Help! Almost Have VM Tools Installed in Debian VM

[motsteve]

I almost have the VMware tools installed in my Debian 4.0r3 vm, but the kernel source has never been built, according to the script for vmtools. What do I need to do? Let me tell you how I got here.

I built the vmmemctl stuff using the instructions on:

http://peterc.org/2008/62-how-to-install-vmware-tools-on-ubuntu-hardy-804-under-vmware-fusion.html

Once I did that I tried to run the vmware tool installer and I got the "can't find the header files" message in the installer script. I then tried to install the kernel source like Smyl suggested in another thread using "yast -i kernel-source", but Debian uses apt-get and doesn't have a kernel-source package. They did have a linux-source package and so I installed that, but that put a tar file with the source in /usr/src. I untar'd the file and made a directory called linux and moved the directory which was tar'd, "linux-source-2.6.18", into this linux subdirectory. I checked the files out in the linux source and they seemed to be okay, but I'm no expert here. I reran the vmxxx.pl script and when it got to the "where are the header files?" I had to walk it to the include subdirectory of the kernel source directory. I then reran the script and got a "Gee this is a header directory, but I can't find the version.h file" or some such and explained further that this meant that the kernel was never built. Now what? My path to the header files is now:

/usr/src/linux/linux-source-2.6.18/include/linux

I would give you listing of the linux subdirectory, but the cut and paste without vmtools is not working. If they are needed, I'll go dig them out and email them to you, but only if it is helpful because it is some work. I guess I should have made this thread in the Debian vm and then I wouldn't have the problem, but here I am.:)

Suggestions? Any ideas as to when VMware is going to fix this crap?

[smyl]

try
apt-get install build-essential

i know that's that package is needed on ubuntu to install vmware (the hypervisor, not the tools)

i dont have a debian box to check it on at this second...

[motsteve]

Hi Smyl,

I did the apt-get on build-essential, but my Debian already had it and it didn't change anything. None-the-less, I reran the .pl script and when I directed it to the headers files I got:

The path "/usr/src/linux/linux-source-2.6.18/include" is a kernel header file
directory, but it does not contain the file "linux/version.h" as expected.
This can happen if the kernel has never been built, or if you have invoked the "make mrproper" command in your kernel directory. In any case, you may want to rebuild your kernel.

I know I have to do a bunch of hokus pokus && stuff to rebuild the kernel, but I don't know how to do it and was hoping that VMware tools would do it.

I hope this is a little more helpful info for you than what I gave before.

BTW, I hope the change that is coming in your signature is VMware getting a better attitude about Linux. Linux and Mac OSX are big parts of the future of computing. After Vista, what would you expect from Windows 7? Yikes!

Also, don't let the use of the older revision kernel bother you, Debian is one rock steady and well engineered distro. Their goal is performance and not "bleeding edge" like the other distros.

Steve