[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
I have a build now working for xenial now (local sbuild). Unless we will get a confirmation for extra tests by vmware or someone else able to cover the current supported esxi we will (as discussed) "only" target backports but not an SRU (this can change if one confirms he is willing and able to do the verifications). I have a ppa [1] that is open to be tested already and will kick off the processing to make this a xenial-backport upload now (I never done such a backport so I hope I get the process right from [2]). @Evade - if you could try out the build from that ppa that would be great [1]: https://launchpad.net/~ci-train-ppa-service/+archive/ubuntu/3152 [2]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBackports#Requesting_a_Backport ** Summary changed: - Package two years out of date + Please backport open-vm-tools 2:10.2.0-3 (main) from bionic -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Please backport open-vm-tools 2:10.2.0-3 (main) from bionic To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Dropping it on/off any list won't help. As I outlined before - I'm even for updating, but need some confirmation that it works right. If they'd commit to verify a ppa that I provide against all their ESXi versions that would be great! If you could ask them for that explicitly that would be great. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
I've had an unofficial response that VMware will continue to include Xenial in the supported OSes list for ESXi if VMware tools is updated. However I'm waiting for the support person to get an official statement, which I hope I can quote for you. They're still talking internally -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Thank you again for your help. I'm very disappointed by the overall response to this issue. If you've already contacted the VMware staffers working on the GitHub repo, then I wouldn't expect much from the business critical support ticket I've raised. We need to know that the distros we use will maintain packages necessary for integration. I imagine there are few in the community using VMware (I use KVM when I have a choice) who are so dependent on running the latest ESXi release. If you could please get this to compile that would be very helpful. At this stage I'd consider using a test version in production! -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
I asked around way more, but the TL;DR summary is that it never worked and that no group is able or willing to do the verification for a full SRU. Backports would therefore be the option to go, but due to the (probably trivial once you know the fix) complex build issue it not feasible for me to do at the moment. I'm open to help by anyone and willing to assist, but right now I just can't spend the time - therefore community help for the backport is welcome. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
It's take a few days to get through some internal delays about raising the ticket. It should be acted on soon, although as I said before I'm unsure if it will get the right result. Have you tried to contact the VMware people who maintain the open-vm-tools repo in Github by any chance? I wonder if that might be a better way to get to the right people. At least you could ask them about the build problem? -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Thanks again. It will be a few days until I'm able to do it, but I will raise a job and request assistance from VMware. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
FYI - I completed 10.2 into Bionic now, it was in proposed and will soon be available there. But the backport to Xenial drove me nuts (for stupid reasons), and since I can't even qualify it for the SRU I gave up the backport for not. Yes for a xenial-backports only upload it would not be "that much" qualification needed. But still I'd not like to ship it untested. Several people are going on with an discussion if/who/how to provide newer versions of this into older releases. But things are going (very) slow and it seems other than me (and you) nobody really wants/likes it and considers things good as they are :-/ For the question you could ask to vmware (so that it comes from different angles) I think it would be: "if one would provide an Ubuntu ppa with such a backport, would vmware be willing to qualify this against their current set of supported vmware versions and post that on a bug like this?" Because without that offer all my work for a backport would be kind of in vain as no one would release it. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Sorry to hear that the build is messy. Thanks for putting the time in that you have. I've got plenty of other things to do so I'm just checking every few days for the build to succeed. Would this be much easier if the new packages were in backports only? In hindsight that is OK with me. If so does it mean the priority of building new releases of these packages would also be lower? This wouldn't be ideal, since we'll need the packages in a timely fashion. (I'm also thinking ahead of when we move to the 2018 LTS release) Could you please explain what you would like me to ask VMware to do? As much as we'd both like it, I highly doubt they would be willing to directly maintain a package of the software they provide for any linux distro. They do say that they will provide "assistance" but whatever I ask will need to be more specific. Thanks again! -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
The build is kind of messy, as upstream moved some sources around and building that "nicely" required features in debhelper only avaialble in later Ubuntu versions. It failed a few times now and this week is really bad in terms of free time for this :-/ Also we discussed a potential SRU into Xenial a bit more and it came out as rather unlikely - as we really lack a way to check for regressions on a vast array of VMWare ESXi versions. If I get a build running on my weekend I might prep something for the backports pocket (which is opt in and therefore not under the same constraints as the SRU), but I doubt I could do that on a regular schedule to keep it always up to date. For the "I need to be totally in sync with the host" it might come down as a case for the host provided tools still - despite the kb article declaring the OS vendor content as preferred. I wonder about the mentioned "VMware provides assistance to operating system vendors and communities with the integration" as I would not know at all where/how. The package is on community level support, but if VMWare itself would step up and maintain it (as they are who can check and populate [1] against the new version) that would be great. Yet I'd not expect you to get a great answer if you open up a support ticket for that, but who knows - you might try. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
Re: [Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
> If you have something specific you'd like VMware to act on, I can raise > a support ticket with them but it will take a few days before there's > any chance of action. I'm not sure I can get much traction, but it's > worth a try. thanks for the offer. I have contacts, so this will go on - yet these mills grind slowly so it will take a while. Until then I need to get the ppa building for you so that you can at least test for now. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Thank you again. If you have something specific you'd like VMware to act on, I can raise a support ticket with them but it will take a few days before there's any chance of action. I'm not sure I can get much traction, but it's worth a try. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
Re: [Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 10:35 PM, evade <1741...@bugs.launchpad.net> wrote: > Hello Christian, > Thank you for your work on this! Sorry to hear about build problem. I hope > it's not difficult to resolve. I am looking forward to trying this. I can't spend like a full day on it, but if you are ok with me trying to improve it step by step until it works then it is ok :-) [...] > The advice I've read from VMware [1] is to always use a vendor's open- vm-tools package. Thanks for all of that. I had assumed they'd prefer "their own", but I'm ok either way. I kicked of an discussion about - if that is the stance taken - vmware maybe assisting to qualify the backports to give the confidence needed to SRU them. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Hello Christian, Thank you for your work on this! Sorry to hear about build problem. I hope it's not difficult to resolve. I am looking forward to trying this. I do not feel this is a "comfort feature" but instead a compatibility requirement for Xenial to be supported on the latest ESXi 6.5 update(s). If there are any problems on our Ubuntu VMs and I raise a support ticket with VMware, they will insist we update VMware tools before working further. I also have a specific problem I mentioned in the original post, but I won't know the impact on that until I can try an updated version. The VMware article you linked is out of date. Note that even though the whole page was updated on May 30th 2017, if you read the "Update History" section, the actual content changed last in December 2015. The advice I've read from VMware [1] is to always use a vendor's open-vm-tools package. That advice is linked from their first announcement of planning to release Open-VM-tools [2]. Apparently the same advice is also displayed if you try to install VMware Tools directly from ESXi [3]! I briefly tried to compile the open-vm-tools package from VMWare's github page, but it failed. I'm a sysadmin responsible for multiple systems aside from these Ubuntu desktops. As soon as I recognized that I needed an updated open-vm-tools package I knew either I'd be maintaining the package for our Ubuntu systems forever, or I could ask the distribution to update this vendor-required component. I cannot be the only person affected by this [4]! Thank you again. [1]: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2073803 (VMware support policy section) [2]: https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2015/09/open-vm-tools-ovt-the-future-of-vmware-tools-for-linux.html [3]: https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/VMware_Tools_or_open-vm-tools (VMware Tools section) [3]: https://communities.vmware.com/thread/547675 -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Xenial ok as well in the PPA now. @evade - having this in the archive is kind of a comfort feature, but for your case where e.g. the absolute sync of tools and host is so important - can't you rely on the implicit availability of guest additions via the host like in [1] ? If not what are the issues - script-ability, ease of deployment, ... ? [1]: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1018414 ** Changed in: open-vm-tools (Ubuntu) Status: New => Incomplete -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Artful built, but on Xenial there were various issues for compat 10, I need to revert more changes. A new build was uploaded but will again take a while. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
Re: [Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
[...] > Please note that the related open-vm-tools-desktop package also needs to be > kept at the same version as open-vm-tools. As I mentioned we're using > VMware's "Horizon View" product so I require this also. > Do I need to raise a bug against that package also? The source package open-vm-tools which I thrown in a test backport here builds all the binary packages you mentioned, so open-vm-tools-desktop is already in the ppa. > > I linked open-vm-tools version 10.2.0 as it is the stable latest available. > My thinking is that if an update is necessary (and with the testing that > involves) why not go to the latest now?! Sure eventually we might go for that. But usually for any such work you'd not go ahead of the latest available version - otherwise people upgrading from former Ubuntu releases would downgrade the package. For the current level of "giving it a try and evaluate" 10.1.15 is just as good. > > Could you please clarify this: > " > The maintainer scripts have not a lot (actually none) version dependent > special cases that sometimes wreaking havok for such backports. > " That mostly is a note to myself that there is not a lot of special magic making these backports harder, sorry for being misleading. TL;DR - Note: it has none of the bad stuff -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Thank you very much! I will try the package from your ppa as soon as I'm able. Please note that the related open-vm-tools-desktop package also needs to be kept at the same version as open-vm-tools. As I mentioned we're using VMware's "Horizon View" product so I require this also. Do I need to raise a bug against that package also? I linked open-vm-tools version 10.2.0 as it is the stable latest available. My thinking is that if an update is necessary (and with the testing that involves) why not go to the latest now?! Could you please clarify this: " The maintainer scripts have not a lot (actually none) version dependent special cases that sometimes wreaking havok for such backports. " as I don't understand. The statement seems to contradict itself. Thank you again! -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
The maintainer scripts have not a lot (actually none) version dependent special cases that sometimes wreaking havok for such backports. OTOH unfortunately no integrated dep8 tests. And as I mentioned at least I don't have a matrix of vmware hosts 10-14 around or any such which I'd like to see at least somewhat tested - and the SRU Team as well I'd guess. I tried manually the current version, installing VMware-Workstation-Full-14.1.0-7370693.x86_64.bundle Note: to get rid of it afterwards: sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-player And Installed Xenial iso http://releases.ubuntu.com/16.04/ubuntu-16.04.3-server-amd64.iso But I couldn't see total breakage without the new version just by installing and basic usage. I have set up a ppa to test new versions that would be made available as SRU to be tested, see [1] for the packages. @Evade: - please help testing those packages as much as you can - I know you referenced 10.2, but since 10.1.15 is the latest we have I won't go ahead of that. - if you would have a few examples what fails on the old but would work on the new version with steps to reproduce (with only free vmware versions) - that would be helping the case a lot. P.S: currently the Ubuntu build farm is disabled for maintenance, so you might need to wait a few days until the ppa is ready - that can be seen on the web view of the ppa on [2] where the packages need little "green checkmarks". [1]: https://launchpad.net/~ci-train-ppa-service/+archive/ubuntu/3099 [2]: https://launchpad.net/~ci-train-ppa-service/+archive/ubuntu/3099/+packages -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
Re: [Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Thank Steve, you are right under that POV it would fall under the (virtual) HW enablement category. So not backports but a real SRU, that is beneficial for more people if done right. Thanks for sharing your SRU expert hat thoughts. So it comes down to a matter of: - developing some more extended regression checks to have more confidence in such updates - allocating time to do the regular updates (maybe quarterly, but even less frequent is better than no updates) Looking at my next things I need to do - I don't see me doing these open-vm-tools updates very soon (mostly for the lack of good regression checks atm) so any help is welcome, but I keep it on my todo-list to pick it up when I can. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Also, I hate to burden you more, but VMware tools seems to be updated every 3/4 months in line with ESXi patches. IMO it should be updated at least quarterly. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Thank you both for your responses! What needs to happen for a "platform enablement" bugfix? -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
Re: [Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Hi Christian, On Fri, Jan 05, 2018 at 07:25:16AM -, ChristianEhrhardt wrote: > In the sense that you describe it about every package in Xenial is now > "two years out of date", because the policy to not break on what users > already use has a lot of implicatons [1] > One tries to address bug-fixes in an isolated testable way as good as > possible, but such a major update is rare. Even minor release updates > (less bumps than this case) have to follow a very strict process with > [2] as examples. > The way out of this is [3] where people can prepare newer versions > without affecting the world as it is mostly opt-in and thereby not > affecting the majority of users who consider themselves safe by the SRU > policy. > > I currently have no cycles to spare on this, so if this is urgent for > you I wanted to ask if you are willing and able to start driving this > bug along the Ubuntu Backport Process [4]? > > [1]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates > [2]: > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates#Documentation_for_Special_Cases > [3]: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuBackports > [4]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBackports With my SRU team hat on, I will say that open-vm-tools clearly falls into the class of packages that have a "platform enablement" (née "hardware enablement") exception to the usual bugfix-only rule. Care must of course still be taken to test the updates and avoid regressions, but in cases where the package must be updated from upstream to maintain compatibility with the moving target of the OS's substrate (whether that's hardware, or a cloud platform, or a VM platform), the requirement to selectively cherry-pick bugfixes is waived. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Thank you for your explanation - and even before so I was guessing just that. I've been there as well in the past. I understand you estimation of: I'm not convinced that older versions of VMware tools are more "stable" I've been there as well (for other projects), but hard lessons learned (on my side) boils down on my favorite https://xkcd.com/1172/ There are certain exceptions, but these follow [2] in my former post and are generally projects adopted by Canonical in Main [1]. Long story short, backports as suggested are just the right way to do this. I'll stay subscribed to support you when and where I can. [1]: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Repositories/Ubuntu#The_Four_Main_Repositories -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Hello Christian, Thank you for your fast response and the explanation. Despite the difference in release time, I don't see this as a major upgrade but instead a required bugfix to maintain compatibility with another vendor's products. I work in an enterprise environment and am working on a project building a new network. We specifically chose an LTS release for our virtual developer desktops because we didn't want developers to have to upgrade their desktops on the normal release cycle. Sadly we are stuck with VMware's Horizon View (which I wouldn't recommend). As Horizon View's Linux support is still maturing and we're still in the build phase of our Network, we've had to keep up with the latest version of that product. (For example, the latest version allowed us to offer KDE instead of only a GNOME desktop!) We have to patch VMware software, especially including the ESXi hypervisors for security updates. However VMware don't offer security- only patches, only whole updates. We're working with a whole matrix of software which we've learned the hard way has to be kept on equal supported versions. Also, as I mentioned previously, we've had experience with out of date VMware tools causing difficult to diagnose problems (like with the virtual NIC driver, for example). I raised this ticket because a horrid combination of old VMware tools, NVIDIA proprietary graphics driver (Tesla acceleration is required for the number of monitors used) and VMware's Horizon view agent is causing desktop sessions to crash regularly. I've updated all the other software, only VMware tools is now old. (I'm not convinced that older versions of VMware tools are more "stable" anyway, just that their problems are more likely known!) I recognise the situation might be very different, but as an example, Red Hat provide the latest stable open-vm-tools and open-vm-tools-desktop packages for RHEL even though RHEL has a much older kernel and (many) older packages than 16.04. (We do of course pay them well for their support though) I'll ask my project manager about investing time in the Backport Process. I'm afraid I have 0 personal time which I could invest in this. Thanks for your time! -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
Hi evade, I understand your case but this has to be very carefully evaulated. In the sense that you describe it about every package in Xenial is now "two years out of date", because the policy to not break on what users already use has a lot of implicatons [1] One tries to address bug-fixes in an isolated testable way as good as possible, but such a major update is rare. Even minor release updates (less bumps than this case) have to follow a very strict process with [2] as examples. The way out of this is [3] where people can prepare newer versions without affecting the world as it is mostly opt-in and thereby not affecting the majority of users who consider themselves safe by the SRU policy. I currently have no cycles to spare on this, so if this is urgent for you I wanted to ask if you are willing and able to start driving this bug along the Ubuntu Backport Process [4]? [1]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates [2]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates#Documentation_for_Special_Cases [3]: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuBackports [4]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBackports -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
I can't find any security bugs fixed, but there are good fixes like this: "Kernel modules were not upgraded after upgrading OSPs using the recommended procedure The package vmware-tools-esx-kmods is a meta package that depends on the kernel module package. Installing it with yum/apt/zypper gets the kmod packages. An upgrade of vmware-tools-esx-kmods might not automatically upgrade the kmod packages because the dependency was not versioned. This issue is fixed in this release." -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
[Bug 1741390] Re: Package two years out of date
PS: There are multiple significant bugfixes for Linux in the updated version. Here are the release notes, I believe the latest does not include the fixes from previous versions (all these releases are newer than the Xenial version) https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tools/10.2/rn/vmware-tools-1020-release-notes.html https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tools/10.1/rn/vmware-tools-1015-release-notes.html https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tools/10.1/rn/vmware-tools-1010-release-notes.html -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1741390 Title: Package two years out of date To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1741390/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
