Ubuntu VM how to access shared folder on iMAC

[Sy]

I am using VirtualBox version 7.0.12 r159484 (Qt5.15.2) on my iMAC macOS Monterey Version 12.7.1, its an older Mac now Late 2015, but still very good. I want to access a shared folder from my iMAC, but not sure how....can anyone help, I've searched around online, but nothing has helped, I also have a 128GB usb stick, but I think that requires USB 4, it works fine on my iMAC, but doesn't appear on the virtual machine.

The version of Ubuntu is 22.04.3

[scottgus1]

I'm not sure if Guest Additions has working Virtualbox Shared Folders on Mac OS.

But if you have a Bridged or Host-Only network in the VM, see Virtualbox Networks: In Pictures, then you can set up a normal Mac shared folder provided by the host OS using Mac's usual process, and find the shared folder over the network inside Ubuntu. Essentially you'd have two computers networked together. Pretend Virtualbox is not involved, and get a shared folder working between Mac and Ubuntu.

****************
USB cannot be shared, so the USB stick won't go into the VM without using a Virtualbox USB Filter. And when it is in the VM, it won't be in the host Mac.

If accessing the USB stick is only to get files onto and off it, then a shared folder would be easier. Otherwise, see USB basics and troubleshooting.

[Sy]

I have also set-up a Windows 10 VM with a shared folder on my Mac and this works fine, on ubuntu it doesn't appear to be quite that simple.

[scottgus1]

Windows 10 VM with a shared folder on my Mac

Is this a real shared folder set up through the Mac OS, or a Virtualbox Shared Folder set up inside the VM's Shared Folders settings in the main Virtualbox window?

[Sy]

The setup was entirely using the oracle Virtualbox front end.

[scottgus1]

OK, good. So the real question is getting Guest Additions installed in the VM, which linux makes rather hairy.

Please start the VM from full normal shutdown, not save-state. Run until you see the problem happen, then shut down the VM from within the VM's OS if possible. If not possible, close the Virtualbox window for the VM with the Power Off option set.

Right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window's VM list, choose Show in Explorer/Finder/File Manager. In the "Logs" subfolder, zip the VM's "vbox.log", and post the zip file, using the forum's Attachments tab. (Configure your host OS to show all extensions so you can find the "vbox.log", not "vbox.log.1", etc.)

[Sy]

Please see attached VBoxLog.zip archive containing all the zipped logs for the Ubuntu VM.

[scottgus1]

Thanks for the logs. Looks like Guest Additions aren't fully installed.

Guest Additions have prerequisites in Linux, same as Virtualbox on the host, see https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04. ... ions-linux and https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch02. ... nux-prereq
Also, watch the terminal installation report when running the GAs installer. Error messages will show if the install ran into a problem.

Dealing with the Linux command line is the hairy part. Try to get a local friend who knows Linux if you run into trouble.

[Sy]

mmm...the instructions on those links aren't terribly helpful, I'm working on iMAC, where do I execute **rcvboxadd setup** ? I've tried the iMAC console, didn't work, so I opened up the Ubuntu VM and a terminal tried again, didn't work either.

[scottgus1]

They aren't terribly helpful because Linux isn't terribly helpful. There's a different way on each distro family to do the same thing. Welcome to FOSS!

The commands are run inside the Ubuntu VM. That said,

Dealing with the Linux command line is the hairy part. Try to get a local friend who knows Linux if you run into trouble.

[Sy]

@scottgus1, I'm not a complete noob when it comes to Linux, I am reasonably familiar with it. From ubuntu terminal:
```
vboxuser@SPlatten:~$ sudo rcvboxadd setup
[sudo] password for vboxuser:
sudo: rcvboxadd: command not found
```

[scottgus1]

I'm a definite Linux noob. so prepare to be led the wrong way.

From the second link, which is pointed to by the first link as common to both Virtualbox on the host and Guest Additions in the VM, these items have to be in place on the VM first:

Qt 5.3.2 or later. Qt 5.6.2 or later is recommended.
SDL 1.2.7 or later. This graphics library is typically called libsdl or similar.
GNU compiler (GCC)
GNU Make (make)
Kernel header files

*******************

sudo: rcvboxadd: command not found

the "vbox" in thecommand implies that it may come from the Guest Additions. It looks like Guest Additions may not have installed correctly.

In all the "how are Guest Additions installed in Linux VMs" posts here on the forum, running "rcvboxadd" isn't the first thing done.

Please state each step you're taking in getting the Guest Additions installed.

[Sy]

@scottgus1, thank you for your assistance I will have to revisit this another time, I have another job to complete.

[fth0]

FWIW, the documentation seems to be slightly misleading indeed:

AFAIK, the installation process of the VirtualBox Guest Additions (GA) creates the /sbin/rcvboxadd shell script, so you can only run it after at least one attempt of installing the GA. The main parts of the GA installation usually succeed, with the exception of building the GA kernel modules, which depend on the prerequisites like compiler, make system and kernel headers. In consequence, you can use sudo rcvboxadd setup to repeat building the GA kernel drivers.

In your case, the /sbin/rcvboxadd shell script seems to be missing ...

[Sy]

Still not really progressed on this, revisiting now, trying to resolve the USB stick information as displayed by Info on iMac:

Code: Select all

SY 128GB:
  Capacity:	124.22 GB (124,218,490,880 bytes)
  Free:	44.05 GB (44,052,119,552 bytes)
  Writable:	Yes
  File System:	ExFAT
  BSD Name:	disk5s1
  Mount Point:	/Volumes/SY 128GB
  Content:	Windows_NTFS
  Volume UUID:	2A6E4054-7EA2-3664-972B-7260E4858AED

VirtualBox Version 7.0.12 r159484 (Qt5.15.2), I now have two virtual machines that I would like to be able to access this USB stick on, Windows 10.

Ubuntu version:
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=22.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=jammy
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS"

Windows 10 Home version:
Version 22H2 OS build 19045.3803

My host macOS version:
macOS Monterey
Version 12.7.2