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GKallas
Contributor
Contributor

VMWare Workstation 8 or 10 under CentOS 6.4 runs into "start .. Virtual machine monitor [FAILED]" error

It seems that is a really old problem but after an intensive research I didn't find any solution.

Im running CentOS with kernel 2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64. I've installed VMWare Workstation 10 and got an error

Starting VMware services:

   Virtual machine monitor                                 [FAILED]

   Virtual machine communication interface                 [  OK  ]

   VM communication interface socket family                [  OK  ]

   Blocking file system                                    [  OK  ]

   Virtual ethernet                                        [  OK  ]

   VMware Authentication Daemon                            [  OK  ]

vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

didn't help either. It runs without an error but the problem isn't solved. I tried also VMWare Workstation 9, 8, 6. No one runs.

I'd be happy to get any hint that helps me to find a way to get VMWare up and running. Many thanks in advance.

- Gerald

13 Replies
GKallas
Contributor
Contributor

Finally it comes down to

# modprobe vmmon

FATAL: Error inserting vmmon (/lib/modules/2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64/misc/vmmon.ko): Invalid module format

#

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HuanguoZhong
VMware Employee
VMware Employee


Seems you've upgraded the kernel version, the default kernel version of CentOS 6.4 is 2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64, we'll try to reproduce it. And if you can upload the vmware-installer log under /var/log/, that will be helpful.

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GKallas
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your reply. I've installed again VMware-Workstation-Full-8.0.6-1035888.x86_64.bundle.

Afterwards I've executed

mv /usr/lib/vmware/modules/binary /usr/lib/vmware/modules/binary.bkp

vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

See the vmware-installer log below. I did found this as well, may be this helps.

https://communities.vmware.com/message/881152#881152

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wjwj
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

I can run Workstation 10 well on the default kernel 2.6.32-358.e16.x86_64 and latest version 2.6.32-358.18.1.e16.x86_64 on CentOS6.4 x64. Can you please try it with the latter kernel version?

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HuanguoZhong
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

We can not reproduce it, please try to update to latest kernel 2.6.32-358.18.1.e16.x86_64, or clean the env manually according to URL:

http://knova-prod-kcc-vip.vmware.com:8080/contactcenter/php/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTy... , and install WS again. Thanks.

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GKallas
Contributor
Contributor

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GKallas
Contributor
Contributor

Additional info, I'm using a virtual CentOS environment in the cloud.

I've set up a fresh installed machine in this environment and uploaded VMware Workstation at /tmp dir (that's the version wherefore I have a license).

May be you can try to reproduce the behaviour in this environment. The server does have the following data

SSH access

j63813.servers.jiffybox.net

user/passwd via PM per request

It's a virtual server you can play around, I'll delete it after the tests.

P.S. The link http://knova-prod-kcc-vip.vmware.com:8080/contactcenter/php/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTy... doesn't work for me.

P.S. Changed the passwd due to security reasons, you may get the current one via PM

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HuanguoZhong
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Sorry, I'm not sure how to get the passwd, and I've tried to install a nest CentOS6.4 VM, and install WS in the VM, it succeed.

And I've pasted the contents of the link below, hope it helps:

Note: Log into the host using the root account to execute
the terminal commands in this article. If running Ubuntu, the root account is
not available by default. Prepend all commands with sudo, or switch
to root using this command:

sudo su -

Warning: This command provides unrestricted
access to the operating system. It is possible to cause damage to the system
when using this access level.


1.Open a command prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell
prompt (1003892). Type the commands as indicated in the steps of this
procedure.

2.Shut down all VMware applications and
services.

/etc/init.d/vmware stop

3.Verify that all processes have stopped:

lsmod | grep vm

Note: A zero must be listed beside VMware
related modules to indicate that they are no longer running.

4.Move the VMware libraries to the /tmp
directory:

cd /lib/modules/kernel_version/misc
mv vm* /tmp

Note: If the kernel has ever been updated,
you must check and move the files from multiple paths. Substitute the kernel
version where indicated above.

5.Unload the kernel modules:

rmmod vmnet.o
rmmod
vmmon.o
rmmod vmci.o
rmmod vmblock.o
rmmod vmppuser.o

6.Remove the VMware startup scripts:

RedHat and Most
Distributions:

rm /etc/rc.d/init.d/rc2.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc.d/init.d/rc3.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc.d/init.d/rc5.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc.d/init.d/rc6.d/*vmware*

Ubuntu:

rm /etc/rc2.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc3.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc5.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc6.d/*vmware*

Note: If you are using a
different Linux distribution, substitute the correct path in the
commands.

7.Remove the remaining VMware files and directories:

rm -rf
/etc/vmware*
rm /usr/bin/vmware-usbarbitrator
rm /usr/bin/vmnet*
rm -r
/usr/lib/vmware*
rm -r /usr/share/doc/vmware*

8.If an RPM package was used to install the VMware product, complete these
steps to delete the RPM database entry:

rpm -qa | grep VMware

Note: A list of VMware packages is
presented. Copy the exact package name for the next step and paste it into the
command where indicated.

9.Remove the VMware packages:

rpm --erase --nodeps VMware_Package_Name

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GKallas
Contributor
Contributor

I've send you the login data via Private Message. It's a clean install, so far no environment cleansing is necessary. Please check the further details in the message I sent. Many thanks in advance.

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OscarDavey
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Hello,

Have you upgraded your CentOS recently?

It seems to be Host OS problem.

Check system files for errors, and try clean install.

Hope will help.

Yours, Oscar

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cooty
Contributor
Contributor

GKallas

I'm pretty sure you can't install VMware Workstation on a centos or any other virtual platform. Certainly can't on a Windows VM - the installer tells you this. Makes sense really - the hardware is behind another Hypervisor...

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HFWSterken
Contributor
Contributor

I am using CentOs for years as a desktop system, currently running 2.6.32-504.1.3.el6.x86_64 kernel

To fix this problem I used the following steps;

  1. sudo service vmware stop
  2. sudo rm /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/misc/vmmon.ko
  3. sudo vmware-modconfig --console --build-mod vmmon /usr/bin/gcc /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build/include/
  4. sudo depmod -a
  5. sudo service vmware start

Regards

josemaX
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks, HFWSterken, this worked for me.

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