Update from 2020-01-11: Minikube Woes with VMware Workstation 15 and Choco Updates
As I was happily playing around with Minikube on my private Windows Notebook, I had the brilliant idea to update everything to the latest version using choco. Little did I know that this would lead to a series of unforeseen events that would test my patience and troubleshooting skills. Here’s my story of how I overcame the issues and what I learned along the way.
The initial problem began when Minikube refused to start after updating everything with choco. To my surprise, these two packages were updated:
1. Minikube
2. VMware Workstation
The error message suggested that “vmrun” isn’t installed, despite having the latest version of Workstation 15 installed on my system. I double-checked and confirmed that Workstation was indeed installed and functioning properly, as I could spin up new VMs just fine. However, the issue persisted.
In my quest to resolve the problem, I stumbled upon a helpful hint in the VMware forums that the “vmrun” executable is no longer part of Workstation 15. Instead, the VIX package from VMware must be installed manually to fix the issue. While this did not initially solve my problem, even after forcing re-installation of all packages and rebooting multiple times, I persisted in my search for a solution.
After some trial and error, I discovered that adding the installation path to the PATH variable was the key to resolving the issue. This simple yet crucial step fixed the problem and allowed me to run Minikube successfully again.
However, this workaround had an unexpected side effect: it broke packer and prevented it from building new templates. To my surprise, the issue was related to the same “vmrun” executable that I had previously struggled with. It seemed that Packer was also dependent on this executable, which is no longer included in Workstation 15.
Determined to find a solution, I scoured the internet for any information related to this issue. Finally, I found a helpful post in the VMware forums from LucianoGlla that provided the solution. The post suggested modifying the file vixwrapper-config.txt located in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware VIX (Windows).
The solution involved changing the fourth row of the file to match my Workstation version, which is 15.5.1 in my case. After making the change and testing the functionality, I was thrilled to see that Minikube was working again, and Packer could build new templates without any issues.
In conclusion, this blog post has been a journey of self-discovery for me as I navigated through various issues related to Minikube, VMware Workstation 15, and choco updates. While the initial problem was frustrating, the experience taught me valuable lessons about troubleshooting, persistence, and the importance of documentation.
As always, I encourage my readers to do their own research and consult multiple sources before attempting any changes to their systems. While this post may have been helpful to some, it is by no means a comprehensive guide or a one-size-fits-all solution. Each person’s experience may vary depending on their specific environment and requirements.
I hope that my story can serve as a resource for others who may encounter similar issues in the future. Until next time, happy troubleshooting and may your systems always be stable and reliable!