36

Sharing files between my Guest Kubuntu OS and Host Windows has become a real headache.

So, far I have done the steps below:

GUEST LINUX OS

  • VM -> Settings -> Options -> Shared Folders. And added my folder.
  • Installed properly my VMware tools (I can drag and drop files so I am confident that it is installed)

HOST WINDOWS OS

  • Shared the folder with everyone (to assure that there is no permit limitations with my files)

If I type vmware-hgfsclient in my guest OS, the folder I am sharing does appear. But when I check the /mnt/hgfs folder, it is empty.

I have gone through the VMware manual, and I am sure that I have followed their requirements.

I am really out of ideas. Does any one have a suggestion?

7 Answers 7

45

Run this command:

sudo vmhgfs-fuse .host:/ /mnt/hgfs/ -o allow_other -o uid=1000

It will magically show all shared folders in /mnt/hgfs.
(I had Ubuntu 16 VMWare running on a Windows 10 host)

VMware documentation here

4
  • I noticed sometimes there is a delay (using VMware workstation 14). And sometimes /mnt/hgfs is in use. I created a new folder /mnt/shares1 and got instant success. Aug 16, 2019 at 22:28
  • It works, but it's not remounted after reboot.
    – realtebo
    Jul 30, 2020 at 14:22
  • working, thank you Nov 10, 2020 at 12:15
  • 1
    @realtebo Just modify the entry that shows up in /etc/mtab and stuff it in /etc/fstab for a permanent mount. It will probably look like this: .host:/ /mnt/hgfs fuse.vmhgfs-fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,allow_other 0 0
    – oligofren
    Oct 12, 2021 at 12:25
32

I had this exact problem. It turned out IT had installed some old version of VMWare tools with non-functioning vmhgfs kernel module.

My solution was to run the configuration with the clobber-kernel-modules setting to overwrite the existing vmhgfs module.

 sudo vmware-config-tools.pl -d --clobber-kernel-modules=vmhgfs

The -d selects all the defaults for you (remove it if you don't want the defaults).

6
  • 2
    bingo, I had the same issue, and running the command above solved it. Thanks a bunch.
    – Waqas
    Sep 20, 2013 at 16:14
  • 1
    Just want to mention that this worked for me with OSX as host, vmware Fusion running CentOS 6.4
    – Kev
    Nov 29, 2013 at 11:58
  • 2
    Perfect! Worked for me with OSX as host and VM runnig Ubuntu 14.04
    – pjvds
    May 2, 2014 at 12:18
  • 4
    command not found error, i am using vmware workstation 12 an ubuntu 15.04 Feb 25, 2016 at 10:00
  • The -d alone was worth the vote. Didn't know about that.
    – T.Rob
    Oct 18, 2016 at 15:58
4

mount -t vmhgfs .host:/share /mnt/hgfs/ where host is the host you are connecting to share is the share name and /mnt/hgfs is the mount point for the share in your system.

vmware-hgsclient will show you the available mounts, you still need to mount them with vmware-hgfsmounter or using the mount command above described.

If that does not work check if the module vmhgfs is loaded lsmod | grep "vm."

2
  • 1
    It gave me this answer. Host in share name must be ".host". Error: share name is invalid, aborting mount. vmhgfs is not loaded, how can I load it? Thanks.
    – Peretz
    Nov 2, 2011 at 16:53
  • mkdir /mnt/hgfs/ Feb 27, 2013 at 5:21
2

For me, it turned out that vmware-hgfsmounter was not installed (ubuntu 12.10). After installing that module, I was able to mount my share as descibed above

1
  • I have it installed in /usr/lib/vmware-tools/sbin64, but it still doesn't work for me. Oct 31, 2014 at 14:18
1

This was working for me on Ubuntu 18.04, but suddenly stopped working sometime in February/March 2019. What was needed to be done, was sudo mkdir /mnt/hgfs, as that directory is being used by the vmware init script.

0
0

For me, I installed "Development Tools" and reinstalled VMware Tool. Then I see the shared folder.

Host: Windows 7 Guest OS: CentOS 7

0

I ran into same issue while working with Ubuntu 21.10 impish. Below is a complete solution guide for this shared folder issue.

Pre-work

Make sure open-vm-tools (and open-vm-tools-desktop if you're using a desktop environment) are installed, and that you've rebooted after their installation.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop

Make sure you have a /mnt/hgfs directory made and empty. If not:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/hgfs

Mounting

To mount the filesystem, run:

sudo mount -t fuse.vmhgfs-fuse .host:/ /mnt/hgfs -o allow_other

The shared folders will now be in subdirectories of /mnt/hgfs

Setting up auto-mounting

Add the following line to /etc/fstab:

.host:/   /mnt/hgfs   fuse.vmhgfs-fuse    auto,allow_other    0   0

Update: based on extensive testing, the auto keyword seems to work fine. Prior versions suggested noauto. If you have trouble with auto, change to noauto and see below

If using the noauto keyword, but you want automount

  1. Create or edit the script /etc/rc.local (as root), and add the line:

    mount /mnt/hgfs
    
  2. make sure rc.local is executable and owned by root:

    sudo chown root:root /etc/rc.local
    sudo chmod 0755 /etc/rc.local
    
  3. enable the rc.local service in systemd:

    sudo systemctl enable rc-local.service
    
  4. reboot

The rc.local script runs as the last step of startup, allowing the HGFS filesystem to mount after open-vm-tools services are running, which is required for successful operation.

Browse /mnt/hgfs at will.

Ref :

https://gist.github.com/darrenpmeyer/b69242a45197901f17bfe06e78f4dee3

Unlike using VMWare Tools to enable Linux guest capabilities, the open-vm-tools package doesn't auto-mount shared VMWare folders.

Reference from official docs : https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.0/com.vmware.ws.using.doc/GUID-AB5C80FE-9B8A-4899-8186-3DB8201B1758.html

2
  • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. - From Review
    – matigo
    Apr 1, 2022 at 8:55
  • Thanks, @matigo for correction, I have updated the answer with essential parts from the reference link.
    – ak89224
    Apr 5, 2022 at 11:05

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