Second: issue using vmrun - VMware Technology Network VMTN

VMware Communities

Host: MacBookPro, OS X 10.4.11

Guest: WinXP with service pack 3 installed

Having issues getting vmrun's copyFileFromHostToGuest to work.

I am trying to use copyFileFromHostToGuest because I can't get a 3rd party dll running on the guest to recognize a shared directory that I mapped to a WinXP drive letter.

I am able to run executables on the guest, but since I can't get inside that 3rd party dll to debug why it is not finding the input files, I am trying to copy the input files to the guest's C drive. But that seems to be having issues as well...

I believe there needs to be some documentation added to the vix162_vmrun_command.pdf documentation for vmrun explaining the file path mumbo-jumbo on WinXP. I'm trying every variation of slashes I can think of without success.

Also, the error message when it fails is somewhat ambigious. It says "Error: The file name is not valid", however there are two files specified... which one has the problem?! I'm pretty sure that my path to the VM is fine, since I use that same path then I run the executable inside the guest. Also, I'm pretty sure the path to the copy-source is correct, since I can "ls" that path and I get my file. That only leaves the copy-destination as suspect...

I've tried the following variations of copy-destination, with error messages shown:

vmrun -T fusion -gu Administrator -gp pass copyFileFromHostToGuest /Users/me/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmwarevm/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmx /Users/me/fromVMWareWin32/im.jpg c://CyberFlixor//Flixor//src//im.jpg

Error: The file name is not valid

vmrun -T fusion -gu Administrator -gp pass copyFileFromHostToGuest /Users/me/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmwarevm/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmx /Users/me/fromVMWareWin32/im.jpg c:
CyberFlixor
Flixor
src
im.jpg

Error: A file was not found

vmrun -T fusion -gu Administrator -gp pass copyFileFromHostToGuest /Users/me/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmwarevm/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmx /Users/me/fromVMWareWin32/im.jpg c:\CyberFlixor\Flixor\src\im.jpg

Error: The file name is not valid

vmrun -T fusion -gu Administrator -gp pass copyFileFromHostToGuest /Users/me/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmwarevm/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmx /Users/me/fromVMWareWin32/im.jpg c:/CyberFlixor/Flixor/src/im.jpg

Error: The file name is not valid

vmrun -T fusion -gu Administrator -gp pass copyFileFromHostToGuest /Users/me/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmwarevm/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmx /Users/me/fromVMWareWin32/im.jpg c:\/CyberFlixor\/Flixor\/src\/im.jpg

Error: The file name is not valid

vmrun -T fusion -gu Administrator -gp pass copyFileFromHostToGuest /Users/me/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmwarevm/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmx /Users/me/fromVMWareWin32/im.jpg c:/\CyberFlixor/\Flixor/\src/\im.jpg

Error: The file name is not valid

I think that is pretty much every variation... any hints as to the correct method of specifying the file path to the copy-destination?

3 Replies

hmmm... that second example got mangled.

Let's see if this works, this is the last parameter in the second example:

c:\\CyberFlixor\\Flixor\\src\\im.jpg

Okay, apparently the secret is to use a normal WinXP file path the same as you would type in a WinXP command line, but surround it with double quotes.

This is the final, working syntax:

vmrun -T fusion -gu Administrator -gp pass copyFileFromHostToGuest /Users/me/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmwarevm/Windows\ XP\ Professional.vmx /Users/me/fromVMWareWin32/im.jpg "c:/CyberFlixor/Flixor/src/im.jpg"

Yea, you should definitely quote anything that may have spaces. The paths are the actual paths on the system you're trying to access whether that be Windows/Linux.

=========================================================================

--William

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at: