl.h: In function ‘PgtblPGD2PTELocked’:

/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only/./include/pgtbl.h:125:28: error: passing argument 1 of ‘pud_offset’ from incompatible pointer type [-Werror=incompatible-pointer-types]

pud = compat_pud_offset(pgd, addr);

/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only/./include/compat_pgtable.h:72:56: note: in definition of macro ‘compat_pud_offset’

# define compat_pud_offset(pgd, address) pud_offset(pgd, address)

^~~

In file included from ./include/linux/mm.h:70:0,

from /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only/./include/compat_page.h:23,

from /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only/linux/hostif.c:32:

./arch/x86/include/asm/pgtable.h:826:22: note: expected ‘p4d_t * {aka struct <anonymous> *}’ but argument is of type ‘compat_pgd_t * {aka struct <anonymous> *}’

static inline pud_t *pud_offset(p4d_t *p4d, unsigned long address)

^~~~~~~~~~

cc1: some warnings being treated as errors

make[2]: *** [scripts/Makefile.build:303: /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only/linux/hostif.o] Error 1

make[1]: *** [Makefile:1512: _module_/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only] Error 2

make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-4.12-rc1'

make: *** [Makefile:120: vmmon.ko] Error 2

Robert Gadsdon

rglinuxtech.com

1. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

dariusd May 23, 2017 4:08 AM (in response to rgadsdon)

Thanks for reporting this. I'll file a problem report so that we can remedy this in a future release, and I'll post back here if/when we have a patch for it. (If someone else doesn't beat me to it. )

Thanks,
--
Darius
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2. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

mkubecek May 31, 2017 4:33 AM (in response to rgadsdon)

I tried this patch: vmmon: adapt to 5-level page table hierarchy · mkubecek/vmware-host-modules@00aba44 · GitHub

With it, vmmon module builds and loads under 4.12-rc3 but the host system crashes when I start a guest. I'm not sure if it's related, though, the host goes into a reboot immediatelly, doesn't even invoke kdump. :-(
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3. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

rgadsdon May 31, 2017 2:09 PM (in response to mkubecek)

Yes, I can confirm the results, with kernel 4.12-rc3.. vmmon compiles OK, and vmware user runtime executes, but host system immediately reboots when a client is started.
No crash info etc. on serial console, so no more clues..

RG.
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4. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

mfelker Jun 1, 2017 12:41 AM (in response to rgadsdon)

What Linux distro are you running? Kernel 4.12 won't even boot on Ubuntu 17.10 for me
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5. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

mkubecek Jun 1, 2017 12:51 AM (in response to mfelker)

I'm testing it on openSUSE 42.2 (also one machine with openSUSE Tumbleweed but I have no VMware there). Kernel packages are from Kernel:HEAD OBS repository (here ).
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6. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

rgadsdon Jun 1, 2017 3:06 AM (in response to mfelker)

Tested with Fedora (25 and 26). Kernel 4.12-rc3 from kernel.org.

RG.
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7. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

rgadsdon Jun 22, 2017 8:25 PM (in response to rgadsdon)

VMware 12.5.7 is out, and I can confirm that this now works OK with Kernel 4.12 (tested with 4.12-rc6)

Thanks!

Robert Gadsdon
rglinuxtech.com
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8. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

dariusd Jun 22, 2017 9:53 PM (in response to rgadsdon)

You're too quick! Workstation 12.5.7 should indeed be compatible with kernel 4.12 (or at least its release candidates). Last I looked it had not yet been made public and I was eagerly awaiting its release, I stepped away from the keyboard for a while, and now you've already downloaded it and tested and posted back here.

Thanks for reporting back!

It turns out that the fix for this was quite intrusive... so it was less amenable to distribution as a standalone patch, and (particularly with the propensity for host reboots) more worthwhile putting it through the full quality assurance cycle before a proper release, hence the lack of a patch posted earlier. I hope the delay has not caused too much inconvenience.

Cheers,
--
Darius
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9. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

mfelker Jul 13, 2017 1:44 AM (in response to dariusd)

Hi Darius:

Finally got around to installing Ubuntu 17.10 but VMware WS buid 12.5.7 does not start for me using kernel 4.12. How is this issue coming along for others?

Marty
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10. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

dariusd Jul 13, 2017 2:44 AM (in response to mfelker)

There's a lot more that we need to fix before Workstation will run on Ubuntu 17.10... it's not just the kernel that's incompatible, it seems there is all sorts of breakage in GTK+ and appLoader and probably other things too. In theory our kernel modules should be manually buildable on that host OS, but that's just one piece of the big compatibility puzzle.

I don't have any insight on when we might be able to expect Workstation to function correctly on Ubuntu 17.10.

Cheers,
--
Darius
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11. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

mfelker Jul 17, 2017 7:45 PM (in response to dariusd)

Thanks for the honest reply. So for the time being I'll stick with Siduction 17.1.0 fully updated to kernel 4.11. WS is running fine on that distro.
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12. Re: Linux Host: Kernel 4.12 Breaks vmmon..

excolo Aug 15, 2017 8:49 PM (in response to dariusd)

Please keep us updated on Ubuntu 17.10 version. We have a lot of Engineers that will be moving to 17.10 as soon as its out... Thank You
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