When Secure Boot is enabled, X server will fail to start on Linux VMs using a kernel older than v3.2

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
When Secure Boot is enabled, X server will fail to start on Linux VMs using a kernel older than v3.2.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5

Cause

The vmwgfx kernel mode driver is required for secure-boot enabled VMs. VMware enabled the vmwgfx kernel driver in Linux kernel v3.2. Therefore, any Linux distribution that is based on a kernel older than v3.2 will not have a fully functional display stack unless the distribution has back ported the vmwgfx driver.

Resolution

To resolve this issue without updating the kernel is by using the fbdev_drv.
 
To use fbdev_drv in Linux VMs using a kernel older than v3.2:

1. Launch vSphere Web Client.
2. Power off the VM.
3. Right click on the VM and click Edit Settings.
4. Click Boot Options under VM Options.
5. Under Secure Boot, deselect Enabled.
6. Click OK.
7. Power on the VM.
8. Log into the guest operating system with root privileges.
9. Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and find Section Device, which looks like below:

Section "Device"
  BoardName    "VMWARE0405"
  Driver       "vmware"
  Identifier   "Device[0]"
  VendorName   "VMWare Inc"
EndSection
 

10. Replace vmware with fbdev in Section Device:

Section "Device"
  Driver "fbdev"
  Identifier "Device[0]"
  VendorName "fbdev"
EndSection

11. Save /etc/X11/xorg.conf and quit editing.
12. Shutdown the guest operating system.
13. Go to vSphere Web Client.
14. Right click on the VM and click Edit Settings.
15. Click Boot Options under VM Options.
16. Under Secure Boot, select Enabled.
17. Click OK.
18. Power on the VM.

Additional Information

For more information about X server, refer to http://www.linfo.org/x_server.html.
セキュア ブートを有効にすると、v3.2 よりも古いカーネルを使用した場合に Linux 仮想マシン上で X サーバを起動できない (52955)
中文简体：启用安全引导时，在使用版本低于 v3.2 的内核的 Linux 虚拟机上 X 服务器将无法启动