VMWare 15 Error on Ubuntu 18.4 - Could not open /dev/vmmon: No such file or directory

Question

After exhausting research online and youtube videos and facing failure to all those suggested solutions, I need your professional help with this please.

Installed VMWare workstation 15 on Ubuntu 18.4 (please see screenshot) and got kernel error.

These are the steps I already performed with no solution:

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

Registered a new key and enrolled by the following commands in order:

Run OpenSSL:

openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout VMWARE.priv -outform DER -out VMWARE.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=VMWARE/"

Run sign-file:

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vboxdrv)

Run tail:

tail $(modinfo -n vboxdrv) | grep "Module signature appended"

Run mokutil:
```
sudo mokutil --import VMWARE.der
```

Then I rebooted --> registered the key upon booting successfully and confirmed by:

mokutil --test-key VMWARE.der

Also manually signed up the drivers by:

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vmmon)

Finally:

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vmnet)

Please note that I am new in the Linux world, so step-by-step instructions will be appreciated!

Complete instructions are provided by VMWare support, related to key generation, signing etc.: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/58533?lang=en_US After completing the above instructions and rebooting your system, follow [these instructions](https://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/SecureBoot) in order to 'Enroll MOK'. — dropdown, Apr 24 '19 at 10:09
The folks at VMWare have a KB page on this issue: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2146460 — GMaster, Aug 23 '20 at 12:44
sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all solves the problem @Afshin — akikara, Oct 14 '20 at 10:44

score 75 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 01 '23 at 12:33

75

Accepted answer is OK but doing it a little better formatted and reordered steps, added expected feedback etc. The OP has some info for VirtualBox which gives confusing errors if you don't have it.

This problem essentially happens because of secure boot which does not allow kernel modules to load without being digitally signed with a trusted certificate. So we need to create a trusted key and use it to sign the newly compiled modules vmmon and vmnet.

These instructions have been tested for VMWare 15 and Ubuntu 18.04 up to 19.04.

Install VMWare

Run this

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

You'll see that there are issues with monitor and net, that's OK.

Generate a key

openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout VMWARE15.priv -outform DER -out VMWARE15.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=VMWARE/"

You'll see info that it did it OK.

Use this key we just generated to sign the two kernel modules.

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE15.priv ./VMWARE15.der $(modinfo -n vmmon)
sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE15.priv ./VMWARE15.der $(modinfo -n vmnet)

This does not give any feedback

Check that signatures are applied correctly.

tail $(modinfo -n vmmon) | grep "Module signature appended"

You should get Binary file (standard input) matches

Now we make this key trusted by importing it to machine owner key (MOK) management system with the command below. Here you can read more about MOK’s job in Linux.
```
sudo mokutil --import VMWARE15.der
```

This will ask you for a password, enter some new password a bit long like 1515vmware. Reenter same password.

Reboot, When reboot you should be presented with a menu with blue screen background, you have to make your way to enroll the key and enter the password you just created, this happens only once, then continue to boot.
To test the driver / module installed correctly enter the command
```
mokutil --test-key VMWARE15.der
```

You should get VMWARE15.der is already enrolled and that means VMWare should be working.

All credits to OP.

Notice: I've found out that after some Linux updates which involves the kernel (or something like that) this fix stops working and you have to do all the steps again to get it working again. (No need to re-install vmware)

edited Jan 01 '23 at 12:33

BHP

423
4
7

answered May 22 '19 at 17:14

Guillermo Ruffino

851
6
4

Thank you, worked like charm. – sg28 Sep 12 '19 at 22:56
2

At first I didn't get a blue screen background after restart, but that was because my secure boot was set to boot from grubx64.efi but not shimx64.efi. But after I changed it to shim I got the MOK manager asking me to enroll this key. – darksky Oct 01 '19 at 06:40
Brilliant. Worked perfectly – Ken Ingram Oct 05 '19 at 07:13
4

Thanks, for the nice explanation ... Similar Tutorial can also be found from VMware Doc: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2146460 – Imtiaz Shakil Siddique Oct 15 '19 at 11:30
After installing a fresh 19.10, vmware-workstation worked out of the box. This issue seems to have been fixed in newer kernel/ubuntu. – darksky Nov 05 '19 at 02:49
Thank you. Solved it. Excellent instructions! – hatze Nov 19 '19 at 09:26
Thank you, worked like charm. I was on linux, I didn't enroll the key while rebooting but still it worked. – sg28 Jan 22 '20 at 19:54
From one to five step just enough. – EsmaeelE Mar 01 '20 at 12:53
This worked perfect, thank you! – Benji Vesterby May 02 '20 at 19:42
1

Step - 6: I am not sure but I had to reboot the command line `sudo reboot` in order to get the blue screen at boot. I use Ubuntu 18.04. – KLiFF May 19 '20 at 10:33
Thanks bro...this worked perfect. – thiagoBarbosa48 Jul 20 '20 at 15:45
This method works on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS; 28th September, 2020. – user2989643 Sep 28 '20 at 17:29
Works fine, BUT I have 2 notes : 1 : `Keep an eye on the reboot`. You have to manually interrupt boot sequence to enter the key. Else, it's skipped after a few seconds, and you have to repeat the import command before rebooting again (this is answer's 6th step) 2 : `Keyboard config was WRONG` I have a french keyboard, and entered `azeAZE123` as password. Had to type `qweQWE&é"` for my password to be recognized. This could have been tricky with something more sophisticated. My OS is some desktop Ubuntu 20.x – Balmipour Dec 04 '20 at 11:01
On Pop_OS! I only had to go to Step 2 to fix this issue for me. – CenterOrbit Jul 27 '21 at 15:52
Thanks a lot this really helped – Tanishq Vyas Sep 07 '21 at 15:15
I tried this on a HP Elitedesk G3. After boot I enrolled but then get a Black Screen during reboot. Ubuntu 20.04 – Al Grant Sep 26 '21 at 21:10
1

Does it matter if secure boot is ON or OFF in Bios? – Al Grant Sep 26 '21 at 22:18
These steps were tested ok on Ubuntu 22.04 :-) – Dhaval D Oct 27 '22 at 18:06
On my debian 11 system, there's "modinfo" but no "mokutil" :( – Thomas Tempelmann Dec 21 '22 at 20:22
I can confirm that @KLiFF's suggestion to use `sudo reboot` was necessary for me. – Amjo Mar 20 '23 at 12:43
This worked great for me on Ubuntu 22.04. Thank you! – KBurchfiel May 24 '23 at 14:59

Rune79 · Answer 2 · 2020-10-17T10:37:39.503

13

I have made a simple bash script to make a small amount of automation to the process. It seems to be a recurring problem when patching Ubuntu and I find my self Googling for the solution everytime.

cd /tmp
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rune1979/ubuntu-vmmon-vmware-bash/master/wm_autoupdate_key.sh
chmod +x wm_autoupdate_key.sh
./wm_autoupdate_key.sh

You can also find it in my github repo (https://github.com/rune1979/ubuntu-vmmon-vmware-bash)

edited Oct 17 '20 at 10:37

answered Jul 02 '19 at 23:40

Rune79

131
1
3

3

Thank you! I can confirm this still works for Ubuntu 20 and the current version of VMware Player (15.5.6) – Dan Dascalescu Jul 26 '20 at 22:10
1

Lovely share @Rune79! Rarely to see automate-mindset and sharing manner like yours. Tons of thanks! – Nam G VU Sep 08 '20 at 17:18
2

@Rune79 gives error: "EFI variables are not supported on this system". Any ideas? – akikara Oct 14 '20 at 08:44
[link] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JhMSKvf6Kw [/link] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JhMSKvf6Kw) I think this guy might show some direction on this issue. – Rune79 Oct 17 '20 at 10:35
I do not have EFI enabled, have same problem and when try to use solutin, get same error as @Run79: 'EFI variables are not supported on this system' – schmoopy May 11 '21 at 18:15
I have been using Ubuntu since 18LTS and now running 20LTS but have had secure boot enabled since the very beginning and suddenly this issue began a few days ago (maybe there was a kernel update and I missed it?). Anyhow, this script worked like a charm. – ubuntux Jul 21 '22 at 14:22
1

Works fine in Ubuntu 22.04LTS with Vmware 16. Thanks for making things super easy. – sam Nov 13 '22 at 13:16
Works great using Ubuntu 22.04 and VMWare Workstation Player 17. Thanks so much for the time-saving solution! – KBurchfiel Jul 07 '23 at 21:11

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 27 '18 at 19:03

5

Problem solved! I followed the same exact steps in my original post EXCEPT that I changed the name of the key to something else! The new key successfully signed vmmon in dev directory and vmware worked!

answered Nov 27 '18 at 19:03

Afshin

541
1
5
7

1

I didn't understand what did you exactly changed and it worked – Fatemeh Karimi Jan 19 '19 at 19:24
1

Hi Fatemeh! Basically, when you install VirtualBox or VmWare, a new kernel is introduced to Linux. When you install Linux, a safe boot is set up (most of the time) and a safe boot prevents any new kernel to work unless a secure key is attached to it. The solution was to create a new secure key, install it, reboot and register the key so that the new kernel from vmware would work with it. It was a frustrating process but worked finally! haha let me know if you have any other questions... – Afshin Jan 20 '19 at 20:43
I followed the instructions and changed the name, and when I run the command 'mokutil --test-key VMWARE.der' the terminal returns 'mokutil --test-key VMWARE.der', which I assume means it worked; however when I try to load my VM on VMplayer it gives me the same two errors as what you originally had. – WitchsFISTS Aug 15 '19 at 00:34

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 26 '19 at 14:41

2

I also had this issue and resolved it by the steps mentioned above but had to reperform these steps after every update. So instead I realized that I could disable secure boot on in my bios and the problem was immediately resolved.

answered Nov 26 '19 at 14:41

Logan Anderson

121
1

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 14 '21 at 20:15

In my case, I also ran into these errors when trying to launch a VM from VMware player. I am not using secure boot, but I installed VMware player back when I was running Ubuntu 16.04. VMware was working fine back then. A week ago, I upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04 and that's when these problems started. For, me all I had to do was the first step pointed out by the OP:

$ sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

There was no need to uninstall or reinstall the app or sign any kernel modules. You don't even need to reboot - just launch VMware player again.

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Jan 15 '20 at 09:43

I did the following combination to get it working.

Uninstall:

sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-player
Install build essentials and gtk module
sudo apt install build-essential gcc
sudo apt install libcanberra-gtk-module

Install Vmware player again

sudo ./VMware-Player-15.0.2-10952284.x86_64.bundle

Run ubuntu-vmmon-vmware-bash as explained here on the script's GitHub repository:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rune1979/ubuntu-vmmon-vmware-bash/master/wm_autoupdate_key.sh
sudo chmod +x wm_autoupdate_key.sh
./wm_autoupdate_key.sh

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Oct 20 '20 at 13:02

I had to repeat the whole procedure again because of an update of my Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS kernel, so I wrote it down exactly what I did.

What you have to do after you have installed VMWARE-Player (a new installation but if you already have VMWARE-Player on your machine you don't have to do a new installation of it), OR after an update of your Linux kernel:

Because after you updated your Ubuntu kernel your VMWARE has to do an update and will also try to run/sign and execute an key for vmmon and vmnet but that second part will in most of the cases not work, you have to run some scripts and reboot your system see the sequence below.

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout VMWARE.priv -outform DER -out VMWARE.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=VMWARE/"
sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vboxdrv)

The above will generate an error because it's for vbox but I run it anyway.

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vmmon)
sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vmnet)
sudo mokutil --import VMWARE.der

IMPORTANT: your password SHOULD NOT be longer then 5 characters, I just choose exact 5 characters long lowercase.

I rebooted the machine, a cold reboot.
When starting I hit the space bar several times. I got a menu:
I choose for Enroll Mock
Continue
yes
password
reboot

After the reboot I started VMWARE-Player and opened my kali virtual machine or any VM which you want to start, and it started well.

The "reboot" steps here with the space bar were the missing piece for me, thank you for adding it in! That combined with https://askubuntu.com/a/1145426/1652162 fixed the problem. — DriveItLikeYouStoleIt, Nov 23 '22 at 21:02

Dave · Answer 8 · 2018-11-26T03:47:30.270

What I would do would be to first uninstall VMWare Workstation from your system like this:

sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-workstation

Now let's re-install it, but before we install the Vmware Workstation Player 15 package, let’s install/update to newer versions of packages and their dependencies by using the command below:

sudo apt-get update

Now we need to install some dependencies which are required for the Vmware Workstation Player 15 Installation (by default these should already be installed in Ubuntu 18.04, but if not, they will be):

First Install build-essential and gcc as shown:

sudo apt install build-essential gcc

Then install libcanberra-gtk-module as shown:

sudo apt install libcanberra-gtk-module

So let’s proceed with the Vmware Workstation installation.

Run the following commands in the terminal to install VMware Workstation Player 15:

mkdir ~/vmware
cd ~/vmware
wget -c https://download3.vmware.com/software/player/file/VMware- 
Player-15.0.2-10952284.x86_64.bundle

(Currently, as of today, the latest bundle)

OR

forget the "wget" part and download the bundle here:

https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/15_0

and put it in the vmware directory you just made.

Give the package permissions:

sudo chmod u+x VMware-Player-15.0.2-10952284.x86_64.bundle

Finally, install:

sudo ./VMware-Player-15.0.2-10952284.x86_64.bundle

As soon as the installer starts, follow the on screen instructions to complete the installation.

Select I accept the terms in the license agreement and then click on "Next". Update on startup; select yes (if you want). Feedback; select yes or no. License Key is optional (needed for Workstation Pro, but can be left blank).

Click "Install" on next screen.

Close when finished.

---NOTE---

If 3D acceleration is not enabled: Edit hidden file /.vmware/preferences and look for a line that starts with:

mks.gl.allowBlacklistedDrivers

If it is not present - you can add it into the file.

This should be changed to:

mks.gl.allowBlacklistedDrivers = "TRUE"

---also---

go to /vmware/ /.vmx open it with gedit (or equivalent) and add the line:

mks.gl.allowBlacklistedDrivers = "TRUE"

For a Windows guest I add these lines, also, to the hidden file and the ".vmx" file (mentioned above):

mks.enableDX11Renderer = "FALSE"
mks.enableGLRenderer = "TRUE"

This switches the 3D acceleration from the default DX11 to OpenGL.

This should get you up and running and solve the issues.

Thanks for the effort but it did not work! This solution is basically uninstalling and re-installing vmware which I already did; but thanks anyways. — Afshin, Nov 27 '18 at 03:32
I'm glad to see you managed to solve the problem. Yeah, you were right; it was uninstalling and re-installing it. This is how I install it and I have never had any problems. — Dave, Nov 27 '18 at 23:11

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Feb 19 '23 at 08:47

In my case, I ran into these errors too when trying to launch a VM from VMware player Version 17.0.1. I am not using secure boot, but I installed VMware player back when I was running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. VMware was working fine since months. When logging in I got the message "/dev/vmmon ..." pops up. The following solved it:

$ sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

There was no need to uninstall or reinstall the app or sign any kernel modules. You don't even need to reboot - just launch VMware player again.

System info: Jammy 22.04 LTS; Kernel 5.15.0-60 x86-64

duplicate of https://askubuntu.com/a/1145426/ – karel Feb 19 '23 at 13:40 — karel, Feb 19 '23 at 13:40

score -1 · Answer 10 · edited Jan 15 '20 at 09:46

-1

(03-Sep-2019)

The solution for me:

(

Uninstall:

sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-workstation

OR

Uninstall:

sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-player

)

AND

Install:

sudo ./VMware-Player-15.1.0-13591040.x86_64.bundle

edited Jan 15 '20 at 09:46

Zanna

69,223
56
216
327

answered Sep 04 '19 at 02:54

Juan Gutiérrez Ortega

1

score -1 · Answer 11 · answered Mar 03 '20 at 06:03

This should definitely work on debian based Distros... executing these command u will just enable mokutility you have to reboot your computer once the code part has been completed and press any key to import the VMWARE.der

openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout VMWARE.priv -outform DER -out VMWARE.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=VMware/"


sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-`uname -r`/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vmmon)


sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-`uname -r`/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vmnet)


mokutil --import VMWARE.der


mokutil --test-key VMWARE.der

reboot

thats it you are ready to go, just reboot,
press any key during BOOTING to register in mokutils, complete registration and your error will dissapear. TESTED ON LINUX MINT 19.3

VMWare 15 Error on Ubuntu 18.4 - Could not open /dev/vmmon: No such file or directory

11 Answers11

Linked