VMware installation is successful, but VMware fails to launch

[ecsos]

Or perhaps?

VMware Modules won't compile under Tumbleweed

I cannot compile the vmmon and vmnet modules under Tumbleweed. I get the following errors: [AppLoader] GLib does not have GSettings support. sh: line 1: /etc/init.d/vmware: No such file or directory Unable to stop services. I’ve tried this under plain vanilla VMware Player 17.5.0 and with the modified tarballs that are available on Github that claim to fix problems with newer kernels and get the same errors. Does anyone have any solutions?

[Manav]

@hendersj

That shows the kernel as 7.0.1, not the version 6.19.12 that you said you’re running. You need to match the versions.

Excuse my lack of knowledge, i cant find a package with kernel version 6.19.12. I tried with kernel-source-longterm. but that also did not work.
Does this mean i should downgrade my kernel to 6.18.24 and use the longterm package?

zypper search -s kernel-source
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...

S  | Name                   | Type    | Version     | Arch   | Repository
---+------------------------+---------+-------------+--------+----------------------
   | kernel-source          | package | 7.0.1-1.1   | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
   | kernel-source-longterm | package | 6.18.24-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
   | kernel-source-vanilla  | package | 7.0.1-1.1   | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)

what Kernel version are you using @hendersj ?

[hendersj]

No, the current release doesn’t have the same issue. I have it running here, @ecsos, nothing special needed. Just let me continue helping the OP here.

[hendersj]

6.19.12, same as you.

Looks like 7.0.1 made its way to the main repository today. You may need to manually download the older version from https://download.opensuse.org/history/20260419/tumbleweed/repo/oss/noarch/kernel-source-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm (this is the release history archive). That will get you the kernel sources that match your installed kernel.

Once downloaded, run zypper in ./kernel-source-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm.

[Manav]

@hendersj

run zypper in ./kernel-source-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm

When i run this i get:

sudo zypper in ./kernel-source-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm
'./kernel-source-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm' looks like an RPM file. Will try to use it.
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...

Problem: 1: nothing provides 'kernel-devel = 6.19.12-1' needed by the to be installed kernel-source-6.19.12-1.1.noarch
 Solution 1: do not install kernel-source-6.19.12-1.1.noarch
 Solution 2: break kernel-source-6.19.12-1.1.noarch by ignoring some of its dependencies

Choose from above solutions by number or cancel [1/2/c/d/?] (c):

apparently my kernel-devel is also 7.0.1
i downloaded kernel-devel 6.19.12 and tried to install that, but then i got this:

sudo zypper in ./kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm
'./kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm' looks like an RPM file. Will try to use it.
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
The selected package 'kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch' from repository 'Plain RPM files cache' has lower version than the installed one. Use 'zypper install --oldpackage kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch' to force installation of the package.
Resolving package dependencies...
Nothing to do.

And followed the instructions to install the 6.19.12 kernel-devel as well. then i was able to install the kernel-source 6.19.12.

However, sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all still fails

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
[AppLoader] GLib does not have GSettings support.

(process:16841): GLib-CRITICAL **: 23:43:04.764: g_file_test: assertion 'filename != NULL' failed
Failed to setup build environment: Header path "(null)" is not a valid directory.

[hendersj]

Looks like you also need to grab the kernel-devel package from that location as well.

I already have those packages installed, so you may need to grab any dependencies that come up.

I’m doing a quick test right now to see if it builds and runs on the 7.0.1 kernel, which may simplify this for you. It did build without issue, but I need to reboot to make sure it works as expected.

[hendersj]

Mixed result - looks like for my configuration, there’s an issue between the nvidia driver and the new kernel, so I can’t boot the new kernel yet successfully. You can try it, but rolling back is something you should read about before attempting just in case something doesn’t work.

https://download.opensuse.org/history/20260419/tumbleweed/repo/oss/noarch/kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm is the direct link to the kernel-devel package for the kernel version you’re running.

[Manav]

@hendersj

Looks like you also need to grab the kernel-devel package from that location as well.

I installed this as well, however this seems to also install kernel-devel 7.0.1:

sudo zypper in ./kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm
'./kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm' looks like an RPM file. Will try to use it.
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...

The following 3 NEW packages are going to be installed:
  kernel-default-devel kernel-devel kernel-devel

3 new packages to install.

Package download size:    50.4 MiB

Package install size change:
              |     150.1 MiB  required by packages that will be installed
   150.1 MiB  |  -      0 B    released by packages that will be removed

Backend:  classic_rpmtrans
Continue? [y/n/v/...? shows all options] (y): y
Preloading: kernel-default-devel-7.0.1-1.1.x86_64.rpm [done]
Preloading: kernel-devel-7.0.1-1.1.noarch.rpm [done]
Preload finished. [success (28.1 MiB/s) ] ........................................................................[done]
Retrieving: kernel-devel-7.0.1-1.1.noarch (Main Repository (OSS))                                   (1/3),  20.0 MiB
Retrieving: kernel-default-devel-7.0.1-1.1.x86_64 (Main Repository (OSS))                           (2/3),  10.6 MiB
Retrieving: kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch (Plain RPM files cache)                                 (3/3),  19.9 MiB

Checking for file conflicts: .....................................................................................[done]
(1/3) Installing: kernel-devel-7.0.1-1.1.noarch ..................................................................[done]
(2/3) Installing: kernel-default-devel-7.0.1-1.1.x86_64 ..........................................................[done]
Changing symlink /usr/src/linux from linux-7.0.1-1 to linux-6.19.12-1
(3/3) Installing: kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch ................................................................[done]
Running post-transaction scripts .................................................................................[done]

@hendersj

https://download.opensuse.org/history/20260419/tumbleweed/repo/oss/noarch/kernel-devel-6.19.12-1.1.noarch.rpm is the direct link to the kernel-devel package for the kernel version you’re running.

This is the one i have tried

[hendersj]

Looks like it installed both versions for some reason. That shouldn’t be an issue. Now that the kernel-devel and kernel-source packages for 6.19.12 are installed, you should be able to build the modules with the vmware-modconfig command.

If you’re not using the nvidia proprietary driver, you probably can just upgrade to 7.0.1 and have it work. Looks like there’s a known issue (unrelated to vmware) between the 7.0.1 kernel and the nvidia driver that I use on my system. But I do see reports that with other distros, the 7.0.1 kernel and vmware do play nicely together.

[Manav]

@hendersj

Looks like it installed both versions for some reason. That shouldn’t be an issue. Now that the kernel-devel and kernel-source packages for 6.19.12 are installed, you should be able to build the modules with the vmware-modconfig command.

It vmware-modconfig command still fails, but i will try to upgrade to 7.0.1

@hendersj

If you’re not using the nvidia proprietary driver, you probably can just upgrade to 7.0.1 and have it work. Looks like there’s a known issue (unrelated to vmware) between the 7.0.1 kernel and the nvidia driver that I use on my system. But I do see reports that with other distros, the 7.0.1 kernel and vmware do play nicely together.

luckily i just changed out my Nvidia gpu with an AMD GPU yesterday

[hendersj]

What does the vmware-modconfig failure message? No change?

Hopefully the upgrade to 7.0.1 helps move things along. This can be one of the challenges when using a rolling release - if you’re not on the latest release, installing older packages can be a challenge at times. There is the tumbleweed-cli command option to switch repos to an older release, but I haven’t used that extensively myself for something like this, as I usually just roll back if there’s an issue that I need to wait out.

As you’re new to using Tumbleweed, just remember to use sudo zypper ref && sudo zypper dup to upgrade.

[Manav]

@hendersj

As you’re new to using Tumbleweed, just remember to use sudo zypper ref && sudo zypper dup to upgrade.

Thank you

@hendersj

What does the vmware-modconfig failure message? No change?

Yup, no change

@hendersj

Hopefully the upgrade to 7.0.1 helps move things along

Things are moving along indeed! after upgrading vmware-modconfig worked and i was able to compile vmnet and vmmon and checked that they showed up with lsmod | grep vm

however, for some reason the issue still persists, when trying to launch vmware workstation, the icon appears, and then disappears

systemctl status vmware says that it is active as opposed to earlier when it said failed

[hendersj]

That’s definite progress.

Try launching vmware from a terminal window - that might give us some ideas as to why it’s failing to start. Also, what desktop environment are you using (KDE, GNOME, or something else)?

[Manav]

@hendersj

Try launching vmware from a terminal window - that might give us some ideas as to why it’s failing to start. Also, what desktop environment are you using (KDE, GNOME, or something else)?

Im on KDE.
trying to launch from the terminal gives me this:

/usr/bin/vmware
[AppLoader] Cannot get library dependencies. (10c)

[AppLoader] Fallback to use all shipped libraries.
[AppLoader] Fail to load the library. libxml2.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
[AppLoader] LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-netcfg.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpng16.so.16
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXcomposite.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcr-ui-3.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libX11.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXss.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-setup-helper.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libglibmm-2.4.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libsvga3dsw.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libsigc-2.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-gksu.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-app-control.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libffi.so.7
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpango-1.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXcursor.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgailutil-3.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libfuse.so.2
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXft.so.2
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libcurl.so.4
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmplayer.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/librsvg-2.so.2
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmwareui.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libz.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgdk-3.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXi.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXrender.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libharfbuzz.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libepoxy.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpcsclite.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libstdc++.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libcairo.so.2
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpixman-1.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libcairomm-1.0.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgmodule-2.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-modconfig.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libfreetype.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcr-base-3.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libaio.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvnetlib.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpcre.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXfixes.so.3
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgck-1.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgiomm-2.4.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libdbus-1.so.3
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libtasn1.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgio-2.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgtkmm-3.0.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libxcb.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libcrypto.so.3
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgthread-2.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXdmcp.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgdk_pixbuf_xlib-2.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libbasichttp.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libjpeg.so.62
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libatk-bridge-2.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXrandr.so.2
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libSM.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libcds.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libfontconfig.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libp11-kit.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgtk-3.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/liblicenseTool.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libxml2.so.16
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libglibmm_generate_extra_defs-2.4.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-enter-serial.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpangomm-1.4.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXinerama.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXtst.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libsecret-1.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgobject-2.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libglib-2.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-modconfig-console.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libICE.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgdkmm-3.0.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXau.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-vmblock-fuse.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpangocairo-1.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libxcb-shm.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgvmomi.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgpg-error.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libcairo-gobject.so.2
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libtiff.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmwarebase.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libatkmm-1.6.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcrypt.so.20
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libcroco-0.6.so.3
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libatk-1.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libatspi.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpangoft2-1.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXdamage.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXext.so.6
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libssl.so.3
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-mount.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvte-2.91.so.0
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-fuseUI.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-zenity.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-vprobe.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware.so
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-tray.so

[hendersj]

Looks like you need to install libxml2-16.

[Manav]

i seem to already have it installed

sudo zypper in libxml2-16
[sudo] password for root:
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
'libxml2-16' is already installed.
No update candidate for 'libxml2-16-2.15.3-1.1.x86_64'. The highest available version is already installed.
Resolving package dependencies...
Nothing to do.

[Manav]

It Works!!

i created a symlink:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libxml2.so.16 /usr/lib64/libxml2.so.2

Thank you very much @hendersj ! I do really appreciate your help

[hendersj]

That’s strange. I don’t have libxml2.so.2 on my system, and I don’t get this message.

I’m running vmware 25H2u1, version 25.01.25219725 (the number ‘25219725’ matches the filename). Does that match what you have from your download? (ie, is the download file VMware-Workstation-Full-25H2u1-25219725.x86_64.bundle?)

My installation does have a /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libxml2.so.16/libxml2.so.16 file, but that clearly isn’t the same as libxml2.so.2 (that version is bundled with VMware itself).

ETA: Just saw your reply, and glad to hear the symlink resolved it for you. I don’t know why mine works without that, but I’m glad you’re up and running.

ETA2: Ah, I did actually do that, and forgot that I had done it.