VMWare – Fixing Ubuntu 17.10 Upgrade Breaking VMWare Workstation 12.5

17.10gccupgradevmwarevmware-workstation

Hi after upgrading to Ubuntu 17.10, vmware is now not starting.

I get the message:

/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware-modconfig: Relink `/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbsd.so.0' with `/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/librt.so.1' for IFUNC symbol `clock_gettime'

I am aware that there are patches available and I am attempting to apply these and recompile. I have run from the solution at https://communities.vmware.com/thread/571370:

cd ~  
#Copy the vmmon source tar ball to your temporary location
cp /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon.tar .   
#Extract the tar ball
tar xf vmmon.tar  

#Download the modified file that mkubecek posted and overwrite the one from the tar ball for VMware Workstation 12.5:
wget -O ./vmmon-only/linux/hostif.c https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/b50848c985f1a6c0a341187346d77f0119d0a835/vmmon-only/linux/hostif.c   

#Wrap up the newly modified files into a tar ball replacing the original one
sudo tar cf /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon.tar vmmon-only  

#Rebuild the VMware kernel modules
sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all  
Failed to get gcc information. 
gcc --version
gcc (Ubuntu 7.2.0-8ubuntu3) 7.2.0 ...

Unforunately, vmware-modconfig is failing because of a dependency it seems on a particular gcc version. Am I on the right track?
Any help with this issue would be much appreciated.

EDIT
Thank you Steve, the below has gotten vmware going again. I've included minor correction. Tested and confirmed I could run a virtual machine.

sudo su

# do all below as root
cd /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source
tar xvf vmmon.tar 
tar xvf vmnet.tar
wget -O ./vmmon-only/linux/hostif.c https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/b50848c985f1a6c0a341187346d77f0119d0a835/vmmon-only/linux/hostif.c
vim vmnet-only/bridge.c
cd vmmon-only/
make
cd ../vmnet-only/
make
cd ..
mkdir /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/misc
cp *.o /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/misc
insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/misc/vmmon.o
insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/misc/vmnet.o
rm /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libz.so.1/libz.so.1
ln -s /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libz.so.1/libz.so.1
vmware-networks --start
exit

# run vmware as normal user
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware

Best Answer

I've managed to get VMWare Workstation 12.5.7 working on Kubuntu 17.10.

In /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source:

Extract vmmon.tar and vmnet.tar
```
sudo tar -xf vmmon.tar
sudo tar -xf vmnet.tar
```
This will create vmmon-only and vmnet-only directories.

Fetch the patched hostif.c

sudo wget -O vmmon-only/linux/hostif.c https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/b50848c985f1a6c0a341187346d77f0119d0a835/vmmon-only/linux/hostif.c

(note: https://communities.vmware.com/thread/571370 - also contains a similar fix for VMWare Workstation 14)

Edit vmnet-only/bridge.c:

639c639
<        atomic_inc(&clone->users);
---
>        atomic_inc((atomic_t*)&clone->users);

Run

make -C vmmon-only
make -C vmnet-only
cp -t /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/misc *.ko
modprobe -r vmmon
insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/misc/vmmon.ko
rm /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libz.so.1/libz.so.1
ln -s /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libz.so.1/libz.so.1  # see https://communities.vmware.com/thread/572259
vmware-networks --start  # see https://forum.chakralinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=8579

As user:
```
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware
```
(to prevent it running vmware-modconfig)

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It's likely you need to install the libc6-dev package. The errors you see indicate the linker (ld) is unable to link against the C library (and the object files it mentions, crt1.o for example, are part of this package).

I suggest you do sudo apt-get install build-essential, it will install, well, the essential tools and packages for basic builds to work. build-essential is a meta-package, which doesn't install any files of its own but depends on the required packages, so it's a safe bet to install it.

Ubuntu – Vmware Workstation on Ubuntu 17.04

I had exactly the same problem. The solution that worked for me is in this article:
How to install VMWare Workstation 12 on Linux 4.10 Kernel

Install VMware as normal

In our case we installed VMware with a bundle file. To get the bundle to run you have to run chmod u+x on it, then run:
```
sudo ./VMware-Workstation-Full-12.5.bundle #(example filename)
```
Install GCC and build-essentials
```
sudo apt install gcc build-essential
```

Patch VMware

sudo tar -xf /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon.tar
sudo nano vmmon-only/linux/hostif.c

Around line 1162, change

#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(4, 6, 0)
retval = get_user_pages((unsigned long)uvAddr, numPages, 0, 0, ppages, NULL);
#else
retval = get_user_pages(current, current->mm, (unsigned long)uvAddr,
numPages, 0, 0, ppages, NULL);
#endif

#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(4, 10, 0)
retval = get_user_pages((unsigned long)uvAddr, numPages, 0, ppages, NULL);
#else
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(4, 6, 0)
retval = get_user_pages((unsigned long)uvAddr, numPages, 0, 0, ppages, NULL);
#else
retval = get_user_pages(current, current->mm, (unsigned long)uvAddr,
numPages, 0, 0, ppages, NULL);
#endif
#endif

Save the file and exit, then:

sudo tar -cf /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmmon.tar vmmon-only/
sudo tar -xf /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmnet.tar
sudo nano vmnet-only/userif.c

Below line 114, change

#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(4, 6, 0)
retval = get_user_pages(addr, 1, 1, 0, &page, NULL);
#else
retval = get_user_pages(current, current->mm, addr,
1, 1, 0, &page, NULL);
#endif

#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(4, 10, 0)
retval = get_user_pages(addr, 1, 0, &page, NULL);
#else
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(4, 6, 0)
retval = get_user_pages(addr, 1, 1, 0, &page, NULL);
#else
retval = get_user_pages(current, current->mm, addr,
1, 1, 0, &page, NULL);
#endif
#endif

Save the file, exit, and then re-tar that one too

 sudo tar -cf /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/vmnet.tar vmnet-only/

Run VMware again
Now just start VMware as normal and it should install vmon and vmnet correctly.

Best Answer

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