Ubuntu – How to open a folder (with GUI) from terminal

I had the same issue once and it was because I had 2 NICs. One for this network and another for internet access (was using VMs).

Disabling the 2nd NIC allowed it to work :)

The command to open a terminal in a specific folder is

gnome-terminal --working-directory=/path/to/folder

One can create a .desktop file containing the following details to have a shortcut for this,

[Desktop Entry]
Name=MyTerminal
Comment=open terminal in /mnt/hgfs/somefolder
Icon=utilities-terminal
Exec=gnome-terminal --working-directory=/mnt/hgfs/somefolder
Terminal=false
Type=Application

Give it execution permission, as

chmod +x /path/to/MyTerminal.desktop

It will create a shortcut named MyTerminal, now double click on it to open a terminal in your desired location.