Shared Folder Ubutu - vboxsf gone after Samba install

[Chelle]

Hi,

I'm having trouble getting a shared folder up and running in Ubuntu (13.10) with a Mac (Mavericks).

I set up a shared folder in Virtualbox > Devices > Shared Folders

Next in the Terminal I did the command:

sudo adduser 'MyUsernameInUbuntu' vboxsf

... and restarted.

This all worked very well because when looking into the file: Computer > Media, there I found my shared folder, and I could copy stuff into that folder, and acces it in OSX; but I could not read what was in the folder, from within Ubuntu; and didn't check the 'read-only' option in the Shared Folders control panel.

So next I right-clicked on that folder and looked at 'Sharing Options' here it said something like you need to install Samba to work with Windows, I did that install, restarted Ubuntu, but now that shared folder in the Media folder has disappeared.

What now? help!

btw I did the 'sudo adduser vboxsf' thing again in the Terminal, but it replies that I'm already a member of `vboxsf'.

grtz,

m.

[socratis]

You either mis-read the manual or followed a wrong set of instructions. Samba on a guest and VirtualBox sharing have nothing to do with each other.

1. In the Virtualbox -> Devices -> Shared Folders Settings..., which flags did you enable (ReadOnly, Permanent, Automount)? You said about not enabling the ReadOnly, but what about the rest?
2. You shouldn't have to be a member of the vboxsf group, unless you enable the Automount option (personally, I don't). And when you say "in the Terminal", I assume you mean "in the guest Terminal".
3. You mixed VirtualBox shared folders with Ubuntu's Samba sharing. Totally different and incompatible sharing. No need to do any sharing at all from the guest.
4. If you didn't enable the Permanent flags, a shutdown and restart would make the folder dissapear.
5. You can see the Shared folders and their properties, if you go to: VirtualBox -> VirtualMachine Settings -> Shared folders. Make sure that the folder you want to share has Automount:Yes and FullAccess.

[Chelle]

You either mis-read the manual or followed a wrong set of instructions. Samba on a guest and VirtualBox sharing have nothing to do with each other.

Installing Samba wasn't a 'manual' thing, I just ran into it after right clicking on that map, and istalled it.

1. In the Virtualbox -> Devices -> Shared Folders Settings..., which flags did you enable (ReadOnly, Permanent, Automount)? You said about not enabling the ReadOnly, but what about the rest?

I had them both checked.

[*]You shouldn't have to be a member of the vboxsf group, unless you enable the Automount option (personally, I don't). And when you say "in the Terminal", I assume you mean "in the guest Terminal".

The Terminal in Ubuntu that's running in VirtualBox on my Mac.

[*]You mixed VirtualBox shared folders with Ubuntu's Samba sharing. Totally different and incompatible sharing. No need to do any sharing at all from the guest.

ok.

[*]If you didn't enable the Permanent flags, a shutdown and restart would make the folder dissapear.

ok.

I now made a new shared folder and in Mac OS and I checked all the sharing options for that file, and put a jpg into the map. This new folder did also show up in that Computer > media-map (along with the previous one), but when I opened it Ubuntu, something in the lower right corner said 'loading' and this continued for some time ... Next I went back to the Home-folder to find something to trow into the new shared folder to see if it would show up on the Mac-site, but when I opened the Computer > media-map again, that new shared-folder was now disappeared, gone.

[*]You can see the Shared folders and their properties, if you go to: VirtualBox -> VirtualMachine Settings -> Shared folders. Make sure that the folder you want to share has Automount:Yes and FullAccess.[/list]

Yes, that's what it says. But now it disappears just by opening an other map, even though I've checked permanent. I did a restart and the same thing happened.

[socratis]

OK, time to get into details. Please post the following:
- The VBox.log for your guest.
- The <VM>.vbox "recipe" for your guest.
See the following if you need any help locating them: Minimum information needed for assistance.

[Chelle]

Hi, thanks for the help.

I ran the code posted on the page you linked to. But the first time I did this, I had some error and the suggestion to do a sudo install virtualbox command which I did. btw I'm running Ubuntu from an VDI from 'virtualboximages_com' don't know if this is relevant, anyway this is what I got:

Code: Select all

adminuser@virtualboximagescom-VirtualBox-14:~$ VBoxManage list [--long|-l] vms|runningvms|ostypes|hostdvds|hostfloppies|
>                             bridgedifs|hostonlyifs|dhcpservers|hostinfo|
>                             hostcpuids|hddbackends|hdds|dvds|floppies|
>                             usbhost|usbfilters|systemproperties|extpacks

Oracle VM VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 4.3.2_Ubuntu
(C) 2005-2014 Oracle Corporation
All rights reserved.

Usage:

VBoxManage list [--long|-l] vms|runningvms|ostypes|hostdvds|hostfloppies|
                            intnets|bridgedifs|hostonlyifs|natnets|dhcpservers|
                            hostinfo|hostcpuids|hddbackends|hdds|dvds|floppies|
                            usbhost|usbfilters|systemproperties|extpacks|
                            groups|webcams


Syntax error: Unknown subcommand "[--long".
-l]: command not found
hostdvds: command not found
floppies: command not found
runningvms: command not found
hostcpuids: command not found
hostinfo: command not found
extpacks: command not found
systemproperties: command not found
hostfloppies: command not found
hostonlyifs: command not found
usbhost: command not found
usbfilters: command not found
bridgedifs: command not found
dhcpservers: command not found
ostypes: command not found
No command 'hdds' found, did you mean:
 Command 'dds' from package 'dds' (universe)
hdds: command not found
No command 'dvds' found, did you mean:
 Command 'dds' from package 'dds' (universe)
dvds: command not found
hddbackends: command not found
adminuser@virtualboximagescom-VirtualBox-14:~$ 
adminuser@virtualboximagescom-VirtualBox-14:~$ Example: VBoxManage list extpacksExample:: command not found
adminuser@virtualboximagescom-VirtualBox-14:~$ 

[socratis]

Fist of all, did you notice the big red letters that said "if asked to provide them"? I don't remember asking for that information.

Second, nowhere it said to sudo. You shouldn't need to. In fact it's pretty bad practice, borderline to dangerous.

Third, you copy pasted the command line syntax with all its options. From Wikipedia:

Built-in usage help and man pages commonly employ a small syntax to describe the valid command form:

• angle brackets for required parameters: ping <hostname>
• square brackets for optional parameters: mkdir [-p] <dirname>
• ellipses for repeated items: cp <source1> [source2…] <dest>
• vertical bars for choice of items: netstat {-t|-u}

Fourth, and most importantly, you didn't attach what I asked for.

[Chelle]

Sorry.

I've now attached both files in a zip-file:
- Ubuntu-14.04-amd64-Desktop.vbox
- VBox.log

VM_Chelle.zip

(14.33 KiB) Downloaded 8 times

[socratis]

OK, I took a look at your log file and here is what I found:

• You have 1361 MB free on your host (out of a total of 4096 MB), but you're giving 2048 MB on your guest. Too much!
• You have 2 CPUs on your host, but you're giving 2 CPUs on your guest. Too much!
• You are running Ubuntu 14.04 Alpha as your guest. Too experimental!
• You are running guest additions 4.2.18 in Ubuntu, but you're running VirtualBox 4.3.6! <-- That one I think is your problem!

[Chelle]

ok. I now dimmed the settings, did these two updates in the Terminal and rebooted:
apt-get update
apt-get install dkms

... but nothing changed, this leaves me with 'Too experimental' I guess I now better install a previous system.

Thanks 'Socratis' for taking the a moment to look at my problem, hope to come back in a couple of days with some good news when I have an older system up and running.

best,

m.

[socratis]

Did you install the 4.3.6 guest updates from the "Insert Guest Additions CD Image..." menu on your host and then run (on your guest, in a terminal) "cd /media/VBOXADDITIONS_4.3.6_91406/" and "sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run"?

[Chelle]

Did you install the 4.3.6 guest updates from the "Insert Guest Additions CD Image..." menu on your host and then run (on your guest, ...

No I didn't. I just did those two lines of code as was suggested in this link:
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04.html#idp55744480

But now I did the install from the ISO as you suggested, and ...

YES!! it worked, super thanks ... what a relief

... in a terminal) "cd /media/VBOXADDITIONS_4.3.6_91406/" and "sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run"?

btw this didn't work, the directory wasn't found (or something like that), I ran the installation from within the folder on the disk image, by chosing the install button in the upper right corner.

Thanks!