VMware #Workstation 16.2.4 Installation Error on #Kali Linux - Fix and Solution

Krishnendu Paul

Oct 11, 2022 2 min read


So, you are trying to install VMWare Workstation 16.2.4 on Kali Linux ? Steps looks simple. 1st download VMWare workstation latest version from following link

wget https://www.vmware.com/go/getworkstation-linux

Then,

chmod +x VMware-Workstation-Full-16.2.4-20089737.x86_64.bundle
sudo ./VMware-Workstation-Full-16.2.4-20089737.x86_64.bundle

Simple - right ? No - your problem starts now. Now go to your Desktop and click on VMWare Workstation Link. It will ask you to start kernel module installation and you need to provide your sudo password. But - then ....

Error 1:

/tmp/modconfig-tuj2yZ/vmnet-only/bridge.c:694:10: error: implicit declaration of function ‘netif_rx_ni’; did you mean ‘netif_rx’? [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration]
  694 |          netif_rx_ni(clone);
      |          ^~~~~~~~~~~
      |          netif_rx

or Error 2:

/tmp/modconfig-tuj2yZ/vmmon-only/linux/hostif.c:2366:11: error: ‘KERNEL_DS’ undeclared (first use in this function); did you mean ‘KERNEL_2_1’?
 2366 |    set_fs(KERNEL_DS);
      |           ^~~~~~~~~
      |           KERNEL_2_1

Or something else. I was totally frustated as well - just like you. Basically vmnet and vmmon and may be some other kernel modules are not getting compiled successfully. Not going to deep drive and bore you with many technical $hits.

But here is the solution for you. Just follow the steps and your VMWare Workstation is up on your Kali Linux. Once you are done with installation, follow the steps

mkdir /opt/vmware
cd /opt/vmware
git clone https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules.git
cd vmware-host-modules/
git checkout workstation-16.2.4
make VM_UNAME=$(uname -r)
make install 

And - voila

This solution may  work on other version of Linux like Debian , Ubuntu, Fedora as well. Not Tested on any other distros than latest Kali



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