Shared Folders (Windows 10) filesystem refresh

[axeelb]

Hello,

this is an old question that never really received an answer or anyway not the answer I was dreaming of....😉

You can see other posts (including my previous post):

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/Shared-folders-refresh/m-p/2865611

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/Shared-folders-not-refreshing/m-p/2865191#M...

Basically Shared Folders feature is lacking of one thing that may lead to unexpected behaviors: the directory change notification for shared folders under Windows is not implemented (at last not up to VMWare Workstation Pro 15.5.7).

Now, by checking the release notes, it seems to me that this fix/update is not yet available in any later release including latest version 17.

Is there anyone here that can kindly confirm this?

You can easily replicate the issue (note Windows 10 Host and Windows 10 guest):

• Virtual Machine Settings, Options tab, Shared Folders: add a folder from the host filesystem and map it as a network drive.
• Inside the guest:
  • open or create a new folder in the mapped drive,
  • create a new text file
  • open the text file while keeping the folder window visible
  • modify the file content and save it back

After saving the file, usually the size and date should almost immediately be updated in the parent folder, but since VMWare implementation does not support directory change notification, the file info will not be updated until you refresh the window (F5).

If the file info gets updated automatically, it means the feature is now available.

Many thanks to anyone can help me on this.

Alex B.

[axeelb]

I modified the previous post to clear the fact that also the latest release (Version 17) does not contain the Shared Folders update notification feature. 

It would be nice if anyone can confirm this for me. 

Many thanks.

[axeelb]

I also opened a StackOverflow question. Take a look here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/75260252/vmware-workstation-pro-shared-folders-directory-update-...

[RDPetruska]

I can't speak for the VMware developers, but...  The VMware Shared Folders feature has historically been quirky; and has never been intended as a replacement for typical networked file sharing systems, but for use as a quick and dirty method of being able to move files between the host computer and the guest VM.  If you need a robust networked file sharing system, stick with the tried and true NFS or SAMBA/CIFS file sharing common to all modern (and not-so-modern) OS's.

[axeelb]

Thanks @RDPetruska  for your reply.

I really wish I could use SMB here, also for performance reasons, but unfortunately our IT is blocking this by design for security reasons....

I'm not an expert on these protocols but I guess it may be the same for NFS. That's why I would like to have at last an update on the feature feasibility or roadmap.