VirtualBox Ubuntu shared folder is empty

unixvirtualboxvirtualization

I have a Ubuntu virtual machine (Virtual Box) hosted on my MBP w/ Mountain Lion. OSX 10.8.6, VirtualBox 4.2.16, Ubuntu 12.4 LTS (32 bit)

PROBLEM
The shared folder(s) as seen in Ubuntu is/are empty.

Diary of searching for an answer on interwebs (No joy so far)

Share folder in VirtualBox Host=Mac OS, Guest=Debian – No joy. The answer is for manual mounting. Auto mounting explicitly puts/mounts the shared folder in /media directory. Besides I tried it and got "no such file or directory" – but then I may not be understanding exactly where I'm creating this; no terminal guru, I.

Next …

Set the shared folder via VirtualBox | Devices | shared folders menu. The dialog box indicates "full" access and "auto-mount". Then launched the VM. The shared folder is created, but empty. BTW, the folders are created in /media directory per the VB documentation.

After launching the VM, in Ubuntu, using VB | Devices menu, created a new shared folder. Restart Ubuntu, folder is created but empty.

Next …

Tried the above, creating "machine folder" and/or "transient folder" – same result as above.

Next …

Tried the above referencing folders on both drives on my MBP. Same result.

Next …

Tried adding my logged-in user to the vboxsf group in Ubuntu. useradd -g vboxsf someUser Ubuntu responded: useradd: user 'someUser' already exists

Best Answer

Found my answer

Assumption: "VirtualShare" is the shared folder name set up via Devices | shared folders ... menu

sudo mkdir /mnt/MyShare
sudo mount -t vboxsf VirtualShare /mnt/MyShare

AH! Now I can see the files in /mnt/MyShare/VirtualShare/

  • the mounting :( does not survive a restart/reboot

This answer is bewildering because the VirtualBox documentation explicitly states that auto mounting is done in /media directory. And indeed, the shared folder is created - but its empty.

Further, I did/do not understand the significance of /mnt directory. That looked arbitrary to me, but apparently not. ../MyShare piece of it is; use any name you wish.

Now if I could only delete all those folders I created during experimentation. And to think I used to be an absolute wiz on the CP/M command line! (that sure dates me!!)

Related Question