VMware Workstation 15.5.6 - vmci kernel module fails to build with 4.15.0-108 kernel (Ubuntu 18.04LTS)

[JPRasquin]

Hi,

I just updated Ubuntu and kernel switched from 4.15.0-106 to 4.15.0-108 ... so on first start, Workstation requested to recompile the kernel modules, but it fails (on vmci) ...

I could just find older posts relating to other modules failing to compile, but not vmci.

So for now I just reboot the older kernel, but well that's not the point of updates :smileygrin:

I attached the log below, any hint would be appreciated

Note : I started looking at the source, but there are a tad too many things to look at and no time for debugging this at source-level So I was hoping for some update maybe from vmware themselves on this ?

JP.

[scott28tt]

There is an "attach" function in the bottom-right of the post creator which is useful for logs and other long dumps of text - it can make threads easier to read rather than long scrolling.

[JPRasquin]

I updated the post ... I expected that since it was just pasting the bit with the error messages, that it was ok this way ... I've just attached the full log as attachment now.

[mkubecek]

There is no reason to build out-of-tree vmci module for a system with 4.15 kernel; it has been upstreamed long ago (IIRC 3.8 or 3.9). The only host modules you need are vmmon and vmnet.

[JPRasquin]

Well I'm not trying to build anything on my own here... All I want is for it to just continue working as before the kernel update.

vmware workstation does by itself ... when I run it, it requires me to agree to update kernel modules (due to the kernel update, I can't choose anything other than either update or cancel) and then fails with the described error, and there's no running it...

Only way to get workstation to work again is booting the previous kernel, obviously, for which it built whatever modules it decided to after last kernel update ...

[blastwave]

Just a follow up to say that vmmon and vmnet modules are broken again. Slightly.

I worked through this issue with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 for wkstn_12.5.8,  wkstn_12.5.9

and wkstn_14.1.1 and here we are again with 15.5.6 and Debian Linux with kernel 5.7.1.

Nothing new. Probably some small tweak needed.

In the past there were minor changes :

sedna# diff -c bridge.c_wkstn_12.5.9 bridge.c
*** bridge.c_wkstn_12.5.9       2018-01-09 07:13:20.000000000 +0000
--- bridge.c    2018-01-17 02:35:33.613538418 +0000
***************
*** 636,642 ****
         unsigned long flags;
         int i;

!        atomic_inc(&clone->users);

         clone->dev = dev;
         clone->protocol = eth_type_trans(clone, dev);
--- 636,642 ----
         unsigned long flags;
         int i;

!        clone = skb_get(clone);

         clone->dev = dev;
         clone->protocol = eth_type_trans(clone, dev);
sedna#

So I will extract the vmmon and vmnet sources and see what the real issue is as the installer give little or no information really.

[blastwave]

Please see issue on github regarding :

Follow up. Revert back to 5.6.0-2-amd64 solves the issue. Thus we now know that the jump to 5.7.x will break vmmon and vmnet compile.

debian 5.7.0-1-amd64 kernel causes vmmon and vmnet to fail · Issue #64 · mkubecek/vmware-host-module...

Dennis

[JPRasquin]

Following mkubecek​ 's suggestion to help debug the issue on github actually solved the issue for me :

debian 5.7.0-1-amd64 kernel causes vmmon and vmnet to fail · Issue #64 · mkubecek/vmware-host-module...

running vmware-modconfig --console --install-all from a terminal

[JPRasquin]

So there I got another Ubuntu update today ... kernel went to .109 ...

And again, vmware workstation tries to compile vmci module, but so does now "vmware-modconfig --console --install-all" as well, I've attached the full screen output below.

Any clue would again be very welcome, since for the time being, I'm back booting the previous kernel

JP.

[JPRasquin]

Kernel update .111 dropped today, this time simply starting vmware asked to compile modules, and it didn't try to compile vmci for a change, it just compiled vmnet and vmmon and that was that...

I have no clue the heck was wrong for the previous 2 kernel updates ... crossing fingers this won't happen every other new kernel ...