vmxnet3 and Ubuntu 8.04LTS Server

[awc1]

I am using ESXi server 4.0 to create an Ubuntu 8.04LTS server image. It has installed fine and I now want to switch from the E1000 NIC to the VMXNET3 driver.

uname -r in Ubuntu outputs:

2.6.24-23-server

Following the OSP install guide to add vmware-tools I get to:

apt-get install vmware-tools

It outputs:

=========================

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree

Reading state information... Done

The following extra packages will be installed:

linux-image-2.6.24-16-generic vmware-open-vm-tools vmware-open-vm-tools-common

vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod-2.6.24-16-generic vmware-open-vm-tools-nox vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-display

vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-mouse vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-utilities vmware-tools-common vmware-tools-nox

Suggested packages:

linux-doc-2.6.24 linux-source-2.6.24

The following NEW packages will be installed:

linux-image-2.6.24-16-generic vmware-open-vm-tools vmware-open-vm-tools-common

vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod-2.6.24-16-generic vmware-open-vm-tools-nox vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-display

vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-mouse vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-utilities vmware-tools vmware-tools-common vmware-tools-nox

0 upgraded, 11 newly installed, 0 to remove and 44 not upgraded.

Need to get 29.3MB of archives.

After this operation, 107MB of additional disk space will be used.

Do you want to continue ?

========================================

Now, I am unsure if wanting to install linux-image-2.6.24-16-generic makes sense as that does not line up with my currently installed Kernel. But I click "Y" anyway....

Install output:

================================================

Get:1 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/main vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod-2.6.24-16-generic 8.0.0-0.164009.165940

Get:2 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main linux-image-2.6.24-16-generic 2.6.24-16.30 http://17.7MB

Get:3 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/main vmware-open-vm-tools-common 8.0.0-0.164009.165940

Get:4 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/main vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-display 10.16.1.0 http://31.3kB

Get:5 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/main vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-mouse 12.6.2.0 http://13.8kB

Get:6 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/main vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-utilities 8.0.0-0.164009.165940

Get:7 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/restricted vmware-tools-common 8.0.0-0.164009.165940

Get:8 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/main vmware-open-vm-tools-nox 8.0.0-0.164009.165940

Get:9 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/main vmware-open-vm-tools 8.0.0-0.164009.165940

Get:10 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/restricted vmware-tools-nox 8.0.0-0.164009.165940

Get:11 http://packages.vmware.com hardy/restricted vmware-tools 8.0.0-0.164009.165940

Fetched 29.3MB in 6s (4595kB/s)

Selecting previously deselected package linux-image-2.6.24-16-generic.

(Reading database ... 15273 files and directories currently installed.)

Unpacking linux-image-2.6.24-16-generic (from .../linux-image-2.6.24-16-generic_2.6.24-16.30_amd64.deb) ...

Done.

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod-2.6.24-16-generic.

Unpacking vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod-2.6.24-16-generic (from .../vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod-2.6.24-16-generic_8.0.0-0.164009.165940_amd64.deb) ...

Setting up linux-image-2.6.24-16-generic (2.6.24-16.30) ...

Running depmod.

update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic

Running postinst hook script /sbin/update-grub.

Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub

Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default

Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst

Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...

Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-server

Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic

Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin

Replacing config file /var/run/grub/menu.lst with new version

Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

Setting up vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod-2.6.24-16-generic (8.0.0-0.164009.165940) ...

update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-open-vm-tools-common.

(Reading database ... 17378 files and directories currently installed.)

Unpacking vmware-open-vm-tools-common (from .../vmware-open-vm-tools-common_8.0.0-0.164009.165940_amd64.deb) ...

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-display.

Unpacking vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-display (from .../vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-display_10.16.1.0_amd64.deb) ...

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-mouse.

Unpacking vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-mouse (from .../vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-mouse_12.6.2.0_amd64.deb) ...

Setting up vmware-open-vm-tools-common (8.0.0-0.164009.165940) ...

Checking acpi hot plug done

Starting VMware Tools services in the virtual machine:

Switching to guest configuration: done

Paravirtual SCSI module: failed

Guest memory manager: failed

VM communication interface: failed

VM communication interface socket family: failed

Guest operating system daemon: done

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-utilities.

(Reading database ... 17511 files and directories currently installed.)

Unpacking vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-utilities (from .../vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-utilities_8.0.0-0.164009.165940_amd64.deb) ...

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-tools-common.

Unpacking vmware-tools-common (from .../vmware-tools-common_8.0.0-0.164009.165940_amd64.deb) ...

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-open-vm-tools-nox.

Unpacking vmware-open-vm-tools-nox (from .../vmware-open-vm-tools-nox_8.0.0-0.164009.165940_amd64.deb) ...

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-open-vm-tools.

Unpacking vmware-open-vm-tools (from .../vmware-open-vm-tools_8.0.0-0.164009.165940_amd64.deb) ...

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-tools-nox.

Unpacking vmware-tools-nox (from .../vmware-tools-nox_8.0.0-0.164009.165940_amd64.deb) ...

Selecting previously deselected package vmware-tools.

Unpacking vmware-tools (from .../vmware-tools_8.0.0-0.164009.165940_amd64.deb) ...

Setting up vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-display (10.16.1.0) ...

Setting up vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-drv-mouse (12.6.2.0) ...

Setting up vmware-open-vm-tools-xorg-utilities (8.0.0-0.164009.165940) ...

Setting up vmware-tools-common (8.0.0-0.164009.165940) ...

Setting up vmware-open-vm-tools-nox (8.0.0-0.164009.165940) ...

Setting up vmware-open-vm-tools (8.0.0-0.164009.165940) ...

Setting up vmware-tools-nox (8.0.0-0.164009.165940) ...

Setting up vmware-tools (8.0.0-0.164009.165940) ...

===============================

As you can see I get a lot of fails and no vmxnet3 module seems to be installed. Well, at least for my existing kernel.

If I force GRUB to load the older Kernel, I get kicked to a Recover Menu prompting me to:

resume normal boot

repair broken packages

etc....

I chose resume normal boot for fun. In this case, all of the vmware tool services start successfully.

Am I missing something here? I am annoyed I am being forced to use an older kernel in Ubuntu to install vmware-tools.

I could compile the tar file I suppose. The only thing is, I am am using LTS Server and the install stack is very limited. So I would need to try and install the dependencies to compile the tar file of vmware tools.

Questions?

Is there any solution to use the current kernel I have installed on my machine and install with apt-get? I find it surprising that there is no support for the kernel I am using.

If I have to compile the vmware-tool myself. Does anyone know all the packages/dependecies I need to install to get it to compile successfully on Ubuntu LTS Server?

Thanks in advance to anyone that can offer guidance.

[runclear]

I'm using the exact version you are of ubuntu for some of my nix guests....

Have you tired to install the vmware-tools from the cd? I had zero issues doing it this way... I think i did however have issues with the newer 9.04? version..

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[awc1]

Thanks. It has been a while since I installed a vmware-tools tar file. I guess I was spoiled by RHEL5 automatic tools installation. I'm branching out to Ubunutu LTS now and it is these small gotchas that always make thing fun.

I am disappointed that VMware's official OSP documentation does not actually work - I wasted a lot of time thinking I did something wrong. But it is the VMware OSP Ubuntu install guide that is wrong. Grrrr.

As an additional note, a plain vanilla Ubuntu 8.04.3LTS server install does not require any additional items to be installed before running the TAR install. It went through without a hitch. No dependencies needed to be installed.

Thanks again.