Sending a directory to a DispVM?

[Jeremy Rand]

Hello,

Might there be any plans to allow sending a directory to a DispVM?
Right now in Qubes 3.2 rc1, attempting to do so from the file manager
GUI in a Fedora 23 template yields this error:

qopen-in-vm: Fatal error: send file to dispVM (error type: Is a directory)

The desired behavior, I think, would be to open a file manager window
inside the DispVM that includes the full contents of the selected
directory. This way, files could be edited in a DispVM that depend on
other nearby files (e.g. document files that reference image files).

(I briefly looked on the issue tracker and didn't see any mention of
this topic.)

Cheers,
-Jeremy Rand

[Andrew David Wong]

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I think this would fall under "Allow to open more than one file in the same
DispVM":

https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/814

As Marek says in a comment on this issue:

> Current "open-in-vm" protocol allow only to pass one file, because we want
> the protocol simple AND allow to pass possibly modified file back.

I've added your comment to this issue. Please note that it's a "help wanted"
issue, so it's unlikely to be implemented without help from the community.

- --
Andrew David Wong (Axon)
Community Manager, Qubes OS
https://www.qubes-os.org
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[Ben Wika]

Maybe just a simple "tar to dispvm" option?

[Jeremy Rand]

Andrew David Wong:

> On 2016-07-18 01:27, Jeremy Rand wrote:
>> Hello,
>
>> Might there be any plans to allow sending a directory to a DispVM? Right
>> now in Qubes 3.2 rc1, attempting to do so from the file manager GUI in a
>> Fedora 23 template yields this error:
>
>> qopen-in-vm: Fatal error: send file to dispVM (error type: Is a directory)
>
>> The desired behavior, I think, would be to open a file manager window
>> inside the DispVM that includes the full contents of the selected
>> directory. This way, files could be edited in a DispVM that depend on
>> other nearby files (e.g. document files that reference image files).
>
>> (I briefly looked on the issue tracker and didn't see any mention of this
>> topic.)
>
>> Cheers, -Jeremy Rand
>
>
> I think this would fall under "Allow to open more than one file in the same
> DispVM":
>
> https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/814

Thanks Andrew! Yes, that issue looks like a superset of my suggested
use case.

>
> As Marek says in a comment on this issue:
>
>> Current "open-in-vm" protocol allow only to pass one file, because we want
>> the protocol simple AND allow to pass possibly modified file back.
>
> I've added your comment to this issue. Please note that it's a "help wanted"
> issue, so it's unlikely to be implemented without help from the community.

Sounds good. I know you guys have a roadmap and priorities, and I
definitely trust you to make the call on what gets developer attention
and what needs community assistance to be implemented.

Cheers,
-Jeremy Rand