Shared Virtual Box

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
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mille1j
Posts: 17
Joined: 14. Nov 2013, 19:19

Shared Virtual Box

Post by mille1j »

I would like to have multiple users on each computer setup to run Virtual Box.

Is it possible to put the VIrtualBox VMs folder into a shared folder so that all users access the same install, or does each user need their own folder for the VMs?

If i install the VM as an admin and move it to the shared user folder, would I simply need to update the preferences for each user, or is there any other configuration needed for each user?
ChipMcK
Volunteer
Posts: 1095
Joined: 20. May 2009, 02:17
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, OSX
Location: U S of A

Re: Shared Virtual Box

Post by ChipMcK »

start with google search multiple users site:forums.virtualbox.org
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27329
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Shared Virtual Box

Post by socratis »

mille1j wrote:Is it possible to put the VIrtualBox VMs folder into a shared folder so that all users access the same install, or does each user need their own folder for the VMs?
If i install the VM as an admin and move it to the shared user folder, would I simply need to update the preferences for each user, or is there any other configuration needed for each user?
The VM folder is self-contained (after version 4.2 I think). So you could have them under the Shared folder. You "add" the VM as each user (usually by double-clicking the .vbox file), because the registered VMs and their location are saved in "User/<username>/Library/Virtualbox/Virtualbox.xml.
There might be a minor problem with the permissions although. Every time a user creates or modifies a file, OSX makes it (usually( read-only for the rest of the users. There are some posts about fixing it, try to Google for "OSX umask", but be careful, its affects are system-wide. One possible solution is to have the VMs stored in a partition that does not respect permissions.
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