(Solved) Is it possible... shared .font folder for guests?

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loukingjr
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(Solved) Is it possible... shared .font folder for guests?

Post by loukingjr »

I run a lot of different Linux guests in VirtualBox and tend to try out new ones fairly often. I find myself doing certain things over and over and it gets tedious. I was wondering if it would be possible to create ONE each ~/.font, ~/.icons, ~/.themes, ~/Pictures folder as shared folders that I could point each guest to so they could all share the same fonts, icons, themes, etc., rather than having to reinstall the same ones over and over. It would be much easier if I could tell a guest "go look over there for your fonts" etc.

thanks
Last edited by loukingjr on 23. Feb 2011, 00:27, edited 1 time in total.
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Sasquatch
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Re: Is it possible to create a shared .font folder for guests?

Post by Sasquatch »

That should be possible, but keep in mind that some things might not work because of the access to the files and the mount may fail. In general, those folders are empty (or don't exist) and nothing writes to it except you, so if you have the proper mount in rc.local, it should be fine.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

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loukingjr
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Re: Is it possible to create a shared .font folder for guests?

Post by loukingjr »

Sasquatch wrote:That should be possible, but keep in mind that some things might not work because of the access to the files and the mount may fail. In general, those folders are empty (or don't exist) and nothing writes to it except you, so if you have the proper mount in rc.local, it should be fine.
Thank You.
I'm more or less a Linux novice but I do know Linux looks in /usr/share/fonts first, then if I create a .fonts folder in home it will look there. What I'm not sure about is, I have all my guests automounting a partition of an external HD as a shared folder. That works fine, it has mp3s, videos, photos, artwork on it which they can all access. I guess what I don't know is, if I create a .fonts folder in the shared folder will Linux know to look for it there. Does it see any .fonts folder or just the one in the home folder? Or do I have to point to it and say use the fonts in the folder in the shared folder. And if so, how exactly does one tell Linux, look over here for fonts.?
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Sasquatch
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Re: Is it possible to create a shared .font folder for guests?

Post by Sasquatch »

Your questions are better suited for linuxquestions.org than here. It has little to do with VB, but more with certain home folders residing on a network share. Basically, it just checks the existence of a few folders and use them if they do, in addition to the default ones.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

Retired from this Forum since OSSO introduction.
loukingjr
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Posts: 8851
Joined: 30. Apr 2009, 09:45
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Re: Is it possible to create a shared .font folder for guests?

Post by loukingjr »

Sasquatch wrote:Your questions are better suited for linuxquestions.org than here. It has little to do with VB, but more with certain home folders residing on a network share. Basically, it just checks the existence of a few folders and use them if they do, in addition to the default ones.
Actually, based on your response earlier it dawned on me I should be looking for that particular answer on a Linux forum. I ended up just Googling symlinks and found what I needed. It works just fine. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. :)
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