Access Shared Folder Virtualbox Windows 7
Latrisha Adan
With the shared folders feature of Oracle VM VirtualBox, you can access files of your host system from within the guest system. This is similar to how you would use network shares in Windows networks, except that shared folders do not require networking, only the Guest Additions. Shared folders are supported with Windows 2000 or later, Linux, and Oracle Solaris guests. Oracle VM VirtualBox includes experimental support for Mac OS X and OS/2 guests.
Shared folders physically reside on the host and are then shared with the guest, which uses a special file system driver in the Guest Additions to talk to the host. For Windows guests, shared folders are implemented as a pseudo-network redirector. For Linux and Oracle Solaris guests, the Guest Additions provide a virtual file system.
To share a host folder with a virtual machine in Oracle VM VirtualBox, you must specify the path of the folder and choose a share name that the guest can use to access the shared folder. This happens on the host. In the guest you can then use the share name to connect to it and access files.
Transient shares, that are added at runtime and disappear when the VM is powered off. These can be created using a checkbox in the VirtualBox Manager, or by using the --transient option of the VBoxManage sharedfolder add command.
Shared folders can either be read-write or read-only. This means that the guest is either allowed to both read and write, or just read files on the host. By default, shared folders are read-write. Read-only folders can be created using a checkbox in the VirtualBox Manager, or with the --readonly option of the VBoxManage sharedfolder add command.
For security reasons the guest OS is not allowed to create symlinks by default. If you trust the guest OS to not abuse the functionality, you can enable creation of symlinks for a shared folder as follows:
In a Windows guest, shared folders are browseable and therefore visible in Windows Explorer. To attach the host's shared folder to your Windows guest, open Windows Explorer and look for the folder in My Networking Places, Entire Network, Oracle VM VirtualBox Shared Folders. By right-clicking on a shared folder and selecting Map Network Drive from the menu that pops up, you can assign a drive letter to that shared folder.
While vboxsvr is a fixed name, note that vboxsrv would also work, replace x: with the drive letter that you want to use for the share, and sharename with the share name specified with VBoxManage.
Replace sharename, use a lowercase string, with the share name specified with VBoxManage or the VirtualBox Manager. Replace mountpoint with the path where you want the share to be mounted on the guest, such as /mnt/share. The usual mount rules apply. For example, create this directory first if it does not exist yet.
This option sets the character set used for I/O operations. Note that on Linux guests, if the iocharset option is not specified, then the Guest Additions driver will attempt to use the character set specified by the CONFIG_NLS_DEFAULT kernel option. If this option is not set either, then UTF-8 is used.
The generic mount options, documented in the mount manual page, apply also. Especially useful are the options uid, gid and mode, as they can allow access by normal users in read/write mode, depending on the settings, even if root has mounted the filesystem.
Oracle VM VirtualBox provides the option to mount shared folders automatically. When automatic mounting is enabled for a shared folder, the Guest Additions service will mount it for you automatically. For Windows or OS/2, a preferred drive letter can also be specified. For Linux or Oracle Solaris, a mount point directory can also be specified.
If a drive letter or mount point is not specified, or is in use already, an alternative location is found by the Guest Additions service. The service searches for an alternative location depending on the guest OS, as follows:
Access to an automatically mounted shared folder is granted to everyone in a Windows guest, including the guest user. For Linux and Oracle Solaris guests, access is restricted to members of the group vboxsf and the root user.
For a VM to access host files and vice versa, you'll have to configure VirtualBox and appoint a shared folder. This folder will allow the host and guest machine access to all the files stored within this appointed shared folder.
To create a shared folder in VirtualBox, you must create a folder on both the host and guest machines. Then you'll need to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions software on your guest machine and configure the folders you just made to act as your shared folder on that specific machine.
Thanks to the VirtualBox Guest Additions, creating a shared folder where your guest and host machine can share files has become incredibly convenient. It only takes a few steps to create a VirtualBox shared folder.
I have installed the Virtualbox guest extensions (they were installed automatically from SuSE repositoryor the DVD image). The mouse integration and monitor integration work as a charm. Much beter than anytime befor. Finally I can fully utilize my monitor resolution (2 monitors with 2560*1440) with SuSE running in Virtualbox. Thanks!
Note
*Access to auto-mounted shared folders is only granted to the user group vboxsf, which is created by the VirtualBox Guest Additions installer. Hence guest users have to be member of that group to have read/write access or to have read-only access in case the folder is not mapped writable.
But I still notice in VBdocs "To change the mount directory to something other than /media, you can set the guest property /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/SharedFolders/MountDir.". Where is this option? I basically want shared folders in /home (but I may - and did - create a symlink, of course).
You have to install the guest additions in the virtualbox install on the host. Then after you install the guest OS, there will be a CD available from which you install the guest additions into the guest OS. Then you have to actually mount the share (after defining the share in virtualbox install on the host).
One of the most impressive features of VirtualBox, and virtualization in general, is the ability to run guest operating systems that are completely incompatible with the host operating system. A common requirement in virtualized environments is the sharing of files between the host and guest operating systems. Most virtualization technologies leave this task to the system administrator and, whilst this can be straight forward when the guest virtual machines and host are running the same operating system, it can be become complex when different operating systems are involved. For example, sharing files between a Windows host and a Linux guest involves the installation and configuration of Samba technology and correctly configured network connectivity between the guest and host.
VirtualBox Shared Folders allow files residing on the host system to be accessed by guest operating systems running in virtual machines. In addition, assuming adequate permissions are granted on the shared folder, the guest is also able to transfer files onto the host by copying them into the shared folder.
VirtualBox folder sharing is currently only supported for Windows and Linux guests. Shared folders are not supported on virtual machines running Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows Me or Windows 98 guests.
Shared folders can be configured such that they are persistent (in other words the share is still configured even if the guest is restarted) or transient (such that they a lost after the virtual machine is shutdown or rebooted). Shared folders may also be declared as read-only to prevent the guest operating system from writing to the host folder.
The creation of a shared folder involves selecting the folder on the host system which is be to shared, assigning a share name and choosing whether the folder is to be read-only and transient or permanent.
VirtualBox Shared Folders on inactive virtual machines are configured through the Settings dialog. This dialog is accessed by selecting the desired virtual machine from the list and clicking the Settings button in the toolbar. Once the settings dialog is visible, click on the Shared Folders entry in the right hand pane to display the following screen:
To add a new shared folder, click on the add folder button (the top button containing an icon of a folder with a green plus sign) and select a folder on the host system to be shared with the selected guest. To browse for a specific folder, click the down arrow in the Folder Path text box and select Other... from the drop down menu. Once a suitable folder has been selected, enter a name for the share in the Folder Name field. If the guest operating system is to be denied write access to the folder, ensure that the Read-only check box is selected before clicking the OK button to create the share:
Once the shared folder has been configured, start the virtual machine to access the folder. The mechanism for accessing the folder from within the guest will depend on the type of guest operating system running in the virtual machine, details of which are covered later in this chapter.
Shared folders may be configured on a running virtual machine by selecting the Devices->Shared Folders.. menu of the virtual machine window. Once selected, this will display the Shared Folders dialog as illustrated below:
To add a new shared folder, click on the add folder button (the top button containing an icon of a folder with a green plus sign) and select a folder on the host system to be shared with the selected guest. To browse for a specific folder, click the down arrow in the Folder Path text box and select Other... from the drop down menu. Once a suitable folder has been selected, enter a name for the share in the Folder Name field. If the guest operating system is to be denied write access to the folder, ensure that the Read-only check box is selected.