virtualbox.org

I’m trying to make a simple Samba share on my VirtualBox (v4.2.6) Linux Mint 14 VPC visible to the rest of my network, so I can map a Windows network drive letter to it, but I just can’t get it to work. I’m a newbie to Linux, and this is really basic – I must be doing something stupid. I've searched this forum, but don't understand half of what I'm reading. Can anybody please help me? All suggestions gratefully received.

So far (sorry about the length of this, but I wanted to include as much info as possible):
1) My home network consists of 2 Win 7 PCs: MESHSTUDY (the host), and DELLXPS8300. The Windows Workgroup name is CULTURE.

2) I’ve amended VirtualBox’s network settings (File/Preference/Network/’VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adaptor’) to give it a static IP of 192.168.0.9, mask 255.255.255.0. This puts it in the same subnet as the Win 7 PCs. I’ve also disabled VB’s DHCP Server, hoping that this will mean VMs will talk to the DHCP server in my ADSL router. And an ifconfig shows that the VM is picking up the right subnet settings:

Code: Select all

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 08:00:27:81:a6:cf  
          inet addr:192.168.0.5  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::a00:27ff:fe81:a6cf/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:6800 errors:0 dropped:12 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:3988 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:6321662 (6.3 MB)  TX bytes:476135 (476.1 KB)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:197 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:197 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:21642 (21.6 KB)  TX bytes:21642 (21.6 KB)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3) In the Linux VM’s own VB settings, I’ve amended Network to Bridged Adaptor, using the host’s “Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller”

4) I can successfully ping both Win PCs from the VM. From the host PC, I can ping the VM:

Code: Select all

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C:\Users\john>ping 192.168.0.5
Pinging 192.168.0.5 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.0.9: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.0.5: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.5: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.5: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.5:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

…which I assume means that the VB network refuses to pass on the ping to the VM, but the VM somehow responds anyway.

5) I have created a share on the VM called ‘john’, and this is what the VM reports:

Code: Select all

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ net rap domain
Enter john's password:
Enumerating domains:
	Domain name          Server name of Browse Master
	-------------        ----------------------------
	CULTURE              

john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ findsmb

                                *=DMB
                                +=LMB
IP ADDR         NETBIOS NAME     WORKGROUP/OS/VERSION 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
192.168.0.4     unknown nis name+[	CULTURE       ]

john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ smbclient -L 192.168.0.5
Enter john's password: 
Domain=[CULTURE] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.6.6]

	Sharename       Type      Comment
	---------       ----      -------
	IPC$            IPC       IPC Service (john-VirtualBox server (Samba, LinuxMint))
	print$          Disk      Printer Drivers
	homes           Disk      Home Directories
	Canon-iP4700-series Printer   Canon iP4700 series
	john            Disk      Home Directories
Domain=[CULTURE] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.6.6]

	Server               Comment
	---------            -------
	JOHN-VIRTUALBOX      john-VirtualBox server (Samba, LinuxMint)

	Workgroup            Master
	---------            -------
	CULTURE              

john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ smbtree
Enter john's password: 
CULTURE
	\\MESHSTUDY      		
		\\MESHSTUDY\Users          	
		\\MESHSTUDY\print$         	Printer Drivers
		\\MESHSTUDY\MeshDVD        	
		\\MESHSTUDY\IPC$           	Remote IPC
		\\MESHSTUDY\Canon iP4700 series	Canon iP4700 series
		\\MESHSTUDY\C$             	Default share
		\\MESHSTUDY\ADMIN$         	Remote Admin
	\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX	john-VirtualBox server (Samba, LinuxMint)
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\john           	Home Directories
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\Canon-iP4700-series	Canon iP4700 series
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\homes          	Home Directories
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\print$         	Printer Drivers
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\IPC$           	IPC Service (john-VirtualBox server (Samba, LinuxMint))
	\\DELLXPS8300    		
		\\DELLXPS8300\Users          	
		\\DELLXPS8300\IPC$           	Remote IPC
		\\DELLXPS8300\C$             	Default share
		\\DELLXPS8300\ADMIN$         	Remote Admin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This isn’t perfect. Findsmb isn’t giving much info about the DELLXPS8300, and doesn’t show the host PC at all. Smbtree shows the ‘john’ share on the VM. I’ve used chmod 777 on all the files and folders in the share.

6) When I try and view the Network Map from the host PC, it shows JOHN-VIRTUALBOX, but does not fit it into the network map, stating ‘The following discovered device cannot be placed in the map.’ If I try and open JOHN-VIRTUALBOX, or try and map a drive to it, I get a Windows error:

Code: Select all

“Windows cannot access \\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX.  Error code 0x80070035.  The network path was not found.”

This is mystifying me. Either Windows can see it, or it can’t. It seems to be saying I can see it, but I can’t find it.

Can anybody please help me?

Regards
John

What do you suppose "Host-Only" actually means?

Keep it bridged, and use the IP address instead of the hostname.
So instead of
\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX
do
\\192.168.0.5

@Perryg: From the manual, Ch6:

With bridged networking, VirtualBox uses a device driver on your host system that filters data from your physical network adapter. This driver is therefore called a "net filter" driver. This allows VirtualBox to intercept data from the physical network and inject data into it, effectively creating a new network interface in software. When a guest is using such a new software interface, it looks to the host system as though the guest were physically connected to the interface using a network cable: the host can send data to the guest through that interface and receive data from it. This means that you can set up routing or bridging between the guest and the rest of your network.

My emphasis, showing that in "bridged networking", it's not just host-only. That's what I'm attempting to do, and that's why I decided, in the VM's Settings, to use the host's Realtek Ethernet interface, not the VB Host-only one. Or have I misunderstood the manual?
PS: Just tried switching the VM's Network settings to the host-only interface, and that isolates the VM: I can't ping out to either of the Win PCs, and the VM's browser can no longer see the internet. Switch back to the host's Realtek interface, and ping works again, and I can see the internet.

@noteirak: Good thought, but I just tried to map a network drive to \\192.168.0.5\john, and got the same result: "Windows cannot access \\192.168.0.5\john. Error code 0x80070035. The network path was not found."

Was I right in amending VB's network setting to put it on the same subnet as the other two PCs, and to disable DHCP? Any other suggestions?

Regards
John

I’ve amended VirtualBox’s network settings (File/Preference/Network/’VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adaptor’) to give it a static IP of 192.168.0.9, mask 255.255.255.0.

Going by what you said in the first message, this is going to be your nemesis.
I assume this address range is within the exact same range of your local LAN. Trying to use the host-only network in the way you have described will only confuse the guest and more than likely why your mapping can not be found.

The reason I asked what host-only meant to you was to emphasise that it is to allow host to guest *only* communication and nothing more.
Now if you have a router in the LAN you should use the Bridged mode and you do not actually need the host-only adapter. Try disabling the second adapter and allow the Bridge to work.

Perryg:

Thanks for your reply, but I'm still mystified. You're saying "host to guest *only* communication and nothing more", and the manual is saying "you can set up routing or bridging between the guest and the rest of your network." These statements seem to contradict each other. I clearly am missing something fundamental here.

My router is built into the Netgear ADSL Modem/Router/Switch/Firewall, which is the DHCP server, issuing IP addresses from 192.168.0.2 to 199, mask 255.255.255.0.

I'd certainly like to follow your advice, but not sure what I have to do. What exactly do you mean by "disabling the second adapter"?

At present in VB itself (not the VM) in File/Preferences/Network, I've edited the only entry (’VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adaptor’) to give it a static IP of 192.168.0.9, mask 255.255.255.0, with DHCP disabled.

And in the VM's own Machine/Settings/Network/Adapter 1, I have Attached to: Bridged Adapter, and under Name: I have two options: (1) Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (the host PC's i/f) and (2) VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adaptor. I'm using the Realtek one, with Adapter Type: Intel Pro/1000 MT etc, 'cos the VB one cuts the VM off. I'm not using Adapter 2 - 4, cos they're greyed out and unavailable. I can't see how to activate them.

I've tried setting VB's Host-Only adapter back to the default IP/Mask/DHCP settings (which I wrote down before fiddling with them). This doesn't have any effect: I can still ping from the VM out to the PCs on the LAN, but still can't map a network drive onto my Samba share. Do I have to install Samba on the PCs as well?
And in the VM itself I've tried changing Adapter 1 back to VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adaptor. This just cuts the VM off from the outside world.

Exactly what else should I be doing? I'm getting close to uninstalling my Linux VM and VB, as I've spent days on this without success.

Sorry to be so dumb but I'm a newbie to Linux and VB.

Regards
John

At present in VB itself (not the VM) in File/Preferences/Network, I've edited the only entry (’VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adaptor’) to give it a static IP of 192.168.0.9, mask 255.255.255.0, with DHCP disabled.

This is what is causing your issue. The host only adapter is always set to a different address, and subnet. It is done that was to isolate you from the local LAN so it does not interfere. By default this address should be 192.168.56.*

If you have a router then you only need the Bridged adapter and let you router DHCP assign you an address or set it manually within the same subnet.

Basically the host only mode is used when you have no router and need for the host and guest to communicate, much like a local loopback.

Disable the host only or change it to a different address (preferably the default)

Perryg:

Ah - the penny has dropped, I think. The VM is ignoring the Host-Only adapter altogether, bypassing it and talking directly through the host's Realtek adapter to the router!! It's beginning to make sense - the manual says "VirtualBox uses a device driver on your host system that filters data from your physical network adapter. This driver is therefore called a "net filter" driver. This allows VirtualBox to intercept data from the physical network and inject data into it, effectively creating a new network interface in software. " That's what it means - the Host-Only adapter is a complete red herring in Bridged Mode. Sorry for being so thick.

Except: I've just done that, and I still can't map a network drive letter to my VM's share. In VB's File/Preferences/Network, I've set the LAN-facing 'VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adaptor' back to its defaults: 169.254.24.54 and mask 255.255.0.0, and re-enabled its DHCP server so it can happily manage its own empty subnet. In the VM's Machine/Settings/Network, I have the Realtek interface Attached as Bridged, with adapter type Intel PRO/1000MT. I've rebooted the VM, and this is what it can see:

john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 08:00:27:81:a6:cf  
          inet addr:192.168.0.5  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::a00fe81:a6cf/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1468 errors:0 dropped:9 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1425 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:867716 (867.7 KB)  TX bytes:211182 (211.1 KB)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:225 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:225 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:25243 (25.2 KB)  TX bytes:25243 (25.2 KB)

john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ ping 192.168.0.4 -c3
PING 192.168.0.4 (192.168.0.4) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.0.4: icmp_req=1 ttl=128 time=12.7 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.4: icmp_req=2 ttl=128 time=4.29 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.4: icmp_req=3 ttl=128 time=3.65 ms

--- 192.168.0.4 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2003ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 3.658/6.896/12.736/4.138 ms

john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ smbtree
Enter john's password: 
CULTURE
	\\MESHSTUDY      		
		\\MESHSTUDY\Users          	
		\\MESHSTUDY\print$         	Printer Drivers
		\\MESHSTUDY\MeshDVD        	
		\\MESHSTUDY\IPC$           	Remote IPC
		\\MESHSTUDY\Canon iP4700 series	Canon iP4700 series
		\\MESHSTUDY\C$             	Default share
		\\MESHSTUDY\ADMIN$         	Remote Admin
	\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX		john-VirtualBox server (Samba, LinuxMint)
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\john           	Home Directories
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\Canon-iP4700-series	Canon iP4700 series
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\homes          	Home Directories
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\print$         	Printer Drivers
		\\JOHN-VIRTUALBOX\IPC$           	IPC Service (john-VirtualBox server (Samba, LinuxMint))
	\\DELLXPS8300    		
		\\DELLXPS8300\Y$             	Default share
		\\DELLXPS8300\Users          	
		\\DELLXPS8300\IPC$           	Remote IPC
		\\DELLXPS8300\C$             	Default share
		\\DELLXPS8300\ADMIN$         	Remote Admin

...which all looks great, but my Win 7 host still can't map a network drive to the VM's share 'john'. I get the same error message: "Windows cannot access \\192.168.0.5\john. Error code 0x80070035. The network path was not found."
And in the host's Network Map, JOHN-VIRTUALBOX is still listed, but off to one side as ‘The following discovered device cannot be placed in the map.’ So Windows can see it, but can't find it. Duh. Back at square one.

Where do I go from here? Do I have to install Samba on all the LAN PCs as well? Any other suggestions?

Yours in desperation
John

If you are able to ping the VM or from the VM, and you are able to see the VM's shares from another machine, then there is nothing wrong with the networking itself, or with Virtualbox.
I would definitly seek more into the samba configuration. Something might just be off somewhere.

noteirak:

No, the problem is I CAN'T see the VM's shares from other PCs on the LAN. I can ping to and from the VM. But the VM can see the shares on the Win 7 PCs:

john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ smbclient -L meshstudy
Enter john's password: 
Domain=[MESHSTUDY] OS=[Windows 7 Home Premium 7601 Service Pack 1] Server=[Windows 7 Home Premium 6.1]

	Sharename       Type      Comment
	---------       ----      -------
	ADMIN$          Disk      Remote Admin
	C$              Disk      Default share
	Canon iP4700 series Printer   Canon iP4700 series
	IPC$            IPC       Remote IPC
	MeshDVD         Disk      
	print$          Disk      Printer Drivers
	Users           Disk      
Domain=[MESHSTUDY] OS=[Windows 7 Home Premium 7601 Service Pack 1] Server=[Windows 7 Home Premium 6.1]

	Server               Comment
	---------            -------

	Workgroup            Master
	---------            -------

john@john-VirtualBox ~ $ smbclient -L dellxps8300
Enter john's password: 
Domain=[DELLXPS8300] OS=[Windows 7 Home Premium 7601 Service Pack 1] Server=[Windows 7 Home Premium 6.1]

	Sharename       Type      Comment
	---------       ----      -------
	ADMIN$          Disk      Remote Admin
	C$              Disk      Default share
	IPC$            IPC       Remote IPC
	Users           Disk      
	Y$              Disk      Default share
Domain=[DELLXPS8300] OS=[Windows 7 Home Premium 7601 Service Pack 1] Server=[Windows 7 Home Premium 6.1]

	Server               Comment
	---------            -------

	Workgroup            Master
	---------            -------

...although I note that these queries show Domain=[MESHSTUDY] or [DELLXPS8300], whereas the 'smbtree' AND 'net rap domain' queries (see earlier in this thread) produced Domain: CULTURE, which is the name of my Windows 7 Workgroup, and I have set this as the workgroup/domain in smb.conf as follows:

# Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of
	workgroup = CULTURE

...could that have anything to do with it?

Regards
John

Post the /etc/samba/smb.conf file (as an attachment)

Here you go. The forum said .conf is verboten, so I added a .txt extension.

Regards
John

I don't know why you are having this issue but below is my smb.conf that does work. (be sure to backup the original if you decide to use and modify this one)

You need to run sudo restart smbd when you change the config file so it is re-read.

Code: Select all

[global]
	server string = %h server (Samba, Mint)
	map to guest = Bad User
	obey pam restrictions = Yes
	pam password change = Yes
	passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
	passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
	unix password sync = Yes
	syslog = 0
	log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
	max log size = 1000
	dns proxy = No
	usershare allow guests = Yes
	panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
	workgroup = WORKGROUP
	security = user
	username map = /etc/samba/smbusers

[homes]
	comment = Home Directories
	read only = No

[printers]
	comment = All Printers
	path = /var/spool/samba
	create mask = 0700
	printable = Yes
	browseable = No

[print$]
	comment = Printer Drivers
	path = /var/lib/samba/printers

[share]
	comment = Mint File Server Share
	path = /home/mint/Downloads
;	browsable = yes
	guest ok = no
	read only = no
	create mask = 0755

Another thing that you can try is to use the net commands on Windows (in a command window) to see exactly what Windows sees. Lastly I have never tried changing the workgroup so your question about that will need to be answered by someone that has.

PS: don't forget to create the smbuser or you will get access denied.

: samba-share-to-win7.png (117.65 KiB) Viewed 7869 times

PerryG:

Oh good grief, it's working. I used your smb.conf, but without any more success than before: just error messages when trying to open john-virtualbox. Then I tried 'net use l: \\john-virtualbox\john' as you suggested, which produced "System error 53 has occurred". So I looked elsewhere on the web for help with this error message, and somebody said (amongst other suggestions) make sure there are no firewalls in the way. So I turned off Linux Mint's firewall, and suddenly I can attach to the VM's share from my Win PC. Grrrr. I do apologise for wasting your time - it was nothing to do with networking set-ups or samba shares. Now I shall have to find out how I can add my win PCs to some sort of firewall whitelist, so I can turn the firewall back on again.

Profuse apologies and thanks for your time and expertise!

Regards
John

For anybody else reading this having the same problem, the Linux Mint Firewall (GUFW) is dead easy to configure to overcome the problem. Simply Edit / Add Rule: Preconfigured: Allow / In / Service / Samba.

Enjoy!

Regards
John

virtualbox.org

Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!

Re: Linux VM network share to Windows - help!