EASY way to share files between Mac host & guest

[oskar]

Okay, if y'all already know about this then my bad, but I'm putting it here for those who don't.

Go to System Preferences and click Sharing. Then select File Sharing and click the Options... button. Check the box next to Share files and folders using FTP. It will give you a local network address, most likely 192.168.0.*.

Now all you need to do is get an FTP client on your guest and put that local network address as your server, 21 as your port, and your Mac's admin name and password in the relevent name/password boxes.

You can now transfer files over FTP between your host and guest. It will all take place over the local network, so it will be very fast. To see USB drives connected to your Mac, you must go to the root directory and then go to Volumes.

[Son of a Beach]

Using FTP could be a handy solution for some people. But 'file transfer' and 'file sharing' are not the same thing.

FTP does not provide file sharing - it merely provides the ability to copy files from one host to the other. With file sharing, you can open a single file in one location using multiple hosts without having to copy it anywhere.

[oskar]

Using FTP could be a handy solution for some people. But 'file transfer' and 'file sharing' are not the same thing.

FTP does not provide file sharing - it merely provides the ability to copy files from one host to the other. With file sharing, you can open a single file in one location using multiple hosts without having to copy it anywhere.

Very true, though in my defense Apple calls it "file sharing" too.

[pvmstg]

Most mac user use their native mac drive or external drive to store data. So ftp could be helfull if you only have to transfer files. For day to day the network is needed.

So, until network is available... I'm in the waiting mode to try vb... all the data are in my mac or external drive. I do not whant to duplicate and have to make after that to do synchronisation.

Hope the next release will correct that...

[Quantum]

Am I gathering here that Shared Folders does not work on 10.4?

That would explain why I can't get it to work no matter what I do.

[m@riposa]

@Quantum: Right, currently Shared Folders don't seem to work.

[pvmstg]

Not so stupid after all. I was starting to beleive that my computer knolege or my bad english was the problem.

Hoping that beta 4 will bring share folder and network access so I could dismantel my old pc.... and leave some quietness in my room.

[Quantum]

pvmstg, network access is working for me, but I had to hot-wire it.

Understand that DHCP is not working in the Mac version of VirtualBox, but you can hard-code the IP. Set your Guest's IP to 10.0.2.5 and gateway to 10.0.2.2. Then set the DNS server to whatever it is on your network, and it will work.

[pvmstg]

Hi Quantum,

Thanks. I'm just a basic mac user so... Before messing up... Do these manupulation will change something with my physical pc... For now it's works fine mac to pc and pc to mac, so I do not whant to break it.

Hoping vb will correct this in the next release.

[Quantum]

No, the only thing this will affect is to make VB be able to network with your Mac.

[Barbaridad]

Just a stupid question here... where can I find this 192.168.0.* address on my mac?... Thanks a lot!

[hellfried]

Okay, if y'all already know about this then my bad, but I'm putting it here for those who don't.

Go to System Preferences and click Sharing. Then select File Sharing and click the Options... button. Check the box next to Share files and folders using FTP. It will give you a local network address, most likely 192.168.0.*.

Now all you need to do is get an FTP client on your guest and put that local network address as your server, 21 as your port, and your Mac's admin name and password in the relevent name/password boxes.

You can now transfer files over FTP between your host and guest. It will all take place over the local network, so it will be very fast. To see USB drives connected to your Mac, you must go to the root directory and then go to Volumes.

thanks for this. i was about to ditch virtualbox and go back to parallels over this issue of file sharing between the 2 OSes. anyways how secure is this set up? any chance of a 3rd part ftp-ing my personal files?

[m@riposa]

In the new version the buit-in folder sharing is fixed, so these insecure workarounds are not needed any more.