How to configure a share folder with Linux Mint Guest

[Testing]

[I think this needs to be moved to "Guest Systems -> Linux Guests". Sorry.]

It took me quite a lot of time to nut this out so I thought I'd write it up and save others some time.

Software used:
Host: Windows 7
VirtualBox: v4.3.6
Guest: MintMATE 16

Instructions:

1) Create a folder on your host machine, I like to have mine on the Desktop, but you can have it wherever you want. I recommend creating a file in the folder so that you can tell if the share is working.

2) Start VirtualBox and open the settings for your Mint system.

Add a "Machine Folder" and select the folder you want to share (the one you created in step 1).

You will need to give it a name. Check the "Make Permanent" box so you don't have to repeat these steps.

You can then check "Auto-mount" if you want VirtualBox to automatically mount the share folder. If you do this it will be mounted in /media directory, along with the prefix "sf_". The other option is to manually set up where we want it to mount.

4) Start your virtual OS.

Option 1:

If you checked "Auto-mount" in step 2) the share folder will actually be mounted in /mdeia. The problem is that your user isn't a member of the vboxsf group (meanig you can't open it). We can fix this by adding our-self to the group:

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     sudo gpasswd -a <username> vboxsf
     sudo reboot

You should now be able to navigate to the folder:

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    cd /media/sf_<ShareName>/

Note: "In Linux guests, auto-mounted shared folders are mounted into the /media directory, along with the prefix "sf_". For example, the shared folder myfiles would be mounted to /media/sf_myfiles."

This isn't very convenient, so we can create a link to the mounted share:

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    rmdir Desktop/VirtualBoxShare/
    ln -s /media/sf_Share/ Desktop/

Option 2:
If you want to set up the mount point yourself you will need to continue with these steps.

5) We now need to create a folder where the shared folder will be "mounted". In terminal (CTRL + ALT + T):

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    mkdir Desktop/VirtualBoxShare

6) You can now try mounting the share to this folder:

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    sudo mount -t vboxsf Share Desktop/VirtualBoxShare/

7) If you go to the desktop and try and open this folder (or ls Desktop/VirtualBoxShare/), it will just hang... something is wrong.

From my understanding Guest Additions has not been configured for the current user. To rectify this we need to reinstall it.

From the "devices" menu select "Insert Guest Additions CD image...", this should automatically mount the CD on the desktop.

Then run the installer:

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    sudo /media/<username>/VBOXADDITIONS_4.3.6_91406/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

Reboot the system:

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    sudo reboot

Now try remounting the share:

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    sudo mount -t vboxsf <ShareNmae> Desktop/VirtualBoxShare/

If you open the mount point, it should work.

The next thing you probably want to do is mount the share automatically when you start Mint.

I originally tried to edit the fstab file, which is what it says in the VirtualBox documentation, but this didn't work:

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     sudo gedit /etc/fstab (or use nano)

At the bottom of the file add a new line that reads:

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    Share /home/<username>/Desktop/VirtualBoxShare vboxsf defaults 0 0
        where: [<sharename - from step 3> <mountpoint> vboxsf defaults 0 0]

[/color]

Apparently fstab mounts the file system before vboxvfs has even been loaded. Luckily we can just put our mount command in the /etc/rc.local file:

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    sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

Before the"exit 0" command add the mount line from above (you don't need sudo anymore as rc.local will be executed as a superuser. You do however need to specify the full directory):

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    mount -t vboxsf Share /home/felix2/Desktop/VirtualBoxShare/

Save and reboot to try it out:

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     sudo reboot

If everything worked, you should now have the shared folder mounting automatically!

References:

<Can't post links>

[Sandflea]

Testing,

Thanks for the post. Your post is EXACTLY what I have been trying to do with my new computer. Your post allowed me to see the other OS (Win7) drives in my system. I had been searching for more than a week for a soultuon, as I am not versed in Linux to have navigated a solution on my own.

My reason for Win7 host with Mint as a guest is Linux will not recognize my network card when Linux is the host. To my surprise, after setting up Linux as a Guest within Win7, it is able to connect with the network.

Thanks again for your post.

Sandflea

[Testing]

I'm glad it helped Sandflea.

Here are the references I used (now that I can post them):

References:
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04. ... redfolders
viewtopic.php?t=6139
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5851&sid=15c4bfa55f ... d4d175d858
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 0&t=141915

[keithterrill]

Just need to say thank-you. This was one of the best how-to helps I have encountered in a long time. It was clear without being insulting, and it got the job done.

THANK-YOU

[Will69]

I just followed these instructions with VirtualBox v.6, and it worked as you described. Why does VBox give plain, straight-forward instructions on doing this stuff? Thanks for you clear steps!

[mpack]

I assume there's a "not" missing in that sentence.

Is your question: why does the VirtualBox manual not give detailed step-by-step tuition for Linux? I would think you already know the answer.