Vmware

Tips

Mount shared folders

• First, install VM tools, or on Linux guest, install package open-vm-tools.

sudo apt install open-vm-tools

• Then create a shared folder in the VM settings.

To mount the shared folders in the guest [1]:

sudo vmhgfs-fuse .host:/ /mnt/hgfs -o allow_other -o uid=0

For mount this at started, add to /etc/fstab:

# Use shared folders between VMWare guest and host
.host:/    /mnt/hgfs/    fuse.vmhgfs-fuse    defaults,allow_other,uid=0     0    0

Some say the share has an impact on the VM performance. In that case, use option noauto:

# Use shared folders between VMWare guest and host
.host:/    /mnt/hgfs/    fuse.vmhgfs-fuse    defaults,allow_other,uid=0,noauto     0    0

Then mount the share manually with sudo mount /mnt/hgfs.

Notes

• VMWare mounts the share automatically when it is created and the VM is running. If the VM was off, first power on the VM, then disable and enable back the shared folders. However this has to be done everytime the VM is rebooted.
• Don't forget to exclude shared folders from locate / mlocate scan.

Compile modules vmmon / vmnet on recent kernels

See https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules.git.

Enable 3D acceleration (No 3D support is available from the host)

Add to ~/.vmware/preferences [2]:

mks.gl.allowBlacklistedDrivers = "TRUE"

Hide Menu Bar in Guest

Edit .vmware/preferences [3]:

pref.vmplayer.fullscreen.nobar = "TRUE"

Exclude shared folders from mlocate scan

Assuming the shared folders are mounted on /mnt/hgfs, edit /etc/updatedb.conf and add /mnt/hgfs to pruned dir list:

-PRUNEPATHS="/tmp /var/spool /media /var/lib/os-prober /var/lib/ceph"
+PRUNEPATHS="/tmp /var/spool /media /var/lib/os-prober /var/lib/ceph /mnt/hgfs"