zfs-dkms and spl-dkms fail to build with new hwe kernel 4.8.0-53-generic

[Daniel Morris]

So far I could verify this problem on a test VM. How to reproduce:

* install ubuntu with the HWE kernel
* apt install zfs-dkms

packages build with all kernel versions up to 4.8.0-52-generic. 4.8.0-53-generic always fails

Building initial module for 4.8.0-53-generic
ERROR: Cannot create report: [Errno 17] File exists: '/var/crash/spl-dkms.0.crash'
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 4.8.0-53-generic (x86_64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/spl/0.6.5.6/build/make.log for more information.

root@template-xenial:~# lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS
Release: 16.04

Additionally it is not clear to me why there is a zfs-dkms package even though the modules are included in the kernel?

[BaseLab (baselab)]

I have the same behavior for package spl-dkms.
Please see attachment.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.