Workstation 17.0 /dev/vmmon cannot start on Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS

[cowboyhacker]

Ok, Workstation 17 was working fine, then a new Ubuntu OS update came along and broke it.

I have tried:

1) Uninstall and re-install, no good.

2) sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all --appname="VMware Player" --icon="vmware-player"
3) output  of  sudo /etc/init.d/vmware start

Starting VMware services:
Virtual machine monitor failed
Virtual machine communication interface done
VM communication interface socket family done
Virtual ethernet failed
VMware Authentication Daemon done

What else may be causing this? Thank you in advance for any guidance.

[mfelker]

Do you get this error using any other VMs or starting WS 17 itself?   What OS is your host?  If these questions are irrelevant I'm sorry - haven't posted for many years.

[cowboyhacker]

mfelker, thank you for wanting to assist.

Workstation 17 starts just fine, it is when you attempt to start the VM after it has been loaded, that is when it throws the error.

Running Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS

I think it has to do with an update that changed the kernel,

I am trying to understand how VM leverages these entities, and how they are trusted for the kernel, and how to get these known again by the kernel.

[R-Cooke]

Same problem with VMware Player 17.0.2 build-21581411

Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS

uanme -a

Linux developer1 5.19.0-46-generic #47~22.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Wed Jun 21 15:35:31 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I did the driver signing procedure that worked under Ubuntu 20.04.  But I have read around that there appears to be a problem with it under this new kernel. 

I have not figured out yet whether this is a:

1. Problem with Ubuntu's internal DKMS and mok system not working with the new kernel, or

2. This new kernel expects a different signing system that VMware has to support?

A quick way to expose the error:

sudo modprobe vmnet
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'vmnet': Key was rejected by service

[R-Cooke]

Great news!

The latest kernel and OS updates for Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS have fixed it!

The kernel has also updated to:

uname -a
Linux developer1 6.2.0-26-generic #26~22.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Jul 13 

[TakiPC]

The update didn't fix the problem.

[jmmacip]

Here you have the solution, if you have secure boot enabled you need to sign the kernel drivers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOnrdMQd1vU

[R-Cooke]

The Kernel/OS update fixed it automatically on 2 machines, after I did the update, rebooted, re-started Player.  Player gave that "I have to compile drivers..." message then it completed without error and everything works.

On ONE machine it was not automatic.  I had to do the update, then follow the instructions to re-sign the drivers.  And then it still would not load until after a few more re-boots and re-signs.  Then it started to work.  Weird.

if your getting the missing driver error, keep at it.  If its some other error please elaborate.

[R-Cooke]

As per my earlier post, I was unable to get the signed drivers to load.  Seems to be a bug in that kernel.  Seems to be fixed in the latest update.