Mounting Mac folder on Ubuntu aarch64

[VMware Community Member]

I am trying to configure my M2 MacBook Air to run Oracle.  I have installed Ubuntu 23.10 server arm64 and have this running under Fusion. I have installed Open VM tools and desktop.

I have shared a folder on my Mac.  How do I mount that folder on Ubuntu so I can copy files from my Mac?

Do I need to start the Open VM tools and/or desktop?  If so, how do I do that as I have not been able to find instructions for this?

Thanks in advance!

Stephen

 

 

[Technogeezer]

Did you configure that folder as a Mac shared folder or a using Fusion's shared folder settings? 

[VMware Community Member]

I have configured sharing on both Mac and Fusion.

[Michael Roy]

While there's nothing to configure on the Mac side (i.e. you don't need the "System Settings > Sharing > anything" to be enabled), and assuming you have added a folder to the VM's Settings > Sharing screen, the mounted folder within the guest shows up in /mnt/hgfs/name-of-your-shared-folder

You can see the association in my attached screenshot.

[ColoradoMarmot]

You have to toggle the shared folders off and on again in the VM preferences every time you boot the VM.  It's a very annoying bug.

[VMware Community Member]

Thanks.  I have tried toggling the VM shared setting.

Should it auto-mount?  I don't see it when I run mount -l

 

[Technogeezer]

Shared folders defined in Fusion don't automount. This is a known issue. From the VMware tools release notes:

If the Shared Folders feature is enabled on a Linux VM while it is powered off, the shared folders mount is not available on restart.

Note: This issue is applicable to open-vm-tools and VMware Tools running on Workstation and Fusion 

If the VM is powered on, disable and enable the Shared Folders feature from the interface. For resolving the issue permanently, edit /etc/fstab in the guest and add an entry to mount the Shared Folders automatically on boot.

For example, add the line:

vmhgfs-fuse   /mnt/hgfs    fuse    defaults,allow_other,_netdev    0    0

[VMware Community Member]

So I added the line to /etc/fstab, rebooted, togged the shared folder, but still no luck. 

Did I input the line incorrectly?

[VMware Community Member]

It's working now.

I toggled off sharing, rebooted and then toggled it on.

A bit of a pain each time, but at least it is working.

Thanks so much for your help!

[Technogeezer]

---

 wrote:

So I added the line to /etc/fstab, rebooted, togged the shared folder, but still no luck. 

Did I input the line incorrectly?

 

---

You did not add the line to /etc/fstab correctly. The first field in the fstab entry needs to be vmhgfs-fuse, not vmDownloads. 

Also, the mount point directory (/mnt/hgfs) needs to exist if it doesn't already.

Your shared folders defined in Fusion will appear as sub-directories of /mnt/hgfs. 

 

[VMware Community Member]

/etc/fstab fixed thanks.

the mount point did exist already.

Thanks again.