packer: Error when building from source ova

Question

I am trying to build an .ova file using another .ova as source:

My configuration is as follows:

"builders": [
       {
        "type": "vmware-vmx",
        "source_path": "builds/my-base.ova",
        "vmx_data": {
          "memsize": "8192",
          "numvcpus": "4"
       },

(the template validates successfully btw)

I am using:

$ vmplayer --version
VMware Player 14.1.2 build-8497320

(although I have installed VMWare Workstation Pro in trial mode)

$ packer --version
1.2.4

When running packer build I get the following error:

... Build 'vmware-vmx' errored: Cloning is not supported with VMWare Player version 5. Please use VMWare Player version 6, or greater.

==> Some builds didn't complete successfully and had errors: --> vmware-vmx: Cloning is not supported with VMWare Player version 5. Please use VMWare Player version 6, or greater.

==> Builds finished but no artifacts were created.

Answer 1

Looking as some past issues on the Packer repo, it looks like the Trial license may cause this error. Example: https://github.com/hashicorp/packer/issues/972#issuecomment-48640599