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[AWIPS #IWO-487462]: Share Files Between Machine and VM

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  • Subject: [AWIPS #IWO-487462]: Share Files Between Machine and VM
  • Date: Tue, 02 May 2023 09:41:59 -0600
Hi there,

Thank you for reporting an issue using our Beta reporting form.

> I can't find a way to share a folder or files between the guest Linux VM in 
> the Vmware Workstation 17 
> and the Windows 10 host. My objective is to import and try some GIS 
> shapefiles. Reviewed all the Vmware 
> documentation on sharing files. Noted by "googling around" that lots of 
> people are having trouble with
> that.

There are three ways we can suggest to share files:

1. Drag and drop between the virtual machine and your machine.  You should be 
able to drag a file to or 
from one desktop to another, or one file explorer to another.

2. Use an online drive such as Google Drive or Dropbox.  Open a browser in the 
VM, log into your online
drive, upload the file, and then do the inverse on the machine you want to have 
the file on.

3. Set up a shared drive between the VM and your native machine:
In the VMWare Player, you can go to Player --> Manage --> Virtual Machine 
Settings. Then click on the
"Options" tab. Select "Shared Folders", select "Always enabled". Then Add - 
Browse for the directory where
your files are on your laptop. Click next and make sure "Enable this share" and 
finish. This should
mount it to /mnt/hgfs or something similar (you can do a df -h to see what's 
mounted and it should be the
"vmhgfs-fuse"). Note: You may need to power off the VM in order to make this 
change

Please let us know if this is helpful.
Thanks.

--Shay Carter

She/Her/Hers
AWIPS Software Engineer
UCAR - Unidata

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