VMware – Version 15.5 is Out – Compiles with Kernel 5.3..
VMware have released Workstation version 15.5.0, and the release notes can be found here: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-155-Pro-Release-Notes.html
The real surprise is that this actually compiles ( although not very cleanly) with Kernel 5.3 (tested with 5.3.0, and GCC 9.2.1, on Fedora 30)..
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/tmp/modconfig-rtOtwQ/vmnet-only/vnetEvent.o: warning: objtool: If this is a retpoline, please patch it in with alternatives and annotate it with ANNOTATE_NOSPEC_ALTERNATIVE.
/tmp/modconfig-rtOtwQ/vmnet-only/procfs.o: warning: objtool: .text.__x86_indirect_thunk_r10+0x0: unsupported intra-function call
/tmp/modconfig-rtOtwQ/vmnet-only/procfs.o: warning: objtool: If this is a retpoline, please patch it in with alternatives and annotate it with ANNOTATE_NOSPEC_ALTERNATIVE.
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/tmp/modconfig-rtOtwQ/vmnet-only/bridge.o: warning: objtool: .text.__x86_indirect_thunk_rcx+0x0: unsupported intra-function call
/tmp/modconfig-rtOtwQ/vmnet-only/bridge.o: warning: objtool: If this is a retpoline, please patch it in with alternatives and annotate it with ANNOTATE_NOSPEC_ALTERNATIVE.
/tmp/modconfig-rtOtwQ/vmnet-only/vnetUserListener.o: warning: objtool: .text.__x86_indirect_thunk_rax+0x0: unsupported intra-function call
/tmp/modconfig-rtOtwQ/vmnet-only/vnetUserListener.o: warning: objtool: If this is a retpoline, please patch it in with alternatives and annotate it with ANNOTATE_NOSPEC_ALTERNATIVE.
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The installer is non-graphical:
# ./VMware-Workstation-Full-15.5.0-14665864.x86_64.bundle
Extracting VMware Installer...done.
Installing VMware Workstation 15.5.0
Configuring...
[######################################################################] 100%
Installation was successful.
– but the first run prompts for the EULA acceptance etc. in a window..
Robert Gadsdon. September 20th 2019.
I’m not an expert on this but AFAICS the problem is caused by Workstation 15.5 makefile trying to guess suitable retpoline related compiler options which results in modules compiled with different options than the kernel they are built against. IMHO it’s more appropriate to use compiler options kernel was built with; in any case, commenting out or deleting those two lines (one in each makefile) is sufficient to get rid of these warnings.
There is still the old warning about unprotected indirect call (and tons of others) but VMware doesn’t seem to bother about compiler warnings, neither innocuous nor actually relevant ones. 🙁
For the record, this (host modules building without patching) won’t last long, there is going to be (at least) one build breakage with 5.4-rc1. 🙂
add in Makefile
OBJECT_FILES_NON_STANDARD := y