VMWare Workstation 15.1 invalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1

English Virtualization
1

Hi,

After updating my tumbleweed distribution to kernel 5.0.13-1-default, I tried to install VMWare worksation 15.1. When I execute the command to install it, the following message is displayed:

./VMware-Workstation-Full-15.1.0-13591040.x86_64.bundle

Extracting VMware Installer…done.
Invalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 keyInvalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 keyInvalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 keyInvalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 keyUser interface initialization failed. Exiting. Check the log for details.

I checked the log and have no idea how to proceed forward.

The logs that I looked to are:
/tmp/vmware-root/vmware-vmis-19481.log
2019-05-15T01:02:39.950-04:00| host-19481| I125: Log for VMware Workstation pid=19481 version=15.1.0 build=build-13591040 option=Release
2019-05-15T01:02:39.950-04:00| host-19481| I125: The process is 64-bit.
2019-05-15T01:02:39.950-04:00| host-19481| I125: Host codepage=UTF-8 encoding=UTF-8
2019-05-15T01:02:39.950-04:00| host-19481| I125: Host is Linux 5.0.13-1-default openSUSE Tumbleweed
2019-05-15T01:02:39.948-04:00| host-19481| I125: DictionaryLoad: Cannot open file “/usr/lib/vmware/settings”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:39.948-04:00| host-19481| I125: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file “/usr/lib/vmware/settings”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:39.948-04:00| host-19481| I125: PREF Optional preferences file not found at /usr/lib/vmware/settings. Using default values.
2019-05-15T01:02:39.948-04:00| host-19481| I125: DictionaryLoad: Cannot open file “/root/.vmware/config”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:39.948-04:00| host-19481| I125: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file “/root/.vmware/config”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:39.948-04:00| host-19481| I125: PREF Optional preferences file not found at /root/.vmware/config. Using default values.
2019-05-15T01:02:39.948-04:00| host-19481| I125: DictionaryLoad: Cannot open file “/root/.vmware/preferences”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:39.948-04:00| host-19481| I125: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file “/root/.vmware/preferences”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:39.948-04:00| host-19481| I125: PREF Optional preferences file not found at /root/.vmware/preferences. Using default values.
2019-05-15T01:02:40.032-04:00| host-19481| I125: DictionaryLoad: Cannot open file “/usr/lib/vmware/settings”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:40.032-04:00| host-19481| I125: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file “/usr/lib/vmware/settings”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:40.032-04:00| host-19481| I125: PREF Optional preferences file not found at /usr/lib/vmware/settings. Using default values.
2019-05-15T01:02:40.032-04:00| host-19481| I125: DictionaryLoad: Cannot open file “/root/.vmware/config”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:40.032-04:00| host-19481| I125: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file “/root/.vmware/config”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:40.032-04:00| host-19481| I125: PREF Optional preferences file not found at /root/.vmware/config. Using default values.
2019-05-15T01:02:40.032-04:00| host-19481| I125: DictionaryLoad: Cannot open file “/root/.vmware/preferences”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:40.032-04:00| host-19481| I125: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file “/root/.vmware/preferences”: No such file or directory.
2019-05-15T01:02:40.032-04:00| host-19481| I125: PREF Optional preferences file not found at /root/.vmware/preferences. Using default values.

/tmp/vmwareNetworking.5PuquM
VERSION=1,0
answer VNET_1_DHCP yes
answer VNET_1_DHCP_CFG_HASH B3D0F3CF8000105891EE41FB71C8D7A770841BC8
answer VNET_1_HOSTONLY_NETMASK 255.255.255.0
answer VNET_1_HOSTONLY_SUBNET 172.16.186.0
answer VNET_1_VIRTUAL_ADAPTER yes
answer VNET_8_DHCP yes
answer VNET_8_DHCP_CFG_HASH B7F837A67185BB574ED44E6666E9181D2762018C
answer VNET_8_HOSTONLY_NETMASK 255.255.255.0
answer VNET_8_HOSTONLY_SUBNET 172.16.221.0
answer VNET_8_NAT yes
answer VNET_8_VIRTUAL_ADAPTER yes
answer VNL_DEFAULT_BRIDGE_VNET 0
add_bridge_mapping p8p1 0
add_bridge_mapping wlp2s0 0

Thank you for your assistance on this issue.

2

I’m assuming you did something like

$ sudo -i *# as current nonprivileged user in a terminal window*
# ./VMware-Workstation-Full-15.1.0-13591040.x86_64.bundle *# as root*

However, the graphical VMware installer can’t use the X-Window environment that way. Try something like:

$ sudo -i
# cp /home/*<current-user>*/.Xauthority /root/; export DISPLAY=:0.0
# ./VMware-…

Copying the .Xauthority file of the currently running X session also transfers the magic cookie to your root user; by setting the $DISPLAY environment variable, you enable any graphical program to use X graphics in your sudo shell. This is useful if you need to start more than only one graphical app as root.

For a one-shot launch with root permissions it’s probably better to use kdesu (if you’re using KDE) or gksu (if you’re using Gnome), those commands usually do the right thing automagically.

3

Actually that’s what pam_xauth does for you. On my TW it is enabled by default for su and runuser; for sudo it is present but commented out.

4

I’ve just learned something from you, still have »man pam_xauth« open in my xterm. That’s definitely the way to go if you need windows from different users open in one X session regularly. Thank you for the pointer!

5

Thank you for your reply. I did exactly as you recommended and this is what I get now:

jsberrios@avenger:~/Dropbox/Downloads/Linux/VMWare/15> sudo -i
[sudo] password for root:
avenger:~ # cp /home/jsberrios/.Xauthority /root/; export DISPLAY=:0.0
avenger:~ # ./VMware-Workstation-Full-15.1.0-13591040.x86_64.bundle
-bash: ./VMware-Workstation-Full-15.1.0-13591040.x86_64.bundle: No such file or directory
avenger:~ # cd /home/jsberrios/Dropbox/Downloads/Linux/VMWare/15
avenger:/home/jsberrios/Dropbox/Downloads/Linux/VMWare/15 # ./VMware-Workstation-Full-15.1.0-13591040.x86_64.bundle
Extracting VMware Installer…done.
No protocol specified
No protocol specified
No protocol specified
No protocol specified
User interface initialization failed. Exiting. Check the log for details.

Any ideas on how to solve this problem?

6

Just found this VMware knowledge base article. It recommends starting the installer as normal user, like so:

sudo -E sh VMware-Workstation-Full-15.1.0-13591040.x86_64.bundle

The more I look into it, the more evidence I find of sloppy work on VMware’s side. For example, I always implement error messages to provide something helpful: instead of »check log for details«, I would put the path of the logfile into the message. This and other past experiences keep reminding me why I use VirtualBox whenever possible. It’s far from perfect either, but I think it’s implemented a bit better when it comes to ergonomics.

Hope the above workaround from VMware KB helps. Cheers!