VirtualBox: Ubuntu Host and Ubuntu Guest. Where is my shared folder in the Guest?

Question

I am running VirtualBox OSE in an Ubuntu Lucid host.
The Guest system is also Ubuntu Lucid.

I've set up a Host directory to share with the Guest via VirutulBox's Shared Folders.
This directory is owned by the same user who is running the VM.
The permissions on the directory are: drwxrwxrw

I've installed virtualbox-guest-additions(via Synaptic)

I can't find the shared diretory on the Guest.

I've looked high and low, in /media and /mnt... nothing!

I managed to share the same directory with a Windows Guest, but I am familiar with Windows...

Am I just missing something simple?

Solution

Yep, you just need to mount the directory manually. To do that, use mount -t vboxsf SHARENAME /path/to/where/to/mount.

SHARENAME depends on your shared folder, it is the name you entered into VirtualBox Shared Folders dialog.

/path/to/where/to/mount should ideally be inside your user directory (inside VBox). In my case, I use /home/evgeny-vbox/Documents.

EDIT: if you want it to be mounted at boot-time too, add this to your /etc/fstab:

SHARENAME /path/to/where/to/mount vboxsf defaults 0 0

Comments

[Peter.O]

On the Guest, I tried: ubuntu@Lucid:~$ sudo mount -t vboxsf zap /home/ubuntuzap... I got this error: /sbin/mount.vboxsf: mounting failed with the error: No such device ..... /sbin/mount.vboxsf shows the Link Target as: /usr/lib/VBoxGuestAdditions/mount.vboxsf

[evgeny]

How did you install the Guest Additions? Package that you installed provides the ISO, not the additions themselves. Follow this guide: helpdeskgeek.com/linux-tips/… . You might need to use cd /media/VBOX*

[Peter.O]

Initially I used the .ISO, and then, when that didn't seem to work, I installed the addons via Synaptic.... I'll start afresh, with an new VM, and follow the guide you've posted... and try again. Thanks...

[enzotib]

IIRC the sharename can be chosen in the dialog box of share creation (there is also a command line tool in the host), so it is not necessarily the last name in the path.

[evgeny]

Good point, I stand corrected (and edited)

[Peter.O]

Bingo! got it! Evgeny, you deserve the "Hero Of The Day" award. Thanks... I think the problem was that in the Terminal, I ran 'autorun.sh', instead of 'VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run'.. ..(and of course, I did need your mount command).

[Rho]

I'm getting an "access denied" after mounting the shared folder both in /media/sharedfolder or in /home/username/sharedfolder