When installing the VMware Player 2.5.3 RPM on Fedora 11, the installation will get stuck in the third ‘Configuring…’ phase. After a bit of digging I discovered the problem is the same as that for installing VMware Workstation 6.5.3 on Fedora 11 and revolves around a locking issue for /etc/vmware/database. Fixing the issue for Player is similar to that for Workstation and is detailed in this forum post by psyk.
Following those directions will allow the RPM to be installed successfully — it even ends with an “Installation was successful” message — despite the python tracebacks it dumps out. The first time you start VMPlayer it’ll ask for the root password in order to configure/compile the kernel modules.
Note that for those of you Fedora 11 users holding out to have VMware cleanly close when shutting down a VM, you’ll be sorely disappointed. kill `pidof vmware-vmx` is still your friend.
Digital Ramblings 