sabennett's Posts

PSA: Updated my Pop!_OS kernel Linux Lenovo 6.1.12-060112-generic #202302141939 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Feb 14 19:45:10 UTC 2023 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux   Starting VMWorkstation required a recompile on of VMMON and VMNET which completed successfully without having to do the patch process.      

Upgraded to VMWare Workstation Pro 17.0 and ran the above steps to fix compile issue. Then upgraded to VMWare Workstation 17.01 and did not require a patch. System Pop!_OS kernel 6.0.12-76060006-generic

Sorry for the late reply. Hopefully you've found a solution by now. I'm on Pop!_OS kernel 6.0.12-76060006-generic running VMWare Workstation Pro 17 with upgraded VM's without any issue at this moment.  Did you try running the patch method detailed in the link but using "workstation-17.0.0.tar.gz"? The patch commands would look like this:  (Remember to SUDO the last two command lines) wget https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/archive/workstation-17.0.0.tar.gz tar -xzf workstation-17.0.0.tar.gz cd vmware-host-modules-workstation-17.0.0 tar -cf vmmon.tar vmmon-only tar -cf vmnet.tar vmnet-only cp -v vmmon.tar vmnet.tar /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/ vmware-modconfig --console --install-all In this case, last two commands require root privileges.    

Update Edit:  I purchased (for 100 USD) and downloaded WS-17 and ran the installer bundle (I'm on Pop!_OS) and just like that and Bob's your Uncle it uninstalled WS-16.2.5 and installed WS-17. Took less than 5 minutes and I'm back up and running!  Thanks VMware Dev's   I was wondering this exact same thing. Unfortunately I have not found an answer. It appears that there is no up-gradable path from WS-16 to WS-17 (FWIW I'm running WS on Linux) I'm always a sucker for the latest and greatest version, so I'll uninstall WS-16 and install WS-17 A discount of the purchase price would be nice tho.

After getting Workstation 16.2.3 running I upgraded to 16.2.4 Ran through the same steps remembering to update the version number to download to 16.2.4  All good. Thanks again to @mkubecek for maintaining the GIT repo and providing excellent instructions.    

For whatever it's worth ... After upgrading Pop!_OS, I performed the steps laid out in my post here >>>  https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/VM-Workstation-16-1-gt-16-2-1-on-Ubuntu-21-10-broke-everything/m-p/2885866/highlight/true#M173279  And as long as you remember to change/update the Workstation version to the one you are currently on it should work fine. I just ran it against 16.2.3 with no issue. NOTE: DON'T FORGET TO USE SUDO ON THE LAST TWO COMMANDS It appears that there are a few other solutions posted so it's good to have a choice. Cheers

I upgraded my Pop_OS to that latest kernel "5.16.15-76051615-generic" Workstation Pro 16.2.1 started without issue (but in case it doesn't try the steps below using 16.2.1 instead of the 16.2.3) I then upgraded Workstation Pro to 16.2.3 and indeed I had compile issues. I used the following commands to solve my compile issue against Workstation Pro 16.2.3 (Note you can run this against most version of Workstation Pro by replacing the version number "16.2.3" with your Workstation Pro version, for example "16.2.1") wget https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/archive/workstation-16.2.3.tar.gz tar -xzf workstation-16.2.3.tar.gz cd vmware-host-modules-workstation-16.2.3 tar -cf vmmon.tar vmmon-only tar -cf vmnet.tar vmnet-only sudo cp -v vmmon.tar vmnet.tar /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/ sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all      

I'm not a developer or a big Github "user" if you will ... I think the method mentioned in this post to pull from Github only works if you've cloned the repository. There is an INSTALL guide in the link provided by @DeathCamel57 that provides other install alternatives, including the setup procedures required to Build and Install the modules directly. Clicky here for RAW format of INSTALL directions  DeathCamel57's link to Git repo  I've performed the "Second Method" under the first section labeled "0. Quick guide for impatient" in that file. It worked perfectly for me. I recommend you read the entire file and decide for yourself how to proceed. The following is copied from the INSTALL file (Credit to @mkubecek ) NOTE: You need to update the version from the install file from 14.1.1 to 16.2.1 for the wget address AND make sure to do the last two commands with sudo Second method (replace original tarballs): wget https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/archive/workstation-16.2.1.tar.gz tar -xzf workstation-16.2.1.tar.gz cd vmware-host-modules-workstation-16.2.1 tar -cf vmmon.tar vmmon-only tar -cf vmnet.tar vmnet-only cp -v vmmon.tar vmnet.tar /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/ vmware-modconfig --console --install-all In this case, last two commands require root privileges. I've also attached the INSTALL as a text file.

EDIT Update Dec30 2021:  Likely the methods shown in this post are better solutions than what I have posted here though this still works for 16.2.1 on Pop!_OS 21.10 --- I will try my best to clean up the steps and add more detail and linux commands But first to make it clear I was not able to compile vmnet only vmmon after I modified the file vm_asm_x86.h found in the vmmon-only directory. I could not find the equivalent file in vmnet-only directory. I'm not sure what the side effects may be by not having vmnet compiled correctly but for now everything seems ok on my Pop!_OS 21.10 install of VMWare WS 16.2 Also there are a couple differences in compile errors depending on where you are starting from "I think ...?" I believe if you previously had a working copy of VMWare WS and then did the kernal upgrade only the vmmon failed to compile correctly. However I uninstalled my VMware 16.1 and tried 16.2 hoping it would solve the compile issue and thus "I think" is the reason why I'm seeing the vmnet compile issue as well as the vmmon (I'm guessing totally guessing). This procedure is written from the point where I've just done a fresh install of VMware WS 16.2 With that out of the way here are the detailed steps of updating vmmon (vmnet would be almost the same with exception to whatever file would be modified and perhaps the directory structure) Assumptions: 1. You have access to elevated priviledges meaning you can use the 'sudo' command 2. You have a perferred text editor like gedit, vim, leaf, etc installed 3. You have VMware Workstation installed. 4. You know how to open a terminal session   Steps to compile vmmon: 1. Navigate to the directory '/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/' I perfer the command line (CLI) to do this, open your terminal application and type cd /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/ Like this: scott@lenovow540:~$ cd /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/   2. Depending on your current VMware setup you may or may not see the directories vmnet-only and vmmon-only. If you're using the terminal use the ls command to see the directory contents. At the very least you should see two 'tar' files 'vmmon.tar' and 'vmnet.tar' 3. If the 'vmnet-only' and 'vmmon-only' directoy do NOT exist then use the following command with elevated priviledges in terminal 'sudo tar xvf vmmon.tar' Your terminal screen should look something like this but the underline part will be your computer information and the bold is what you need to enter on the command line: scott@lenovow540:/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source$ sudo tar xvf vmmon.tar   4. In the terminal type cd vmmon-only You terminal prompt should look something like this: scott@lenovow540:/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source$ cd vmmon-only/include/   5. Use a text editor in elevated privilege mode (sudo). I believe gedit is preinstalled with ubuntu and pop!_os but any text editor will do such as vi or vim etc. So using gedit command like this: scott@lenovow540:/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only/include$ sudo gedit vm_asm_x86.h   6. Edit the vm_asm_x86.h file commenting out the compile issues from line 65 to 70 NOT 71 then 72. Just in case you're not aware, programmers place comments in their code, for example to explain what the following code function performs or to remove old code etc. Depending on the code there different methods to comment "out" a line of code. I think the code here is in "C" so any line with double "//" (not including the quotes) is ignored by the computer (compiler). Basically scroll down to line 65. If you're using gedit the line numbers are on the left hand side. Make sure you add the double // on lines 65,66,67,68,69,70 and 72 as shown by @tomarmistead Update EDIT: Originally I referenced earlier in my post commenting out line 65 to 72 (because lazy) tho I did identify the lines specifically to comment out plus referencing @tomarmistead original code change after but by then it's too late. DO NOT COMMENT OUT LINE 71.  The line of code that says "#define ASSERT_ON_COMPILE_SELECTOR_SIZE(expr)" 65 //#ifndef USE_UBSAN 66 //#define ASSERT_ON_COMPILE_SELECTOR_SIZE(expr) \ 67 // ASSERT_ON_COMPILE(sizeof(Selector) == 2 && \ 68 // ((__builtin_constant_p(expr) && ((expr) >> 16) == 0) || \ 69 // sizeof(expr) <= 2)) 70 //#else 71 #define ASSERT_ON_COMPILE_SELECTOR_SIZE(expr)     <<<---- DO NOT COMMENT OUT this line 72 //#endif   7. Save and close gedit.   8. Back in the terminal type: cd .. Like this: scott@lenovow540:/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only/include$ cd ..   9. In the terminal type: sudo make Like this: scott@lenovow540:/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon-only$ sudo make   10. In the terminal type: cd ..   11. You should be back in the sources directory Like this: scott@lenovow540:/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source$   12. NOTE: Now its rinse and repeat minus the file edit because I'm not a coder and don't know what file or what to change for the vmnet. That said I believe you still need to do the 'make' even though it doesn't complete successfully. The next steps look like this from the terminal (CLI)...   13. sudo tar xvf vmnet.tar 14. cd vmnet-only 15. sudo make 16. cd .. 17. sudo cp vmmon.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/misc/vmmon.ko 18. sudo cp vmnet.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/misc/vmnet.ko 19. sudo depmod -a 20. sudo systemctl restart vmware.service   21. Start VMware WS from the graphical interface. Clicky the icon   Sorry I don't know a way to do all this from a graphical interface point of view (aka windows) specifically the "make" function. Good luck I hope this works for you.  I have a second machine running Pop!_OS and repeated these steps and it worked for me the second time.  

I just upgraded my Pop!_OS to 21.10 (regretting this now) and I'm receiving somewhat the same compile issue, instead of vmmon its vmnet VMware compile fails with "Skipping BTF generation for /tmp/modconfig-9C2Ftg/vmnet-only/vmnet.ko due to unavailability of vmlinux" Before finding this post I've uninstalled 16.1 and tried to install 16.2 (obviously that didn't work) I've installed the headers with "apt install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)" root@lenovow540:/usr/lib# uname -r 5.15.8-76051508-generic I tried the steps posted here but that didn't work for me. (likely because its vmmon and not vmnet) Because I had been messing around trying other methods before I found this post, I decided to start over fresh again, so I reinstalled VMWare WS 16.2. Now after the install there is only the 2 tar files for vmnet and vmmon, I extracted those tar files manually (tar xvf vmnet.tar then tar xvf vmmon.tar) and modified the vm_asm_x86.h in ./vmmon-only/ before doing the make and make install. Now the 'Make' for vmmon went great no errors however the make install returned "Using kernel build system. make: *** No rule to make target 'install'. Stop." I don't know if this is good or bad.  So I did what I do when my car makes a bad noise I turned up the radio so I couldn't hear it and moved on. As far as the vmnet-only directory I'm not sure what file to modify.  The 'make' fails with: Skipping BTF generation for /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmnet-only/vmnet.ko due to unavailability of vmlinux make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-5.15.8-76051508-generic' So sticking my head in the sand (again) I moved on with the following. Before I found this thread I tried the method in this post here which didn't work because it doesn't have a step to comment out line 65-72 as you identified in file vm_asm_x86.h (located in ./vmmon-only). But now I've had some success. So I followed the last few step of the thread : cp vmmon.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/misc/vmmon.ko cp vmnet.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/misc/vmnet.ko depmod -a systemctl restart vmware.service   And well success. I'll be honest, I have no idea what I've done or am doing but THANK-YOU! Thanks @tomarmistead for the code edit and thanks @gdelcampo for a solution in another thread and thanks to @DigitalDude for having almost the exact same issue as me on the same platform and directing me to this great thread. I don't know if this convoluted mess of a post will help anyone but there it is. And thanks again.