Workstation Pro 15.1 won't run on Ubuntu 19.04

[Rottweiler]

I've been going round on this for hours. Hoping someone can help...

I had 15.0 working on 18.04. Upgraded to 19.04. 15.0 won't run, found out there is now 15.1 so I upgraded (actually un-installed and re-installed several times).

I got it to run at first, but there are no network interfaces and any attempt to connect the network interfaces produces the error:

Could not connect 'Ethernet0' to virtual network '/dev/vmnet8'.

Sure enough there are no /dev/vmnet* devices. So I do the MOK stuff that I had to do to get the /dev/vm* devices to appear (under 15.0) in this:

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-`uname -r`/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./MOK.priv ./MOK.der  $(modinfo -n vmmon)
sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-`uname -r`/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./MOK.priv ./MOK.der $(modinfo -n vmnet)
sudo insmod $(modinfo -n vmmon)
sudo insmod $(modinfo -n vmnet)

After a reboot, /dev/vm* looks about right:

crw------- 1 root root  10, 165 2019-07-05 11:39:37 /dev/vmmon
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root  10,  52 2019-07-05 11:39:37 /dev/vmci
crw------- 1 root root 119,   0 2019-07-05 11:39:37 /dev/vmnet0
crw------- 1 root root 119,   1 2019-07-05 11:39:38 /dev/vmnet1
crw------- 1 root root 119,   8 2019-07-05 11:39:38 /dev/vmnet8

So I run 'vmware' from the command line, and this pops up:

Before you can run VMware, several modules must be compiled and loaded into the running kernel.

Click 'Install', and enter my password when prompted. The window goes away and ... nothing. Running 'vmware' again just does the same thing.

Looking in /tmp/vmware-michael/vmware-10027.log:

2019-07-05T12:16:47.299-05:00| host-10027| I125: Log for VMware Workstation pid=10027 version=15.1.0 build=build-13591040 option=Release
2019-07-05T12:16:47.299-05:00| host-10027| I125: The process is 64-bit.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.299-05:00| host-10027| I125: Host codepage=UTF-8 encoding=UTF-8
2019-07-05T12:16:47.299-05:00| host-10027| I125: Host is Linux 5.0.0-20-generic Ubuntu 19.04
2019-07-05T12:16:47.298-05:00| host-10027| I125: DictionaryLoad: Cannot open file "/usr/lib/vmware/settings": No such file or directory.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.298-05:00| host-10027| I125: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file "/usr/lib/vmware/settings": No such file or directory.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.298-05:00| host-10027| I125: PREF Optional preferences file not found at /usr/lib/vmware/settings. Using default values.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.298-05:00| host-10027| I125: DictionaryLoad: Cannot open file "/home/michael/.vmware/config": No such file or directory.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.298-05:00| host-10027| I125: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file "/home/michael/.vmware/config": No such file or directory.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.298-05:00| host-10027| I125: PREF Optional preferences file not found at /home/michael/.vmware/config. Using default values.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.327-05:00| host-10027| W115: Logging to /tmp/vmware-michael/vmware-10027.log
2019-07-05T12:16:47.339-05:00| host-10027| I125: Obtaining info using the running kernel.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.339-05:00| host-10027| I125: Created new pathsHash.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.339-05:00| host-10027| I125: Setting header path for 5.0.0-20-generic to "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.339-05:00| host-10027| I125: Validating path "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include" for kernel release "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.339-05:00| host-10027| I125: using /usr/bin/gcc-8 for preprocess check
2019-07-05T12:16:47.343-05:00| host-10027| I125: Preprocessed UTS_RELEASE, got value "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.343-05:00| host-10027| I125: The header path "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include" for the kernel "5.0.0-20-generic" is valid.  Whoohoo!
2019-07-05T12:16:47.491-05:00| host-10027| I125: found symbol version file /lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/Module.symvers
2019-07-05T12:16:47.491-05:00| host-10027| I125: Reading symbol versions from /lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/Module.symvers.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.508-05:00| host-10027| I125: Read 23240 symbol versions
2019-07-05T12:16:47.509-05:00| host-10027| I125: Reading in info for the vmmon module.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.509-05:00| host-10027| I125: Reading in info for the vmnet module.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.509-05:00| host-10027| I125: Reading in info for the vmci module.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.509-05:00| host-10027| I125: Reading in info for the vsock module.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.509-05:00| host-10027| I125: Setting vsock to depend on vmci.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.509-05:00| host-10027| I125: Invoking modinfo on "vmmon".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.510-05:00| host-10027| I125: "/sbin/modinfo" exited with status 256.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.510-05:00| host-10027| I125: Invoking modinfo on "vmnet".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.512-05:00| host-10027| I125: "/sbin/modinfo" exited with status 256.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.512-05:00| host-10027| I125: Invoking modinfo on "vmci".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.513-05:00| host-10027| I125: "/sbin/modinfo" exited with status 256.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.513-05:00| host-10027| I125: Invoking modinfo on "vsock".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.515-05:00| host-10027| I125: "/sbin/modinfo" exited with status 0.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.527-05:00| host-10027| I125: to be installed: vmmon status: 2
2019-07-05T12:16:47.527-05:00| host-10027| I125: to be installed: vmnet status: 2
2019-07-05T12:16:47.539-05:00| host-10027| I125: Obtaining info using the running kernel.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.539-05:00| host-10027| I125: Setting header path for 5.0.0-20-generic to "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.539-05:00| host-10027| I125: Validating path "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include" for kernel release "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.539-05:00| host-10027| I125: using /usr/bin/gcc-8 for preprocess check
2019-07-05T12:16:47.542-05:00| host-10027| I125: Preprocessed UTS_RELEASE, got value "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.542-05:00| host-10027| I125: The header path "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include" for the kernel "5.0.0-20-generic" is valid.  Whoohoo!
2019-07-05T12:16:47.688-05:00| host-10027| I125: found symbol version file /lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/Module.symvers
2019-07-05T12:16:47.689-05:00| host-10027| I125: Reading symbol versions from /lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/Module.symvers.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.705-05:00| host-10027| I125: Read 23240 symbol versions
2019-07-05T12:16:47.705-05:00| host-10027| I125: Kernel header path retrieved from FileEntry: /lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include
2019-07-05T12:16:47.705-05:00| host-10027| I125: Update kernel header path to /lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include
2019-07-05T12:16:47.705-05:00| host-10027| I125: Validating path "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include" for kernel release "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.705-05:00| host-10027| I125: using /usr/bin/gcc-8 for preprocess check
2019-07-05T12:16:47.709-05:00| host-10027| I125: Preprocessed UTS_RELEASE, got value "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.709-05:00| host-10027| I125: The header path "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include" for the kernel "5.0.0-20-generic" is valid.  Whoohoo!
2019-07-05T12:16:47.710-05:00| host-10027| I125: Found compiler at "/usr/bin/gcc"
2019-07-05T12:16:47.711-05:00| host-10027| I125: Got gcc version "8".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.711-05:00| host-10027| I125: The GCC version matches the kernel GCC minor version like a glove.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.712-05:00| host-10027| I125: Got gcc version "8".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.712-05:00| host-10027| I125: The GCC version matches the kernel GCC minor version like a glove.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.714-05:00| host-10027| I125: Trying to find a suitable PBM set for kernel "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.714-05:00| host-10027| I125: No matching PBM set was found for kernel "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.714-05:00| host-10027| I125: The GCC version matches the kernel GCC minor version like a glove.
2019-07-05T12:16:47.714-05:00| host-10027| I125: Validating path "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include" for kernel release "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.714-05:00| host-10027| I125: using /usr/bin/gcc-8 for preprocess check
2019-07-05T12:16:47.718-05:00| host-10027| I125: Preprocessed UTS_RELEASE, got value "5.0.0-20-generic".
2019-07-05T12:16:47.718-05:00| host-10027| I125: The header path "/lib/modules/5.0.0-20-generic/build/include" for the kernel "5.0.0-20-generic" is valid.  Whoohoo!

I can't spot any real error in there.

I'm stuck. Can someone coach me on how to get 15.1 to run on Ubuntu 19.04. Thanks.

[Rottweiler · Accepted solution]

Well, if anyone is curious, I "solved" the issue by turning off Secure Boot in the BIOS of this machine. I didn't have to disturb any of the other UEFI stuff. I don't much care for this workaround but at least I no longer have to fiddle with the silly "MOK" stuff every time the kernel is updated. Found the below article that suggested turning off Secure Boot. Anyways, Workstation Pro 15.1 is now running great on Ubuntu 19.04.

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2103112

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