27

After upgrading to 13.04 I am unable to start VMWorkstation. I get the following message:

Before you can run VMware, several modules must be compiled and loaded into the running kernel.

Kernel Headers 3.8.0-19-generic

Kernel headers for version 3.8.0-19-generic were not found. If you have installed them in a non-default path you can specify the path below.

Does anyone have any idea what to do next?

Ubuntu 13.04 64bit

If I direct the path to:

/usr/src/linux-headers-3.8.0-19-generic

I get the following message:

C header files matching your running kernel were not found.

Thanks

Additional:

As suggested I run this in terminal:

cd /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build/include/linux 

sudo ln -s ../generated/utsrelease.h 

sudo ln -s ../generated/autoconf.h 

sudo ln -s ../generated/uapi/linux/version.h

However, now I get the following:

Before you can run VMware, several modules must be compiled and loaded into the kernel CANCEL / INSTALL

I INSTALL, the window closes and nothing happens.... Any ideas?

ADDITIONAL:

I installed this:

sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-dev open-vm-dkms open-vm-toolbox open-vm-tools-dev

And it all launched...

Many thanks for the suggestions and help... This is what I love about Ubuntu... it has a great helpful community... !

Note: Also found this which may help others too: HERE

ADDITIONAL ERROR:

Could not open /dev/vmmon: Is a directory. Please make sure that the kernel module `vmmon' is loaded.

Failed to initialize monitor device.

Monitor settings all greyed out

RESOLUTION:

Re-installation of Nvidia Drivers

3

9 Answers 9

23

Hit same problem here with Ubuntu 13.04 last month. At the time, upgrading to VMWare player 5.0.2 build-1031769 solved the problem. Fast forward a month, hit a new problem today after recent 13.04 updates, again VMWare would not start. Latest VM player version is still 5.0.2. Google lead me to this explanation:

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/446490?start=0&tstart=0

Running the following vmware command with root privs solved the problem for me:

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

HTH

3
11

This worked for me:

sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r) open-vm-dkms
sudo ln -s /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/generated/uapi/linux/version.h /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/linux/version.h

then

sudo vmware-config-tools.pl

... and you are done.

1
  • This got it running again. Combine that with the patch to fix the vmnnet component. Then I ran sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all.
    – Halsafar
    Sep 6, 2013 at 17:47
3

I installed the suggested packages as above, but it still gave me the same error. Installing the latest VMWare Player solved the problem.

2

I already had the latest VMWare Player installed with the exact same problem. Simply reinstalling did help, i.e. uninstalling first and then installing again:

sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-player
sudo bash ~/Downloads/VMware-Player-5.0.2-1031769.x86_64.txt
1
  • This worked for me. I chose to keep my config files when uninstalling, so after reinstall everything is as before (e.g. all my VMs are still there), and the whole thing only took 3 minute.
    – ntc2
    Feb 22, 2018 at 22:05
1

I tried all of the solutions above including a fresh install and it still would not start. It still said, "Before you can run VMware, several modules must be compiled and loaded into the kernel CANCEL / INSTALL"

After much research, what I had to do is this: I opened a terminal and then entered:

sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-dev open-vm-dkms open-vm-toolbox open-vm-tools-dev

and then:

sudo apt-get install gcc

and then:

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all --appname="VMware Player" --icon="vmware-player"

It started right up after that. I hope this helps.

2
  • 2
    why you are installing " open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-dev open-vm-dkms open-vm-toolbox open-vm-tools-dev " on a host machine on which vmware workstation is going to installed ? they are meant to be install in Virtual machine ( guest os of vmware )
    – Qasim
    May 17, 2013 at 15:36
  • yes , I think the same way, they are for virtual machines. Mar 16, 2018 at 21:00
1

Per the Ubuntu VMWare Player install page, use

sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)

to install the headers. Then, you can either let it install or you can uninstall and reinstall vmware player.

1

YMMV, but if you have trouble with vmci-related errors (in Linux Kernel 3.8.*), this bash script posted by vincent may work. Use it after uninstalling the VMWare product first and then installing again:

#!/bin/bash
if [[ $UID != 0 ]]; then
    echo "Please run this script with sudo:"
    echo "sudo $0 $*"
    exit 1
fi

sudo ln -s /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/generated/uapi/linux/version.h /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/linux/version.h

cd /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source
sudo tar -xf vmci.tar
cd vmci-only/linux
sudo sed '127s/.*/   .remove = vmci_remove_device,/' driver.c > driver.c.tmp
mv driver.c.tmp driver.c
sudo sed '1753s/.*/static int/' driver.c > driver.c.tmp
mv driver.c.tmp driver.c
sudo sed '1981s/.*/static void/' driver.c > driver.c.tmp
mv driver.c.tmp driver.c
cd ../..
sudo tar -cf vmci.tar vmci-only/
sudo rm vmci-only/ -Rf
sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
sudo rm /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/linux/version.h
echo "Done"

Also keep an eye for VMware article in Arch Linux's wiki. This article is mainly for Arch Linux but most of patches/tricks/workarounds can be applied for Ubuntu too.

1

It looks like the main issue with vmware workstation on 13.04 is compiling modules like vmci.ko. The easiest way to get these is to do apt-get install open-vm-dkms. This installs vmci.ko, and friends.

0

First, uninstall VMWare workstation using the command

sudo vmware-installer --uninstall-product vmware-workstation  

then install the following dependencies dpkg-dev, g++, gcc, lib6-dev, libc-dev, make using the command below

sudo apt install build-essential
sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
sudo apt update
sudo reboot

Finally, reinstall VMWare workstation.

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