Is it me? Fusion on Snow Leopard, Ubuntu 10.10: no network, no shared folders.

[cmox]

On my Macbook I use the current VMWare Fusion and installed Ubuntu 10.10, that worked pretty well. I am not an expert at all, I use Ubuntu only  for a very limited purpose and do not plan to make this my standard OS, but in this case I have no choice. For this work I need to share files, copy and paste text and use the  network.

But from the beginning I have these problems:

#1: Whenever I send the virtual machine to sleep and wake it up later it does not recognize the network connection any more.

#2: I share some folder on my Mac OS but I can't see them in Ubuntu. To be exact, I can only see the Mac users' public folders but not those that I added.

#3: Copy and paste between Mac OS and Ubuntu does not work.

Then I looked through the menus and found that VMWare Tools are not installed, so I started installation through the menu. The only result is that a VMWare Tools CD is downloaded and mounted - and then nothing happens.There is a text file "manifest.txt" that contains a lot of version information, and an archive that contains an installer. If I double-click that one I am getting asked with which application I want to open it. Very funny... I have no idea how to use this.

Any suggestions for a newbie?

[cmox]

In the meanwhile I used this article:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=102252...

I followed the instructions step by step though I never used a "Terminal" before.

When I tell the Terminal  "sudo ./vmware-install.pl" I am not asked for my Ubuntu password. Instead it displays a lot of cryptic things and tells me "invalid options" (I am translating this from what I see in the german Ubuntu version).

me@ubuntu:~/Desktop/vmware-tools-distrib$ sudo -/vmware-install.pl
sudo: Ungültige Option -- /
usage: sudo -h | -K | -k | -L | -V
usage: sudo -v [-AknS] [-p prompt]
usage: sudo -l[l] [-AknS] [-g groupname|#gid] [-p prompt] [-U username] [-u
            username|#uid] [-g groupname|#gid] [command]
usage: sudo [-AbEHknPS] [-C fd] [-g groupname|#gid] [-p prompt] [-u
            username|#uid] [-g groupname|#gid] [VAR=value] [-i|-s] [<command>]
usage: sudo -e [-AknS] [-C fd] [-g groupname|#gid] [-p prompt] [-u
            username|#uid] file ...
me@ubuntu:~/Desktop/vmware-tools-distrib$
Display all 2636 possibilities? (y or n)^C
me@ubuntu:~/Desktop/vmware-tools-distrib$

So, no change. Is it me or a bad installer?

[cmox]

Now I tried again, and something starts to happen... up to this point:

Installing VMware Tools.

In which directory do you want to install the binary files?
[/usr/bin] vmwarefolder

The path "vmwarefolder" is a relative path. Please enter an absolute path.

In which directory do you want to install the binary files?
[/usr/bin] /vmwarefolder

The path "/vmwarefolder" does not exist currently. This program is going to
create it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you want?
[yes] y

What is the directory that contains the init directories (rc0.d/ to rc6.d/)?
[/etc]

Say what?

Did I mention that none of this cultivated conversation is mentioned in the knowledgebase article?

[admin]

In Linux, when you're asked about something on the command line, the values in brackets typically mean the suggested or default value. The default options should be correct for Ubuntu (i.e. you can keep pressing enter, you don't have to type anything else), or pass the -d flag to do this automatically. In other words, you probably want

sudo ./vmware-install.pl -d

[admin]

Then I looked through the menus and found that VMWare Tools are not installed

Yes, good diagnosis.

so I started installation through the menu. The only result is that a VMWare Tools CD is downloaded and mounted - and then nothing happens.

When you clicked the Install Tools button, Fusion should have given you a short summary of what to do next. More detailed instructions are in Help > VMware Fusion Help (for example, search for "install Tools", then choose "Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Linux Virtual Machine").

[cmox]

Thanks, most of it works now... the only thing left is that folders on my Mac hat I decided to share (Read & Write) are not available in Ubuntu. Looks okay but doesn't work.

[admin]

the only thing left is that folders on my Mac hat I decided to share (Read & Write) are not available in Ubuntu. Looks okay but doesn't work.

How did you share them - OS X's file sharing, or a HGFS shared folder? How do they look OK but not work? Where are you looking for them in Ubuntu?

[cmox]

I do the same as in my virtual Windows machine.

In the VmWare Fusion menu I can choose the folders that are on the Mac and decide whether this is for read only or read and write. In the Windows machine I find the folders in the Windows Explorer (Network -> Mac -> the folders). I am not planning to share these folders in the network, only between Mac and the virtual Windows. It works.

In this virtual machine I did the same. I would expect the folders in the "Places" menu or any other kind of "Windows Explorer thing". But I only find a folder on the Mac that is explicitly shared, not only between Mac and VM but also in the network.

One more thing. I just switched another folder in the Mac OS to shared, everyone is allowed to read and write. Now I can see the content from within Ubuntu. But I definitely do not want to share the content with everyone in my network. This folder is NOT in the list of folders that are common between Mac OS and Ubuntu, it's shared via the network but not through VMWare.

[admin · Accepted solution]

In the VmWare Fusion menu I can choose the folders that are on the Mac and decide whether this is for read only or read and write.

It sounds like you're using HGFS shared folders and are getting tripped up by the different way Windows and Linux handle this. In Linux, look under /mnt/hgfs to find HGFS shared folders.

I just switched another folder in the Mac OS to shared, everyone is allowed to read and write. Now I can see the content from within Ubuntu. But I definitely do not want to share the content with everyone in my network. This folder is NOT in the list of folders that are common between Mac OS and Ubuntu, it's shared via the network but not through VMWare.

OS X shared folders behave differently than HGFS shared folders - they use different protocols and transport mechanisms.

[cmox]

Thanks, there are the folders. It all works.

The only thing that I still find strange is the Mac's iTunes Music folder. It contains jpg and mp3 files on the Mac, but on Ubuntu in the same folder only the jpg files are shown, even if I tell the folder to show invisible files. I copied these into another folder, and there the same files are shown properly, and I can open them. Really strange, but a good moment to delete iTunes finally and use a different program 🙂

Thanks again, I must be a nightmare for experienced users...:smileylaugh:

[admin]

The only thing that I still find strange is the Mac's iTunes Music folder. It contains jpg and mp3 files on the Mac, but on Ubuntu in the same folder only the jpg files are shown, even if I tell the folder to show invisible files. I copied these into another folder, and there the same files are shown properly, and I can open them. Really strange, but a good moment to delete iTunes finally and use a different program 🙂

Sorry, can't help you there. The only thing I could think of is if the mp3s were symlinks (which we disallow in HGFS shared folders for security reasons).

Thanks again, I must be a nightmare for experienced users...:smileylaugh:

No problem, Linux is different than most people are used to and can be a little daunting. Still, I think it's pretty useful and good to know how to use. In fact, most of my virtual machines are Ubuntu.

[admin]

Did I mention that none of this cultivated conversation is mentioned in the knowledgebase article?

Ugh, you're right. I passed along some feedback to the right people, it will hopefully be fixed soon. For future reference if you find other confusing ones, there's a link at the bottom of each KB for feedback.

[cmox]

Yes, it is very different, but now it works fast in VMware, in fact significantly faster than Windows... I think I will hate it a little less than Windows 🙂

Thanks for the help, this is highly appreciated.

If you pass something to those who write the documentation please tell them this: "If you make it foolproof someone will invent a better fool..."

[cmox]

After a few days using this I have to say that some problems reoccur:

#1: after suspending the Ubuntu guest the network is broken quite often. Sometimes I can bring it back to life when I suspend and wake up Ubuntu again.

#2: I setup VMWare Fusion in a way that it can read and write in some folders on the Mac OS. These folders are not available after a nap of Ubuntu, I have to restart Ubuntu completeley to reactivate them.

At least #1 seems to be a quite common problem, I read some other posts about that.