Packer: Unable to build with VMWare Player on Linux

[jacek99]

I tried create a base vmware-iso image. Installed VMWare Player (not Workstation) on Linux Mint.

Verified it is installed correctly, I can open it without any issues.

However, when I try to run my "vmware-iso" provisioner I get

Build 'vmware-iso' errored: Failed creating VMware driver: Unable to initialize any driver for this platform. The errors
from each driver are shown below. Please fix at least one driver
to continue:
* exec: "vmware": executable file not found in $PATH
* exec: "vmware": executable file not found in $PATH
* Critical application 'vmrun' not found in path.


==> Some builds didn't complete successfully and had errors:
--> vmware-iso: Failed creating VMware driver: Unable to initialize any driver for this platform. The errors
from each driver are shown below. Please fix at least one driver
to continue:
* exec: "vmware": executable file not found in $PATH
* exec: "vmware": executable file not found in $PATH
* Critical application 'vmrun' not found in path.


==> Builds finished but no artifacts were created.

According to the docs, just VMWare Player is supported on Linux, but I do not have any of these applications on the $PATH, only "vmplayer" is present.

[mitchellh]

Put vmrun on the path and this will be fixed.

[jacek99]

Sorry Mitchell, do you have any idea where it is located, I looked in /usr/lib/vmware/bin and it is not there.

Maybe updating the docs to state that it needs to be added manually would be helpful

thank you

[jacek99]

I created a VM using the Player and run it. When doing ps -ef I could not see vmrun in any of the processes (only vmplayer). Is it possible the latest version of VMWare Player removed it altogether from the install? I am player 6.0.2

[mitchellh]

I have no idea. Try a find on your system. If you find it please let me know and I'll update the docs. I built the Player integration many many months ago and it worked and I know others who are using it, but I don't remember off the top of my head where it is.

[jacek99]

got it thanks will search and let you know

[mitchellh]

It is possible Player 6 removed it.

[jacek99]

Does not look like it is there. Downloading a Trial of VMWare Workstation 10 right now to test, will let you know.

Probably the docs will need to be updated to remove Player from the list of supported software (unless there is a different way to provision using just the player)

[jacek99]

Confirmed. When I install Workstation it worked right away. So it seems to be gone in Player.

Docs should probably be updated on the site accordingly.

[mitchellh]

Updating them now.

[bivas]

If you have VMware Player 6 you can install VIX SDK for Linux and get the missing commands back.

Note: If you're missing vmware-vdiskmanager or qemu-img run apt-get install qemu-utils

[rasa]

Both Player 5 and 6 work with Packer, in Linux, and even in Windows, after installing the latest VIX SDK, and QEMU. I even got cloning to work in Windows, after a bit of mucking around.

[cardil]

@mitchellh Please update the docs to mention to install VIX SDK in order to VMWare Player to work

[jantman]

@mitchellh I think this needs to be reopened, or at least have a documentation update. I ran into this problem as well... I assumed that the current version of Player would work.

[boothc27]

@mitchellh I agree with jantman I ran into this issue and this needs to be documented.

[ricardclau]

+1 here, not a biggie but please update the documentation

[andreynpetrov]

+1 please update the documentation

[georgealton]

+1

[vfiftyfive]

+1

[shyam2j]

+1

[AranVinkItility]

+1

[jeremycornett]

I'm requesting that this ticket be re-opened.

@mitchellh Can you elaborate on your solution please? I am unable to find vmrun on my hard disk. I have installed VMware Player 14 and the VIX SDK on my CentOS 7.3 box. I don't see a vmrun anywhere in the provided files.

[FriedCircuits]

@jeremycornett I got vmrun with VMWare Workstation Player by install the VIX 1.17. https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/14_0|PLAYER-1411|drivers_tools

Now it is looking for vmware tools but that should be easy to get.

[mwhooker]

@FriedCircuits Thanks for the note. I've updated the docs here: https://github.com/hashicorp/packer/commit/c5ec92c88bb154bd317aec5b81ba6cf9e4dff9c4

the website will be updated on the next release

[FriedCircuits]

@mwhooker Unfortunately I have hit more road blocks. More dependancies for vmrun and now unknown error which also happens when running manually to start a vm with nogui. That said I am on Ubunbu 16.04 Server in a VM. So now it looks like ESXi is a better option.

This link says vmrun is deprecated in 12, which explains why it isn't included.
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/538478

Worked great with Fusion though.

[mwhooker]

I should note that the supported versions of player are 5 and 6. It doesn't surprise me that the later versions don't work. We should probably phase out player support... You might have luck if you can track down an older version of player.

I'm going to open a new ticket about current versions of player not working. This thread is almost 4 years old, and is about a different problem, so I'm going to lock it. New discussions should happen on the new ticket