Using shared folders with SVN on Windows host

[jiphre]

I am having problems at the moment using the shared folders feature. Basically, the setup that I would like is to have a text editor (such as Sublime) running on the Windows host, and using SVN to commit the files while on the Linux guest. This is easier for me as I'm really more familiar with Linux, except that Sublime doesn't play well with Ubuntu for some reason. However, I keep running into the same problem with this setup over and over again. The SVN working copy database always gets corrupted and I have to make a backup of what I haven't committed and then checkout stuff again. Note that the host machine has Tortoise SVN installed, I am not sure if this contributes to my problem but I never do commits using this.

I've tried configuring a few settings for SVN but none have seemed to work. Anyone know an almost foolproof way of using shared folders with SVN with a Windows host and Linux guest?

[socratis]

I am having problems at the moment using the shared folders feature.

VirtualBox shared folders present a very simplified file system implementation, just enough to read/write files from/to the guest. Many applications can error when using shared folders, because they expect advanced features, like file locking or access controls, which don't exist for shared folders.

[scottgus1]

The "shared folders" you and Socratis are referring to are the Guest Additions shared folders, which allow file exchange without a network to the guest OS. If you set up a real shared folder through a Virtualbox network into the guest the average database will run just fine. (I have never used "SVN" so I can't say for certain if that particular program will work with a real network shared folder, but it ought to.)

[jiphre]

The "shared folders" you and Socratis are referring to are the Guest Additions shared folders, which allow file exchange without a network to the guest OS. If you set up a real shared folder through a Virtualbox network into the guest the average database will run just fine. (I have never used "SVN" so I can't say for certain if that particular program will work with a real network shared folder, but it ought to.)

Please guide me. What is this 'real shared folder'?

[socratis]

A Windows share, an SMB share, a network share. Same thing, different names. Just like if you had two physical Windows computers.

[jiphre]

Could you please guide me on how to set this up? I am lost and need to find a solution to this problem. The host machine is on a LAN so I would like the shared network folder to be only visible between the host and the guest only. Do I need to use a specific Virtualbox networking setting?

[scottgus1]

Windows doesn't have the capability to make a shared folder visible to only certain clients. But it can limit who can access the folder and what permissions the "accessor" has.

In a workgroup-style peer-to-peer network, the available persons that can log onto a shared folder are the log-on accounts that the computer has been set up with, and another special person called "Everyone". When sharing the folder you can choose which log-on accounts get read-write access, which accounts get read-only, all other accounts get no access. If you set permissions for the "Everyone" account, all other network PCs can access the shared folder with the permissions "Everyone" was granted.

If your computer is in a Windows domain, the accounts you can pick from are all the domain accounts and groups, along with "Everyone", but the concept of permissions is similar. Only accounts you pick can access the shared folder.

All the PCs attached to your network will see there is a shared folder on your host PC. But when they try to open the folder they will get the account name & password popup. Only valid accounts and passwords will be able to open the shared folder and see or use its contents.

If your PC is in the workgroup-style network, the correct form for the account name is:
yourPCnetworkname\accountname <-- that is a backslash \ not a forward slash /

If your PC is on a domain, the correct form for the account name is:
domainname\accountname <-- same thing, backslash \