Windows – How to connect to a samba share from Windows 7 running in VirtualBox

sambavirtual machinewindows 7

I'm sharing a couple of directories via samba from my Linux machine, and have no problem seeing them from other Windows XP boxes on the network.

Now I'm running Windows 7 as a virtual machine via VirtualBox, but I can't figure out how to connect to one of those shares. Is it possible? Is there a better way to get access to the file system on the host from a virtual machine?

Best Answer

Do you have the Windows 7 Guest additions installed? I would just start the VM and select form the VM Menu Bar, Devices -> Shared Folders - you use a simple dialog allowing you to select a path on your local machine. You can choose to make it permanent or read only.

Once you do that, you can map any of them from Windows Explorer. Select Tools -> Map Network Drive and select from the VirtualBox Shared Folders section.

This doesn't access the samba share directly, but it works. Not sure if you'll experience a performance problem with this approach.

Related Solutions

VirtualBox – Using Samba to Share a Folder from Linux Guest to Windows Host

These are examples how you define a share in your smb.conf

[readonly-share]
   comment = some share
   path = /this/folder/is/shared
   guest ok = no
   browseable = yes
   read only = yes

[read-write-share]
   comment = another share
   path = /this/folder/is/writable
   guest ok = no
   browseable = yes
   read only = no
   create mask = 0777
   directory mask = 0777
   force create mode = 777
   force directory mode = 777
   force security mode = 777
   force directory security mode = 777

After you edit smb.conf run "testparm" to check your changes, then let the daemon re-read the config with a "service smbd restart"
(Not sure about this one)
With a "NAT" and "host-only" virtual network card you should be safe. To reach the guest's services from any other computer but the host, you would need to set up port forwardings on the host or configure a "bridged" virtual network card.
Authentication type can be set in the smb.conf. The default setting in Ubuntu's samba conf it to set "security = user", which means that you have to authenticate with a valid useraccount. (unless you have set "guest ok = yes")

To access the shares from your Windows Host you have to use the guest's IP address. VBox NATs are use addresses like "10.0.2.15". To reach the share "readonly-share" from the host you can write a URI like this in the File Explorer's address bar:
```
\\10.0.2.15\readonly-share
```

Linux – How to make Windows 7 Network show Samba share after VM is rebooted/restored

Windows networking uses NetBios for computer name resolution on file sharing. This is configured through the nbtstat command line program not ipconfig. Try running nbtstat -R to purge and reload the name cache. You should then be able to find the machine again or right click on the Computer icon to re-map the network drive manually.

Also is virtualbox using a Bridged network adapter or NAT? When trying to access VMs over the network it is usually easier to setup a bridged network adapter so long as there is a DHCP server available to assign IP addresses. Most cable modems use NAT and DHCP already so they will give private addresses to all of your virtual machines.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

VirtualBox – Using Samba to Share a Folder from Linux Guest to Windows Host

Linux – How to make Windows 7 Network show Samba share after VM is rebooted/restored

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