# VirtualBox how to mount share folder



## a129878 (Mar 19, 2010)

XP Host - FreeBSD_8 Guest
How can I mount my XP shared folder in the FreeBSD guest ?
Most every thing else works in this set up.
XP = Uptodate
VBx = 314
FreeBSD = 8.0-RELEASE #0 Nov 21 15:48:17


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## Zare (Mar 19, 2010)

FreeBSD doesn't have guest additions drivers. Here's an simple workaround which basically does what "shared folders" do when you have guest additions installed;

- make sure that your VirtualBox network is in bridge mode for FreeBSD guest.
- make sure that your FreeBSD can ping Windows XP.
- make sure that it can resolve XP's hostname, try pinging it by hostname
- if not, add an entry into /etc/hosts
- add another user in your XP system, grant him some privileges on the directory you want to share,

now, as root on your FreeBSD guest do something like this


```
mount_smbfs //user@xp_box/SHARED /mnt/xp
```

...where of course, user is XP user that has some rights on the share, SHARED is the windows share name, and /mnt/xp is target directory. It will ask you for your user password, and that should be it.

Basically, when in bridge networking mode, vbox host and guests are like computers on the same physical network.


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## SirDice (Mar 19, 2010)

Zare said:
			
		

> FreeBSD doesn't have guest additions drivers.


Then I wonder what these are: emulators/virtualbox-ose-additions.


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## a129878 (Mar 19, 2010)

I did go through all that, but erroneously dismissed it as FreeBSD hosting VBx.
Now comes the problem I have not cracked yet with FreeBSD.
My FreeBSD's have no access to the internet (Corporate policy, not mine)
Klik the ref of "virtualbox-ose-additions-3.1.51.r25618_2 " and then I am stuck, as this seems to present just change history and not the iso/whatever.

I find this a more general problem in knowing how to take a port element and put it on my FreeBSD system as though the internet were there.


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## a129878 (Mar 19, 2010)

Well - all that went OK till I got:-

```
mount_smbfs: cant get server address: syserr=Op TO.
```
My command line:-

```
mount_smbfs //a129878@xp/Rt /mnt
```
  'xp' pings OK
  'Rt' is from VBoxMange show info:-
Shared folders:

```
Name: 'Rt', Host path: 'C:\Documents and Settings\A129878\My Documents\Rt' (machine mapping), writable
```

The man pages look horrrrific !

Boy - the cutting edge or what.


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## vermaden (Mar 20, 2010)

@a129878

After You install the guest additions in your FreeBSD guest system, You will be able to use vboxsf:

`# mount -t vboxsf VBoxSharedFolderName /mnt`


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## rossiya (Apr 11, 2010)

*Use the Tools*

How about using builtins tar and nc?


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## rden (May 13, 2010)

*vermaden, what's the magic*



			
				vermaden said:
			
		

> @a129878
> 
> After You install the guest additions in your FreeBSD guest system, You will be able to use vboxsf:
> 
> `# mount -t vboxsf VBoxSharedFolderName /mnt`



Hi vermaden,

I've installed VBox on XP, and followed the wiki instructions to install the guest additions.  But there ain't no `mount -t vboxsf`

How did you manage it?


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## a129878 (May 14, 2010)

I did not bother with trying to get XP hosting FreeBSD guest to see the XP world.
I use the free open source winscp (http://winscp.net/eng/index.php) after setting 
sshd_enable="yes"' in /etc/rc.conf.
This works fine and also gives putty (http://putty.very.rulez.org/download.html), ssh, access to the FreeBSD service, so I rearely need to use the console(s).
Another advantage in using Winscp is that I can use the same skills to access a full PC FreeBSD as (and at the saem time) as my Virtual Box.
One big advantage in using Putty is that of coloured windows with much larger screens.


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## rden (May 15, 2010)

Depends on needs, for me copying files between platforms has never been an issue.

In my own case I really wanted the ability to open files cross-platform, (mostly files living in Windows world opened with *nix tools) - reducing the need to physically copy the files back and forth.

VirtualBox/VMware (tried both) solved the need to reboot between platforms (on a single laptop) but until recently still needed to copy files back and forth, (via USB stick or similar).  (-- Fixed  that with smb).

Why?  My job (that is the one that feeds my kids) often involves raw data inspection and conversion - you still can't beat 'nixens ability to quickly examine and elegantly modify files of any type.  (Yes there are many good win/dos tools out there, but coming from multiple sources are rarely uniform in interface and too often gui-based -- making it hard / sometimes impossible to build an automated sequence of operations as easily as a shell script or quick 'n dirty C-prog).

But also must have the Windows platform for reports, proposals, presentations etc. Ooo still way lags on MS office; and with the bulk of my company being on Win cant be making a doc, usually with embedded items, look good in ooo (or similar including google office for those dumb enough to trust it) only to have it look like crap (or simply fail) when my manager opens it in MSword.

Finally stability: when it comes to virtulisation my own testing proved FreeBSD on XP is the king (1. despite being only 32 bit XP beats W7 under load, 2. as to nix guests (again under load) FBSD thrashed linux).  Would like to reverse that but nix (including linux) hosted windows guests (and wine too) is still way too freaky -- having [my] emulation sh_t itself intermittently (or at the tail end) of an allnighter is last thing I need


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## alfikmik (Jun 9, 2019)

```
mount -t vboxvfs -o uid=1001,gid=1001 sharename_from_vbox mountpoint_in_freebsd
```

uid and gid is my username id-s


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## gpw928 (Jun 26, 2019)

Hi,

My recollection is that FreeBSD 8.0 did not support shared folders with a Windows host running VirtualBox.  

I don't exactly recollect when shared folders started to work, but I don't think it worked with FreeBSD 9 or 10 either.

If FreeBSD 8 is a requirement, then you will have to find another way (ranging from simple to complex, winscp and samba come to mind).

I have VirtualBox 5.2.26r128414 installed on my Windows 8 notebook.

There is a FreeBSD 11.2 client, with emulators/virtualbox-ose-additions installed from the ports tree.

I variously run the virtual NIC in either "Bridged Adapter" or "NAT" mode depending on whether it's tethered to a phone, or on my home network with it's MAC address is known to the DHCP server (and thus gets a fixed IPv4 address when it boots).

The Windows "C_DRIVE" is configured in the "Shared Folders" section of the VirtualBox "Settings" tab:

```
Name        Path     Auto-mount    Access
C_DRIVE     C:\      Yes           Full
```
Hers is what it looks like from the Unix side:

```
[f112.130] $ uname -a
FreeBSD f112.oakes.consulting 11.2-RELEASE FreeBSD 11.2-RELEASE #0 r335510: Fri Jun 22 04:32:14 UTC 2018     root@releng2.nyi.freebsd.org:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC  amd64

[f112.131] $ df -h
Filesystem      Size    Used   Avail Capacity  Mounted on
/dev/ada0s1a     31G     17G     11G    60%    /
devfs           1.0K    1.0K      0B   100%    /dev
tmpfs           1.1G    8.0K    1.1G     0%    /tmp
tmpfs           5.0M     88K    4.9M     2%    /var/log
C_DRIVE         214G    178G     36G    83%    /sf_C_DRIVE

[f112.133] $ grep -i box /etc/rc.conf
# VirtualBox client
vboxguest_enable="YES"
vboxservice_enable="YES"
vboxservice_flags="--disable-timesync"

[f112.135] $ grep -i box /etc/fstab
C_DRIVE /sf_C_DRIVE vboxvfs rw 0 0

[f112.136] $ mount | grep -i box
C_DRIVE on /sf_C_DRIVE (vboxvfs, local)
```

Cheers,


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## SirDice (Jun 26, 2019)

gpw928 said:


> My recollection is that FreeBSD 8.0 did not support shared folders with a Windows host running VirtualBox.


This thread is over 9 years old. I have no idea why alfikmik had to resurrect it.


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