Unable to get VirtualBox "Shared Folders" feature to work.

[WadeWayne]

I've installed Debian Buster (No GUI) on VirtualBox, but I'm unable to get the "Shared Folders" feature to work. Could anyone help me with this, please?

[spamegg]

On the Guest OS, try sudo usermod -aG vboxsf yourusername then reboot.

[WadeWayne]

sudo usermod -aG vboxsf yourusername

It says: "usermod command not found".

[tkocou]

An alternative method is to directly edit the /etc/group file and add yourself to the end of the vboxusers entry.

like: sudo nano /etc/group

Save it out. Create a folder in your home directory which you will share with the VM.

Next, start virtualbox, open the settings menu for the virtual machine which you have created. Add an entry in the Shared Folders menu:

<name of folder for VM> <absolute path to shared folder in your home directory> <access permissions> <auto-mount> <absolute path for auto-mounting>

I usually leave the auto-mount blank and this gives me the option of dictating when the shared folder is connected to the VM.

Close out virtualbox and reboot.

BTW, which version of virtualbox are you running? I'm running version 6.1.16

Good luck.

[Reddog1]

I'm assuming you haven't gotten this to work because the topic is not marked as 'solved'

The terminal command that should make it work:

#sudo gpasswd -a <yourusernamehere> vboxsf

[Moonstone Man]

sudo usermod -aG vboxsf yourusername

It says: "usermod command not found".

That's because you were given incorrect instructions.

sudo gpasswd -a $USER vboxsf

[PogoOnMint]

I'm stuck on this as well.
Trying the group command gives:

Code: Select all

pogo@pogo-VirtualBox:~$ sudo usermod -aG vboxsf pogo
[sudo] password for pogo:         
usermod: group 'vboxsf' does not exist
pogo@pogo-VirtualBox:~$ 

It seems that the group was not created when the drives were assigned. How can I get around this?

Pogo

[Moonstone Man]

How can I get around this?

Please start your own thread and read this: Before you post please read how to get help.

[nistem]

After (1) setting up the Shared Folder within VirtualBox and then (2) Inserting/Installing the Guest Additions CD Image in the Virtual Machine, I then needed to (3) add myself as a user to the vboxsf Group in the Users and Groups app to gain access to the shared folder.