hi all I have vmware on my laptop and am trying to run fed 5 as a guest os. In order to get it working corretly I have been told I need (quoted by the vmware forum):"


"You need (a) The kernel-headers and/or kernel-source package which EXACTLY matches your running kernel (version AND type), (b) the make package, (c) the gcc package, and (d) the gcc-c++ package. Actually, I'm not certain that b-d are required if you're just building the tools, but it won't hurt."

ok so this is above me but I figured I would start with seeing if I had the kernel source...my kernel is...2.6.17-1.2174_FC5smp (from uname -a hey I'm good). so I have run find and locate and don't think I have any kernel source on my system...err where can I get it??? thank you...

youd be better of updating your kernel, cause I faced problems with this kernel to install vmware. do the following
yum install kernel kernel-devel
this should update your kernel and install the header files both.

download vmware, us the any any patch available to start the installation of vmware, just google for it and you will find it everywhere.

hmm got the kernel and kernel-devel...just to clarify I have vmware downloaded and running on my xp host...I am going through the vmware tools install and it gives this message...

what is the location of the directory of c header files that matche your running kernal /usr/source/linux/include

I hit enter and it just repeats the message, now that I have these 2 packages installed should I be specifying a certain directory or file????

did you use the "any any patch"
http://ftp.cvut.cz/vmware/vmware-any...date104.tar.gz

since you have upgraded your kernel, can you show the output of uname -a

ok first off a real dummie question...the any any patch I downloaded into my host (winxp) unzipped and now there are several other zipped files in the created directory...am I soing something with this patch in windows on am I supposed to download them to my fed 5 virtual machine??? Here is my uname -a

[root@Fed-5 ~]# uname -a
Linux Fed-5 2.6.17-1.2174_FC5smp #1 SMP Tue Aug 8 16:00:39 EDT 2006 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

thanks, I am really lost on this

what are you trying to do over here?
you already have fc5 as a virtual machine?
or are you trying to install a virtual machine on fc5 which is already a virtual machine?

Sorry for the confusion...I have xp home on my laptop running vmware. I got vmware to learn fedora. Fedora 5 is my guest vmware machine. I am trying to install vmware tools so it can get the graphics etc working correctly. I hit install vmware tools button, then mount the cdrom which somehow (magic? I don't know) has a vmware tar and/or rpm file in it. I copy this rpm to my home dir, and run it. then I go run a file called vmwareinstall.pl as per the vmware instructions. I hit enter accepting the defaults till I get the message saying

what is the location of the directory of c header files that matche your running kernal /usr/source/linux/include

and here I am lost...the vmware forum said...


"You need (a) The kernel-headers and/or kernel-source package which EXACTLY matches your running kernel (version AND type), (b) the make package, (c) the gcc package, and (d) the gcc-c++ package. Actually, I'm not certain that b-d are required if you're just building the tools, but it won't hurt."


so I really don't know what to do, hope this clarifies where I am in the process...

ok, now I understand the problem.
look last time and I tried to find the headers for the this kernel I couldnt
2.6.17-1.2174_FC5smp
what I did was updated my kernel using yum. which you mentioned as done but it doesnt look like it. then you again use yum to install the kernel-devel files. trying installing the devel files after you have rebooted into the newer kernel.
commands would be
yum install kernel
then reboot, select the newer kernel in grub
yum install kernel-devel

I tried (including doing the kernel and kernel-devel seperatly between reboots...yum install kernal didnt do anything...here is output from yum after trying a reboot and here is uname -a...



[root@Fed-5 ~]# yum install kernel kernel-devel
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
Setting up Install Process
Setting up repositories
core [1/3]
updates [2/3]
extras [3/3]
Reading repository metadata in from local files
Parsing package install arguments
Nothing to do
[root@Fed-5 ~]# uname -a
Linux Fed-5 2.6.17-1.2174_FC5smp #1 SMP Tue Aug 8 16:00:39 EDT 2006 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

is it possible these kernel headers whatever they are are on my system now but I just don't know where to look? cause...I can guarantee you...I don't know where to look

if its already installed you would have not got an error. anyhow check your /usr/src dir for it.
try doing a
rpm -q kernel-devel
and paste the output

output of rpm and drilling into /usr/src....am i in the ballpark now?

[root@Fed-5 ~]# rpm -q kernel-devel
kernel-devel-2.6.17-1.2174_FC5

[root@Fed-5 kernels]# ls
2.6.17-1.2174_FC5-i686
[root@Fed-5 kernels]# cd 2.6.17-1.2174_FC5-i686/
[root@Fed-5 2.6.17-1.2174_FC5-i686]# ls
arch drivers init lib Module.symvers security
block fs ipc Makefile net sound
crypto include kernel mm scripts usr

you have the devel package
try entering this when asked for it
/usr/src/kernels/2.6.17-1.2174_FC5-i686/include

ok in all it's gorey detail, the output running vmware-install.pl

down near the end I try specifying what I hoped was the folder the vmware-install.pl was looking for but got an error

What is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running
kernel? [/usr/src/linux/include] /usr/src/kernels/2.6.17-1.2174_FC5-i686

The path "/usr/src/kernels/2.6.17-1.2174_FC5-i686" is an existing directory,
but it does not contain a "linux" subdirectory as expected.

What is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running
kernel? [/usr/src/linux/include]



ok all the output sorry for the length and thanks for helping me.....................................






[root@Fed-5 vmware-tools-distrib]# ./vmware-install.pl
A previous installation of VMware software has been detected.

The previous installation was made by the tar installer (version 3).

Keeping the tar3 installer database format.

Uninstalling the tar installation of VMware Tools.


Stopping VMware Tools services in the virtual machine:
Guest operating system daemon: [ OK ]




The removal of VMware Tools 5.5.2 build-29772 for Linux completed successfully.
Thank you for having tried this software.

Installing the content of the package.

In which directory do you want to install the binary files?
[/usr/bin]
What is the directory that contains the init directories (rc0.d/ to rc6.d/)?
[/etc/rc.d]
What is the directory that contains the init scripts?
[/etc/rc.d/init.d]
In which directory do you want to install the daemon files?
[/usr/sbin]
In which directory do you want to install the library files?
[/usr/lib/vmware-tools] Execution aborted.

[root@Fed-5 vmware-tools-distrib]# ./vmware-install.pl
A previous installation of VMware software has been detected.

The previous installation was made by the tar installer (version 3).

Keeping the tar3 installer database format.

Uninstalling the tar installation of VMware Tools.

Skipping VMware Tools services shutdown on the host: [ OK ]

The removal of VMware Tools 5.5.2 build-29772 for Linux completed successfully.
Thank you for having tried this software.

Installing the content of the package.

In which directory do you want to install the binary files?
[/usr/bin]

What is the directory that contains the init directories (rc0.d/ to rc6.d/)?
[/etc/rc.d]

What is the directory that contains the init scripts?
[/etc/rc.d/init.d]

In which directory do you want to install the daemon files?
[/usr/sbin]

In which directory do you want to install the library files?
[/usr/lib/vmware-tools]

The path "/usr/lib/vmware-tools" does not exist currently. This program is
going to create it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you want?
[yes]

In which directory do you want to install the documentation files?
[/usr/share/doc/vmware-tools]

The path "/usr/share/doc/vmware-tools" does not exist currently. This program
is going to create it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you
want? [yes]

The installation of VMware Tools 5.5.2 build-29772 for Linux completed
successfully. You can decide to remove this software from your system at any
time by invoking the following command: "/usr/bin/vmware-uninstall-tools.pl".

Before running VMware Tools for the first time, you need to configure it by
invoking the following command: "/usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl". Do you want
this program to invoke the command for you now? [yes]


Stopping VMware Tools services in the virtual machine:
Guest operating system daemon: [ OK ]
Trying to find a suitable vmhgfs module for your running kernel.

None of the pre-built vmhgfs modules for VMware Tools is suitable for your
running kernel. Do you want this program to try to build the vmhgfs module for
your system (you need to have a C compiler installed on your system)? [yes]

Using compiler "/usr/bin/gcc". Use environment variable CC to override.

What is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running
kernel? [/usr/src/linux/include] /usr/src/kernels/2.6.17-1.2174_FC5-i686

The path "/usr/src/kernels/2.6.17-1.2174_FC5-i686" is an existing directory,
but it does not contain a "linux" subdirectory as expected.

What is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running
kernel? [/usr/src/linux/include]

arggg arggg arggg


What is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running
kernel? [/usr/src/linux/include] /usr/src/kernels/2.6.17-1.2174_FC5-i686/include
The directory of kernel headers (version 2.6.17-1.2174_FC5) does not match your
running kernel (version 2.6.17-1.2174_FC5smp). Even if the module were to
compile successfully, it would not load into the running kernel.

What is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running
kernel? [/usr/src/linux/include]