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VMWARE on Debian10


crp

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running into great difficulty with getting vmware started. it complains about vmmon not being present when i try to start a VM. found some posts that said to use some scripts/commands to get the vmmon installed. Why vmWare themselves can't get this done is a mystery but anyway ...

#1 lack of the 'locate' in Debian10 - what ?

#2 the scripts reference 'modprob' , should that be 'modprobe' instead?

#3 regarding #2, does this 'modprob' still exist in Debian10 or is it missing as 'locate' is?

 

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oh, and i found this suggestion from 2017 but do this things about init.d even apply anymore?

 
October 25, 2017 at 4:32 AM

Both modules must be loaded, to load them type:
sudo modprobe vmmon
sudo modprobe vmnet
to check status if both modules are loaded type:
sudo /etc/init.d/vmware status
to give the permission to execute on startup type:
sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/vmware
to update the startup list type:
sudo update-rc.d vmware defaults
and in the last to enable it type:
sudo update-rc.d vmware enable
reboot

 

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If you're running Debian 10 Buster, you've got systemd as init software, and i'd imagine systemd syntax applies here, like you suspect.  Systemd syntax generally looks like:

 

sudo systemctl command application

 

where command typically is start/stop/status, enable/disable, restart/reload; and application is the service or application to be acted upon.

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-systemctl-to-manage-systemd-services-and-units

 

So if we are correct, I think

sudo /etc/init.d/vmware status

should be changed to

sudo systemctl status vmmon

and
 

sudo systemctl status vmnet

However, I'm not 100% positive, and I'm not sure what to do with the update-rc.d commands.  Might wanna wait for SecurityBreach to chime in, as he knows a lot about VMs.  FWIW, he's probably also going to mention Virt-Manager as a virtual machine application.  I'm not personally familiar (yet), but I'll be making the switch to Virt-Manager real soon, as I'm a VirtualBox user but VB isn't supported in Debian 10 and will NOT be backported.  That's enough for me to move to the "recommended" option.

 

https://wiki.debian.org/VirtualBox

 

I don't know the backstory, but if Debian can't/won't support open-source VB (I'm guessing the proprietary extension pack is the issue?); I'm also guessing VMWare will be an issue someday, if it isn't already?  Is Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) an option for you?

https://www.server-world.info/en/note?os=Debian_10&p=kvm&f=3

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I was looking into Virt-Manager but it seemed to be lacking the tools to manage and connect to VM's via a gui.

We had a license for VMware, so using the commercial version not the opensource version.

 

ooh, missed your link to the VMM. hmmmmmm ....

if i can't get the VMWare working today I'll give that a deeper look.

 

 

Edited by crp
more info
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As it turned out, got caught up in a holywar by Debian purists. Oracle provides a deb package for VirtualBox that works just fine and dandy in Debian10.

 

 

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6 hours ago, crp said:

As it turned out, got caught up in a holywar by Debian purists. Oracle provides a deb package for VirtualBox that works just fine and dandy in Debian10.

 

Hehehe!  I know EXACTLY what you mean.  Unfortunately, purists are not unique to Debian.  But Debian is somewhat unique (IMO) for the lengths they go to in order to discourage users from creating "FrankenDebians" with unsupported packages.  I hope your VirtualBox package works as expected, for the life of your Debian install.  And it probably will...until it doesn't; and when/if that happens the Debian forums will let you know in no uncertain terms that you assumed the risk, despite their warnings, and you're on your own.

 

Might wanna bookmark this thread, or the virtual machine manager link, in case you ever need to revisit this.  JMO...

 

FWIW, I'm always amazed how most Linux users tout that there's "more than 1 way to solve a problem"; but then the "purists" inform you there's ONE "correct" way before smugly walking away.  Which one is it?!  SMH...  I've always thought solutions were of a good/better/best variety.  If you accomplish what was intended, it's a good solution.  Perhaps it could be better, perhaps not.  And the best solutions address all user-case scenarios, in all situations, with no additional interference.  JMO...

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I usually keep quiet about my sources when mentioning Debian. I have a PPA for Flacon, had one until recently for PulseEffects but it's now in Debian repos, use Syncthing from its own repo as the Debian one has a minor annoyance which the upstream one doesn't, plus a Suse OBS repo for Strawberry music player (it's actually built for Debian by one of the MX devs).

So technically I have a Frankendebian. No issues with anything from those repos though. But regularly we see people at Debian and MX forums who add outside repos and FUBAR their system.

With KVM/QEMU and virt-manager, there's usually a way to do what you want but you may have to do some research and get your hands dirty with manual configs. It does often work better than anything else once you're up and running.

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5 hours ago, crp said:

By using a deb package provided by Oracle , my installation of Debian10 is now a FrankenDebian?!?

 

According to the purists...probably yes.  If it didn't come from the Debian repos, it's an "outside" source and therefore, "Franken".

 

But I wouldn't sweat it too much crp!  Oracle is a (somewhat) reputable software maker and VirtualBox is a very popular and trusted software with a significant user-base.  The VB software itself is open-source, it's only the extension packs that are proprietary in nature and, therefore, the problem with Debian.  Debian doesn't like non-free software and won't support it.  But if any non-Debian repo software will play nice and dovetail with the Debian OS, I'd be comfortable that VB is that software.  And IF you have a problem, the VB forums are quite active and you should be able to troubleshoot or ask for VB advice with your Debian OS.  And worst case scenario, you'll still have Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) waiting for you in the Debian repos.  JMO...

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I also have a FrankenDebian because I have installed Google Chrome via its deb package.

As far as VBox goes I have (virtually) given up on VMs in Linux. I have a VM set up on my Windows 10 desktop to run Linux if I want to. I have enough old junkers around here to run Linux on the rails, and I don't need all the licensing hassle and updates to bother running a Windows VM on any of them.

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