VirtualBox 4.0.2 Map XP Host C:\ with Ubuntu 10.10 guest

Question

I'm using VirtualBox 4.0.2 with Ubuntu 10.10 as a guest. I'm trying to map my Windows XP C:\ drive under the guest to share documents. I can map a server by going to Places --> Connect to Server... and following the prompt for Windows Share. I was hoping there would be an easy way to map my Host C:\ the same way...i.e.:

Places --> Connect to Server

Service type: Windows Share

Server: [computer name]

Share: C$

Username: [username]

DomainName: [domain]

Then Connect

But that doesn't work...

Answer 1

Have you set up shared folders and installed the vbox tools on the guest? It seems you're trying to access the host C: drive via the "normal" CIFS network share. It's much faster, and harder to break, if you go with shared folders instead:

http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=15868

Boot the Guest and open a terminal. Create a folder where you will mount it on. E.g. in your home folder. I will use ~/host for the mount point. Now mount it with the following command:

sudo mount -t vboxsf share ~/host

Note that with this, the default mount options are used and all files are owned by root.

This can be changed by adding some mount options. Options are passed on with the -o parameter. You can use multiple options with one parameter, seperate the values with a comma. See the man page of mount for more info on which options you can use. The User Manual also notes the options compatible with the Shared Folders. To mount the SF so that you are the owner of the files, use this command:

sudo mount -t vboxsf -o uid=1000,gid=1000 share ~/host