adding a shared folder that is on windows host machine

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matsmcfly
Posts: 3
Joined: 21. Mar 2019, 17:10

adding a shared folder that is on windows host machine

Post by matsmcfly »

Hi,

I have CentOS VM and would like to be able to grab and deposit data on a shared folder on the host PC. I have added a shared folder via the CentOS GUI with all permissions as read/write.

Is there any guide or help available to try and get this working?

Or is there a better suited alternative to this?

I need to do this as we have the VM for data processing, the data is all on the windows machine but has to be local to the VM to use the software we require to use for processing.

P.S. in centos I can create a folder (using gui), this is visible in windows and I can write to this file in windows too; however, I cannot save changes made while in CentOS and I receive an error that states: could not save the file "x", unexpected error: Error renaming temporary file: Text file busy.

The text file in question is not open or active in windows
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: adding a shared folder that is on windows host machine

Post by mpack »

This is not a Windows Hosts question - the host has no bearing on how the guest OS accesses shared folders.
matsmcfly
Posts: 3
Joined: 21. Mar 2019, 17:10

Re: adding a shared folder that is on windows host machine

Post by matsmcfly »

mpack wrote:This is not a Windows Hosts question - the host has no bearing on how the guest OS accesses shared folders.
Where might this question be best placed then for a reply?
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: adding a shared folder that is on windows host machine

Post by mpack »

Sorry, that was never intended to be a complete answer. I'm not that petty! I tend to save often as I write (old habit), that was point 1, but I lost network connection immediately after the above save (damn IT guys working on system today) - and then after reconnection 30 minutes later could not remember what topic I was on.

So, first: I'll move this topic to Linux Guests.

Then, is there a reason why simple Guest Additions Shared Folders will not work? What functions do you need? If it's just to get files in and out of a VM then GA shares are fine. If you want (and can't avoid) applications having files open for read or write over extended periods then I would enable a SAMBA share. In that case you need only make sure that the host and guest OS's are on the same network: bridged networking to the host's Ethernet connection is normally ideal. Everything else is standard Windows<->Ubuntu PC networking.

If you need to discuss this further then please provide a VM log file: With the VM fully shut down, right click and "Show Log" in the GUI, save "VBox.log" (no other file) to a zip, and attach the zip here.
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