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iawelch
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

HOST: OSX. GUEST: Ubuntu 14.04.1 : Sharing Host Folder + Tools Reinstallation

this is a fresh install.  I give it 2 processors, 3GB of RAM, and remove the floppy device.  (floppy?  really?  this is 2014, not 1994.)

I start and install gubuntu 14.04.1 .  all good.

now I want my linux machine to use the Documents folder on OSX.  I won't want anyone outside to see it...just my local ubuntu host.  This should be common and easy.  Why can't I just open the host's OSX System Preferences, see a VMware tab, add a folder, and then the guest linux automounts it as /media?  My guest can then see what device it mounts, change my fstab, and have both share the host nicely.  barring an OSX system preference, this could be a "Sharing Setting" in the Fusion preferences, but this is really a "Sharing-Out" (export from guest to import in host) setting, not "Sharing-In" setting .

alas, this is not meant to be easy.

I decide to reinstall the guest linux tools.  now I get "VMware Tools installation cannot be started manually while Easy Install is in progress."  there is no easy install in progress afaik.  is it because I removed the floppy drive?  it couldn't be.  a floppy should not have anything to do with the VMware Tools installation.  if it was required for another task, such as vmware tool installation, it would have had a warning "do not remove, because then our tools can then no longer be installed", right?  or, it could make it impossible to remove to begin with and not even show it.  besides, I tried to get the floppy back just to check if I can then reinstall the vmware tools, but I don't know how.  It asks me for an image file.

is this not support to be easy?  just let the system owner decide that the user of a virtual machine, like that of any other app (Excel, Word), can access the host file system?  I understand the security implications, but this does not mean that this should be an obscure process.

regards,

/iaw

PS: I had a related question on a 13.04 machine a few months ago.  this was solved by the reinstall...which I no longer can do.

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2 Replies
amzhang
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi iaw,

For the  error: "VMware Tools installation cannot be started manually while Easy Install is in progress.",I think it may caused by you removing the floppy device. 

Please refer to this KB to find a solution:  VMware KB: VMware Tools installation fails when Easy Install is in progress

Best Regards,

AM

iawelch
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

well, I made the mistake of removing it.  I thought it was 2014 and no more floppies for a decade.  I had no idea that vmware would require it for its vmware-tools installation.  come on, guys---if you require a floppy for your vmware-tools installation, then at least give me a warning before I uninstall it.  I had no use for a floppy.  I had not expected that you needed one.

now how do I get it back???  vmware fusion (now 7.0) asks me for a physical disk location when I click on "add floppy" and expects some sort of file, which I do not have.

the article was also not very helpful.  things like "mount a physical floppy" (which I do not have), and "note device settings" (which I cannot do, because I had deleted it).

I guess I will have to file a support request.

/iaw

PS: The physical upgrade (buy) process on the website was quite unintuitive, too.  I tried it on chrome.

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