Running the vmware-config-tools.pl script on a Linux host fails due to kernel version mismatch

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• When trying to run the vmware-config-tools.pl script, you are prompted that no pre-built modules exist for the running kernel.
• When you choose to compile, one or more modules fail to compile with an error message similar to:
  
  Unable to make a vmnet module that can be loaded in the running kernel:
  insmod: error inserting '/tmp/vmware-config4/vmnet.o': -1 File exists
  There is probably a slight difference in the kernel configuration between the set of C header files you specified and your running kernel. You may want to rebuild a kernel based on that directory, or specify another directory.

Environment

VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation 6.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Linux)

Resolution

This issue is due to a kernel mismatch. It is not caused by VMware Workstation or VMware Tools. The error indicates that you have a newer kernel installed than the kernel you are currently running.

 

To ensure that you are running the latest kernel you have installed: do so:

1. Confirm your current kernel version with the command:
   
   uname -a
    
2. Check the current kernel version against the default value for your kernel headers shown by the vmware-config-tools.pl script.
   
   For example:
3. • uname -a shows kernel version 2.6.9-5.EL-i686smp
   • The script suggests this default location lib/modules/2.6.9-78.0.17.ELsmp/build/include
   • You are running kernel version 2.6.9-5, rather than kernel version 2.6.9-78
      
4. Reboot the Linux machine. At the boot loader screen, choose to load the latest kernel.
5. Rerun the vmware-config-tools.pl script. Now that you are running the latest installed kernel, the compile completes successfully.

Additional Information

カーネル バージョンの不一致が原因で、vmware-config-tools.pl スクリプトの実行が Linux ホストで失敗する
由于内核版本不匹配在 Linux 主机上运行 vmware-config-tools.pl 脚本失败