Can I re-install workstation 17.0 over the latest update that just broke?

[foxsquirrel]

The initial install is 17.0 pro about a year ago. Ubuntu 22.04

Today it upgraded and is failing to build the kernel modules, thus will not open.

My question is this, can the older version be reinstalled over the this latest update without damaging our vm's?

This is a critical machine and we need to get this up as quickly as possible and was hoping this might be a solution until the current version fixed.

[bluefirestorm]

Kernel updates sometimes do break the vmmon/vmnet build. Don't hold your breath for VMware to fix it. The best bet is mkubecek. So it is not really about the version of Workstation 17.x but the kernel updates breaking the vmmon/vmnet builds.

You could try rebooting the Ubuntu 22.04 host with the previous kernel (6.2.0-39-generic ??) and rebuiild the vmmon/vmmnet modules. It will be as if the kernel was not updated. Then just rebuild (assuming you haven't taken anything yet from mkubecek's github)

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

Otherwise, you should try mkubecek github updates and see whether it resolves the vmmon/vmnet rebuild issues with the 6.15.0-14 kernel.

As for your VMs, they should be fine. It is a bit like your Word documents will be intact even if the Microsoft Word program is crashing/not working/uninstalled.