Create shared folder, OK button greyed out

[computer_guy]

Hi,

I just installed virtualbox on linux (parrot security os, x64 based on debian) through apt-get. I installed ext-pack by downloading it, and running VBoxManage extpack install filename. All dependencies that I'm aware of are properly installed as they installed via debian repo. I setup Windows 10 just fine, no problems with that. I made sure the virtual os was powered off (not suspended, or on). I made sure I have (my user) has full permissions to read/write to all content in my /home/user folder. I went to create shared folder in VBox settings, and when selecting my Documents (doesn't matter if I select any of the checkbox's, same result), the OK button is greyed out so I cant even add it to the list of shared folders. But for some odd reason, I can add 3 different folders in /home/user which are Desktop, Downloads, and Virtualbox VM's. Now, if I add /home/user as a shared folder, windows guest only sees the 3 listed (Desktop, Downloads, and VIrtualbox VM's). I tried comparing these folders the ones not working, and i dont see a different between permissions or anything. I've also looked at virtualbox documentation and tried using command manually to add sharedfolder (can't recall it right off), which successfully added it to the list of shared folders but when power up virtual os, just displayed an error that the os may not see this shared folder as it doesn't exist. Obviously, it does exist as I can view it, modify it, remove it all without root. Can't start virtualbox with root, as you can on Windows because it just doesn't let you. I've also tried uninstalling virtualbox, then installing the .deb package downloading from official website and that doesn't make a difference either. Guest additions are install on virtual os properly, as shared folder's half work, usb, cd drives etc.. fully work. When i did research on google before posting here, i've heard of people adding their folder to the vbox user group, but I thought that was only for issues not being able to access the shared folder in a linux virtual os when i tried that, it seemed successful but to my knowledge didn't actually do anything (didn't fix issue, that is).

Anyone have a clue as to what might be going on?

Thank you

[mpack]

If that's the Ubuntu fork of VirtualBox that you installed, then you need to go to the Ubuntu forums for support. This site only supports Oracle VirtualBox.

[computer_guy]

I'm not using ubuntu, im on a debian based distro as I said. The version I have installed is 5.2.8_Debian r120774, which is current as of thi writing. installed directly from apt respository.

[mpack]

Please provide a VM log file. With the VM fully shut down, right click it in the GUI. Select "Show Log" and save "VBox.log" (no other file) to a zip file. Attach the zip here.

[socratis]

The version I have installed is 5.2.8_Debian r120774

That "_Debian" right there tells you that it's a fork, it's not the official version. And the forked versions have usually trouble in a couple of areas (as far as the Guest/Host interaction goes): Shared Folders (SFs), Drag and Drop (DnD) and Copy/Paste (C/P).

Please try to get rid of the forked version and install the official version from the Linux Downloads page. There are even instructions for "Debian-based Linux distributions" to add the VirtualBox repository as an official repository in your setup...

[computer_guy]

I have uninstalled the 'forked' verison, and installed the official version from virtualbox official website by adding to sources.list.
Help->About shows my version as "Version 5.2.10 r122088 (Qt5.9.2)".

The problem still persist, nothing seems a slight bit different except for the new version above.

I have attached my log file, VBox.log as zip.

Thanks again for taking you time to help me out.

[andyp73]

00:00:01.182088 SharedFolders host service: Adding host mapping
00:00:01.182095     Host path '/home/daryn/Documents', map name 'Documents', writable, automount=false, create_symlinks=false, missing=true
00:00:01.182122 ERROR [COM]: aRC=NS_ERROR_INVALID_ARG (0x80070057) aIID={872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed} aComponent={ConsoleWrap} aText={Shared folder path '/home/daryn/Documents' does not exist on the host}, preserve=false aResultDetail=0
00:00:01.182154 Console: VM runtime error: fatal=false, errorID=BrokenSharedFolder message="The shared folder 'Documents' could not be set up: Shared folder path '/home/daryn/Documents' does not exist on the host.
00:00:01.182156 The shared folder setup will not be complete. It is recommended to power down the virtual machine and fix the shared folder settings while the machine is not running"

VirtualBox doesn't believe that the path /home/daryn/Documents exists on your host and therefore sensibly doesn't let you create a shared folder to it. Assuming it does exist then it is probably a permissions issue.

-Andy.

[mpack]

... and it's still the fork.

VirtualBox VM 5.2.8_Debian r120774 linux.amd64 (Mar 19 2018 07:19:14) release log

[computer_guy]

I thought that permissions might have been the issue at first, so I tired running 'sudo chown daryn:daryn /home/daryn/Documents' but that didnt actually change anything because the permissions were already at that level. Is their more to this? Or some special permissions needed? Comparing the working folders to the non-working folders, the permissions are the same from what I can tell. I just don't know why Virtualbox doesn't think that the path exist, it does. The permissions are full read/write, I can modifiy them, remove them, even move them to another location all without root. Any other program on my computer can access them as well.

Regarding the forked version, I uninstalled using 'sudo apt-get --purge remove virtualbox', then went to official website https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads and added official repo to my sources.list, then added gpg key and using 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install virtualbox-5.2 , the official version now installed, at least shows proper version which I've attached screenshot of Help->About

[Mod edit: Removed "complete desktop", unnecessary JPEG screenshot that meant to focus on the version:
"5.2.10 r122088 (Qt5.9.2)"]

Usually a simple google search helps me resolve any possible issues with anything Linux, but for some reason just couldn't find an answer that would help with my issue. My grandfather apparently is having a similar issue with Virtualbox, although he set it up, so may a little different.

[socratis]

Or some special permissions needed?

Nope. You don't need to mess with absolutely nothing manually. If you had to, it would be in the manual. Your problem is that you're using the forked version. I told you, they have issues. Non-fixable issues.

Your version seems OK (BTW, JPG? The whole desktop? 130990 bytes Instead 24 bytes for a completely searchable string? I "corrected" that).

Delete the shares from the VM settings. Re-install the Guest Additions (GAs) in your guest. Make sure they work. Then add your shares from the VM settings again.

[computer_guy]

The reason for the screenshot of the whole desktop, proof. Everyone seems to need 'proof' now that i'm on the version I previously said I was on. Why else would I waste time taking a screeshot and uploading it.

If I'm using the forked version, then how do I get rid of it? The solution, is that I already did, so I have to assume virtualbox.org is hosting non-forked version. I'm not sure what your doing to find im using a forked version. I installed it from virtualbox.org. Isn't that where I'm supposed to install from? I've uninstalled everything virtualbox related when i was using fork, then installed from debian respository located at virtualbox.org linux download page. I've explained this a number of times, so im getting even more confused when i get a response that Im using a forked version with no help on how to get rid of something I dont have, or at least I can't search for it as nothing shows up. Synaptic package manager, search virtualbox and all results are NOT installed. Then that is when I went through installing official version.

I did as requested, deleted VM Shares in settings, booted virtual os, re-installed guest additions, rebooted virtual os, tested that they work correctly (copy/paste, drag/drop, sharing USB's, network all work) shared folder's has the same issue. Only the 3 folder's (Desktop, Downloads, Virtualbox VM's) can be added, the wrest just have grey OK button, unclickable.

[socratis]

Everyone seems to need 'proof' now that i'm on the version I previously said I was on.

You might have said it, you might have been thinking about it, but the evidence showed that you were not. Fact of life. The easiest way to figure out if you're using the fork or not is to observe the output of "VirtualBox -version" from a terminal. It it comes with "A.b.x_Distro r12345" it should be more than obvious that it is the distro fork.

so I have to assume virtualbox.org is hosting non-forked version.

Absolutely, 100% correct. L'original!

If I'm using the forked version, then how do I get rid of it?

That's something between you and your OS honestly. Don't just rely on "Synaptic", use "apt-get", use "locate", use "find".

then installed from debian respository located at virtualbox.org linux download page.

Is the VirtualBox repository higher in priority than the main one? And try a direct download, you don't really have to use the repositories. Try that...

Only the 3 folder's (Desktop, Downloads, Virtualbox VM's) can be added, the wrest just have grey OK button, unclickable.

So, wait a minute, this whole time the discussion was about "specific" folders? Maybe you're doing it wrong? Maybe the file dialog needs to be accessed in another way? Maybe you need to navigate though the root directory?

[computer_guy]

Well when i looked at output of 'virtualbox -verison' i didn't see anything resembling it could be a fork (Dont see anything in the form of 'A.b.x_Distro r12345' that you said), thats why I wanted to know what it is you were looking at. Maybe you saw it somewhere in the log I posted, wasn't sure.

I don't ever rely soley on synaptic,I usually use apt-get and other's as an alternative if I can't get what I need done.

I also installed the .deb package directly before opening this topic, (after removing previous version of course), but again this was before realizing I was using a fork. Although, probably didn't matter as I had uninstalled it anyway. Installed by using apt-get dpkg -i

At first I thought I was doing something wrong, as it didn't make much sense why some worked but some didn't. I'm not so sure on how to access the file dialog in another way as mentioned, but I even followed documentation from virtualbox.org about adding shared folers from terminal. Once added, vm share dialog showed it with correct path and everything. I started guest os, and it gave me an error immediately that said it this shared folder may not work as the path doesn't exist. That right their was what I don't understand, how does a path not exist, when it does? I know their is a technical answer to the underlying working of the program, and os but the actual wording doesn't quite make sense.

Before re-posting, I have already checked for a 3rd time that I ONLY have the offical version installed, using the normal pc searching, apt-get, synaptic,.. can't find any other version installed, unless you can understand this - using the locate virtualbox command the output is:

Code: Select all

/etc/firejail/virtualbox.profile
/etc/init.d/virtualbox-guest-utils
/etc/rc0.d/K01virtualbox-guest-utils
/etc/rc1.d/K01virtualbox-guest-utils
/etc/rc2.d/S02virtualbox-guest-utils
/etc/rc3.d/S02virtualbox-guest-utils
/etc/rc4.d/S02virtualbox-guest-utils
/etc/rc5.d/S02virtualbox-guest-utils
/etc/rc6.d/K01virtualbox-guest-utils
/lib/systemd/system/virtualbox-guest-utils.service
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-virtualbox-guest-dkms.rules
/usr/share/doc/virtualbox-guest-dkms
/usr/share/doc/virtualbox-guest-utils
/usr/share/icons/maia/apps/scalable/virtualbox-bin.svg
/usr/share/icons/maia/apps/scalable/virtualbox-ose.svg
/usr/share/icons/maia/apps/scalable/virtualbox.svg
/usr/share/icons/maia/places/user-folders/folder-virtualbox.svg
/usr/share/icons/maia/places/user-folders-small/folder-virtualbox.svg
/usr/share/isr-evilgrade/modules/virtualbox.pm
/usr/share/metasploit-framework/scripts/meterpreter/virtualbox_sysenter_dos.rb
/usr/src/virtualbox-guest-5.2.0
/var/cache/apt/archives/virtualbox-guest-dkms_5.2.0-dfsg-2_all.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/virtualbox-guest-utils_5.2.0-dfsg-2_amd64.deb
/var/lib/dkms/virtualbox-guest
/var/lib/dpkg/info/virtualbox-guest-dkms.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/virtualbox-guest-dkms.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/virtualbox-guest-dkms.postinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/virtualbox-guest-dkms.prerm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/virtualbox-guest-utils.conffiles
/var/lib/dpkg/info/virtualbox-guest-utils.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/virtualbox-guest-utils.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/virtualbox-guest-utils.postinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/virtualbox-guest-utils.postrm

I'm not sure if their is more or less of virtualbox than what is needed, but chose not to get rid of what I don't know. In my early day's of linux, i made too many mistake such as deleting file's from individual programs like some people told me to and it left the package broken, and no matter what I couldn't get it re-installed or even removed properly. I'm not a newb, but i'm also not an expert. So, if im wrong then I apologize. Just not so sure what really is going on here.

Also, one other thing I should probably mention. When i try and setup shared vm folder, i click on my documents. The path list /home/*user*/Documents and the OK is greyed out. So when i click drop down arrow again to change directory when i click Other... then error displays that the path doesn't exist or is not readable. Clicking OK on that dialog does not work, click the x does. Then same errors re-appears and again have to click the x to close then file dialog opens. Error doesn't appear when i select one of the 3 folders which do work. accessing from te root directory, if I understood what that meant clearly, didn't work for me. I had just tried somethng new as well, I tried selecting folders outside of my home folder (1 level up) and folders like /etc and /root work just fine. Ok button becomes clickable. Saved it just fine, of course I removed it after but those folders have permission for both owner and group as root. Where as all folders in my /home/*user* have them as my user.

[mpack]

You may be running the genuine version, but the logs you provided came from the fork. Perhaps you looked in the wrong folder.

[computer_guy]

When I last posted my log, I had uninstalled the fork and installed the official version then saved log. As I see now, these logs are generated on a per VM basis (instead of for the whole program, including all vm's) I am posting new log that was generated after booting guest, re-installing guest additions, rebooting guest, testing that guest additions work, then shutting down guest. Then i saved log, compressed it and uploaded here. I also found another issue related to this, when I went tos save log in my documents it gave error "The path does not exist or is not readable" so i had to save in one of 3 'accessible' folders like my Downloads, I just can't figure out why Virtualbox cannot access it. Hopefully these show that I am on the official version (From what I see, very top of log shows same version it does in Help->About). My mistake, didn't realize I would need to start up VM after installing correct version.