Configuring VMware Tools on Oracle Linux with kernel 2.6.39-400.245.1 crashes the operating system

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Installing or upgrading VMware Tools using default installer settings on Oracle Linux with kernel 2.6.39-400.245.1 crashes the operating system.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Resolution

To workaround this issue, perform one of the following.

• Execute the steps below:
  1. Log in to the guest operating system terminal or command line.
  2. Install the kernel headers, make and gcc
  3. Install VMware Tools without -d option.
  4. Proceed with default settings.
  5. Answer No to Do you want this program to invoke the command for you now? to invoke vmware-config-tools.pl with the --compile option
  6. Run this command to configure VMware Tools with the compile option:
     vmware-config-tools.pl --compile

or

• Update kernel packages as Oracle releases them.