vbox share: What am I doing wrong?

[ToddAndMargo]

Hi All,

Host: CentoS 5.5
Guest: Fedora Core 14
vbox: 3.2.12

What am I doing wrong with my mount of shared folders from my host (which do share on my Windows Guests)?

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# from my rc.local
VBShares="/mnt/Virtual.Box.Shared.Folders"
if [ ! -d "$VBShares" ]; then mkdir "$VBShares"; fi
chmod 2777 "$VBShares"
mount -t vboxsf share "$VBShares" -o rw,suid,umask=0

/sbin/mount.vboxsf: mounting failed with the error: Protocol error

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# /sbin/mount.vboxsf -w -o rw,suid share /mnt/Virtual.Box.Shared.Folders
/sbin/mount.vboxsf: mounting failed with the error: Protocol error

# /sbin/mount.vboxsf  share /mnt/Virtual.Box.Shared.Folders
/sbin/mount.vboxsf: mounting failed with the error: Protocol error

I am stumped. :'(

Many thanks,
-T

[Perryg]

As su or sudo

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mount -t vboxsf -o uid=1000,gid=1000 <share name> <mount point>

So if you share name = share and you mount point = /mnt/share

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mount -t vboxsf -o rw,uid=1000,gid=1000 share /mnt/share

Also remember that the share name can not contain spaces or characters.
Question, why the sbin? Also guest additions must be installed for shared folders to work.
Next thing to look at is all the garbage in the rc.local file. Is it really needed? If so can you tell my why?

[ToddAndMargo]

As su or sudo
So if you share name = share and you mount point = /mnt/share

Booboo #1: I thought the "share" name was something you just made up. It is the share name from the VB Console shared folders dialog. Got that fixed.

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mount -t vboxsf -o rw,uid=1000,gid=1000 share /mnt/share

Is there a way to set the gid and uid so everyone can read it? (My gid is 100 (users) and my uid is 500)

Also remember that the share name can not contain spaces or characters.

I will change the name to /mnt/VBoxTemp

Question, why the sbin?

"mount" passes the information on to /sbin/mount.vboxsf. I was looking for extra info.

Also guest additions must be installed for shared folders to work.

they are

Next thing to look at is all the garbage in the rc.local file. Is it really needed? If so can you tell my why?

My new rc.local portion dealing with this:

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# Note: the "Usage: /sbin/mount.vboxsf [OPTIONS] NAME MOUNTPOINT"
#       "NAME" is the name given to it in the Virtual Box Console's
#       Shared Folders dialog

Explains what is going on

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HostShareName="Temp"
GuestMountPoint="/mnt/VBoxTemp"

I am in full programing mode. I always put names that are repeated in variables, they way I only have to change the name in one spot. It saves you a ton of headaches

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if [ ! -d "$GuestMountPoint" ]; then mkdir "$GuestMountPoint"; fi

If the mount point does not exist, then create it. This is a butt saver.

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chmod 2777 "$GuestMountPoint"

sets the sticky bit so whoever is trying to use it can take ownership of it. Also lets me know what the ownership needs to be after whoever has taken ownership. It is also a butt saver

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echo "mount -t vboxsf "$HostShareName" "$GuestMountPoint" -o rw,suid,umask=0"

helps with hand troubleshooting

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mount -t vboxsf "$HostShareName" "$GuestMountPoint" -o rw,suid,umask=0

the actual mount call.
Code is cheap.


And, it still does not work! Rats!

<SharedFolders>
<SharedFolder name="Temp" hostPath="/home/OurStuff/Temp" writable="true"/>
</SharedFolders>

# ls -al /mnt
drwxrwsrwx. 2 root root 4096 Dec 6 15:51 VBoxTemp

# mount -t vboxsf Temp /mnt/VBoxTemp
/sbin/mount.vboxsf: mounting failed with the error: No such file or directory

What no directory?!?!?! :'( What crappy error messages!

Poop!
-T

[Perryg]

OK first forget the rc.local until you get a mounted share. Once you have achieved that you SHOULD create a script outside the rc.local and call the script. Not too hip on putting garbage in the rc.local myself.

The best way to make these things available if there are multiple users is to move everything out to a local folder that is accessible by everyone and then set the user variables accordingly. You don't actually need the uid, gid if this is linux to linux. Usually this is given rw but you can always change the permission on the mount folder manually if you need to.

[ToddAndMargo]

Sounds good. I tend to put everything I need in my rc.local, unless I need to call the code twice from somewhere else. Then I make a script all of its own that everyone can call. Same idea as using variables for repeated names.

Any idea what "No such file or directory" actually means?

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# mount -t vboxsf Temp /mnt/VBoxTemp
/sbin/mount.vboxsf: mounting failed with the error: No such file or directory

-T

[Perryg]

Does /mnt/VBoxTemp exist?
Does the share name Temp really exist in the shared folder section?
Have you rebooted the guest after you installed the guest additions?

[ToddAndMargo]

Does /mnt/VBoxTemp exist?

Yup: As evidence:

# ls -al /mnt
drwxrwsrwx. 2 root root 4096 Dec 6 15:51 VBoxTemp

Does the share name Temp really exist in the shared folder section?

Yup. As evidence from "VB-FC14.xml":

<SharedFolders>
<SharedFolder name="Temp" hostPath="/home/OurStuff/Temp" writable="true"/>
</SharedFolders>

Have you rebooted the guest after you installed the guest additions?

About eight times (testing other things). Shared clipboard and shared mouse work fine.

I am stumped. :'(
-T

[Sasquatch]

It could be the name of the SF. Try lower case only. I guess you've read my howto already. If you haven't, take a look at it, it might get you somewhere, even though you show that you already know what needs to be done.