HOWTO: Installing VMware Workstation 6.5.3 on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic

[schiotz]

Hi!

I have a license for VMware Workstation 6.X, and I therefore wanted to install version 6.5.3 on my newly installed Ubuntu 9.10 laptop. It did not work out of the box, but googling helped with a solution, that I post here in case anybody else can use it. Note that VMware Workstation 7.X reportedly works (but my license is not valid)

A normal installation freezes. Apparently this is due to a large number of warnings from the compiler causing a deadlock. The wrapper below removes the options enabling all these warnings and allows the install script to complete.

Instructions:

1. Save the Python script below in the same directory as the downloaded VMware-Workstation-6.5.3-185404.x86_64.bundle file (or .i386. if 32 bits). Name it gcc and make it executable.
   

   #!/usr/bin/python
   
   import sys
   import copy
   import os
   
   argv = copy.copy(sys.argv)
   
   i = len(argv)
   for i in range(i-1, 0, -1):
       if len(argv[i]) > 4 and argv[i][:2] == "-W" and argv[i][3] != ",":
           del argv[i]
   
   argv[0] = "/usr/bin/gcc"
   os.execv(argv[0], argv)

2. Install with the command
   

   sudo env PATH=`pwd`:$PATH ./VMware-Workstation-6.5.3-185404.x86_64.bundle

3. Build the kernel modules with the command
   

   sudo vmware-modconfig –console –install-all

4. Finally, edit the file /etc/vmware/bootstrap and add this line to the bottom
   

   VMWARE_USE_SHIPPED_GTK=force

   If you omit this the mouse will behave in a highly erratic way.

See also http://aldeby.org/blog/index.php/vmw...comment-page-1

/Jakob

[drapsag]

this guide doesn't work....


the python script has no name, it doesn't seems to be executed in your guide?

[schiotz]

this guide doesn't work....


the python script has no name, it doesn't seems to be executed in your guide?

No, it is not a one-click solution.

You have to cut-and-paste the python script to a file, name it gcc, and make it executable, and make sure that it appears on your PATH before the real gcc while you install VMware. Remember to remove it afterwards.

If you are new to Linux/Unix or otherwise have problems with it, I strongly suggest using VirtualBox instead, unless you already have a VMWare license or virtual machine. VirtualBox can be installed with Synaptics Package Manager. It also looks easier to configure a virtual machine with VirtualBox. I found it slightly slower, although VMware is quite sluggish too.

/Jakob

[schiotz]

this guide doesn't work....

Rereading my post, I see that you are absolutely correct. I forgot to write that the script should be named gcc. I guess that was far from obvious

Thanks for catching it!

/Jakob

[drapsag]

well I installed both... I need Vmware, so I had to install it with:

* In one terminal, run: while true; do sudo killall -9 vmware-modconfig-console; sleep 1; done
* In a second terminal, run: sudo ./VMware-Workstation-6.5.3-185404.i386.bundle --ignore-errors
* Kill loop in first terminal.
* Run: sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
* Edit /etc/vmware/bootstrap to add the line: VMWARE_USE_SHIPPED_GTK=force


I didn't test jet if this will run any of my machines.... Vmware is installed correctly btw.

[drapsag]

Rereading my post, I see that you are absolutely correct. I forgot to write that the script should be named gcc. I guess that was far from obvious

Thanks for catching it!

/Jakob

gcc is an exsting command, so that was why I didn't gues that

[koorenne]

I kept getting the error: "Icon name must be set." So I added the following commandline options for building the kernel modules:

--appname="VMware Workstation" --icon="vmware-workstation

So the commandline becomes:

sudo vmware-modconfig –console –install-all --appname="VMware Workstation" --icon="vmware-workstation"

[Wabbitoid]

Thanks very much for posting your icon fix, koorenne. I just ran into the error as I was going through schiotz's steps and luckily Google had just indexed your reply from 1 hr previously, so this (updated) post was my first hit. I hit the refresh button in my FF tab, and there it was.

[borodark]

Big Thank You! I had this problem too and it's solved now ..

[NDLunchbox]

I just upgraded to 6.5.4 and followed these directions. It installed, but the mouse is still finicky. If I try clicking on tabs to switch between VMs, the VM Console grabs the cursor. I must go to the menu and choose a tab from there. Same thing happens when I try clicking on anything that borders the console (side-bar options, network settings, etc). Very annoying.

Any ideas?