Fix issue with VMWare builds: "Waiting for HGFS kernel module to load..."

[geerlingguy]

Whenever I bring up machines using the default share (e.g. the one that is used for the /vagrant mount by default, which could be switched to NFS/rsync/SMB, or disabled, but still...), I get the following error after a while:

Waiting for HGFS kernel module to load...
The HGFS kernel module was not found on the running virtual machine.
This must be installed for shared folders to work properly. Please
install the VMware tools within the guest and try again. Note that
the VMware tools installation will succeed even if HGFS fails
to properly install. Carefully read the output of the VMware tools
installation to verify the HGFS kernel modules were installed properly.

I'd like to not have to update all my Vagrantfiles to disable the default share or switch it to NFS, so I'd like to fix this, maybe using a technique like the one here: https://bascht.com/tech/2013/10/07/building-a-vagrant-box-with-centos-64-and-vmware/

TODO

• Update CentOS 6 packer/vagrant cloud box for VMWare and VirtualBox
• Update CentOS 7 packer/vagrant cloud box for VMWare and VirtualBox

[geerlingguy]

Also, I can confirm that this is happening with at least CentOS 6.6; I haven't tested thoroughly on CentOS 7.x yet.

[geerlingguy]

Fix is in code, now I just need to rebuild some packer boxes and put them up on Atlas/Vagrant Cloud.

[geerlingguy]

For CentOS 7, there is no simple installation via RPM, it seems. So far I can get HGFS working if I manually install gcc + kernel headers (with uname -r so kernel-devel-[kernel]), then go through the gauntlet:

# After mounting the ISO on `/dev/cdrom` with 'Reinstall VMware tools' menu item.
mkdir /mnt/cdrom
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
cd /tmp
tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-xxxxxxx.tar.gz
umount /dev/cdrom
cd vmware-tools-distrib
# Watch the output of this command very closely. No decent error detection :P.
./vmware-install.pl --default

After doing that and a vagrant reload, the HGFS mounts work properly. Ugh.

Working on rebuilding the Packer box a few more times before I pull out more of my hair.

References:

• VMWare Tools for Linux Guests
• CentOS 6.2 VMware Tools Install the Easy Way

[geerlingguy]

Might have to do something like:

• Manually mount/run/unmount VMware tools
• Same thing, different ideas

Supposedly (according to everything I've read), just installing open-vm-tools should be enough for CentOS 7/RHEL7, but this seems not to be the case from what I've been experiencing :(

[geerlingguy]

Fixed.