Step 1: Enable Shared Folders in VMware Settings
- Power
Off the Ubuntu virtual machine.
- Open
VMware Workstation or VMware Player.
- Select
your Ubuntu VM.
- Click
on Edit virtual machine settings.
- Go
to Options → Select Shared Folders.
- Set
it to Always Enabled.
- Click
Add, then:
- Browse
to the folder on your host machine.
- Select
Enable this share.
- Give
it a name (e.g., Shared_Folder).
- Click
OK → Start the Ubuntu VM.
Step 2: Install VMware Tools in Ubuntu
If Shared Folders don’t appear, you need to install VMware
Tools.
- Open
Terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T).
- Run
the following command:
- sudo
apt update && sudo apt install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop
-y
- Restart
your VM:
- sudo
reboot
Step 3: Access the Shared Folder in Ubuntu
Once installed:
- Open
Files (File Manager).
- Navigate
to:
- /mnt/hgfs/
- You
should see your shared folder inside.
If /mnt/hgfs/ is empty, mount it manually:
sudo vmhgfs-fuse .host:/ /mnt/hgfs -o allow_other
Step 4: Automate Mounting (Optional)
To mount the shared folder automatically on every boot:
- Edit
the fstab file:
- sudo
nano /etc/fstab
- Add
this line at the bottom:
- .host:/
/mnt/hgfs fuse.vmhgfs-fuse allow_other,defaults 0 0
- Save
and exit (Ctrl + X, then Y, then Enter).
- Run:
- sudo
mount -a
✅ Now your shared folder
should be accessible in Ubuntu inside /mnt/hgfs/. 🚀
If any error like : sudo: vmhgfs-fuse: command not found
If you get sudo: vmhgfs-fuse: command not found, it
means that the required VMware Tools (open-vm-tools) are either missing
or not installed correctly. Follow these steps to fix it:
Step 1: Reinstall VMware Tools (open-vm-tools)
Run these commands in Terminal:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop -y
Then restart your VM:
sudo reboot
Step 2: Mount Shared Folders Manually
Try this command again:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/hgfs
sudo mount -t fuse.vmhgfs-fuse .host:/ /mnt/hgfs -o
allow_other
Now check the shared folder:
ls /mnt/hgfs
Step 3: Check if vmhgfs-fuse Exists
If you still get command not found, check if the vmhgfs-fuse
binary exists:
which vmhgfs-fuse
If it returns nothing, try this:
sudo updatedb
locate vmhgfs-fuse
If it’s missing, VMware Tools might not be installed
correctly.
Step 4: Reinstall VMware Tools from VMware GUI
(Alternative)
- Shut
down the VM and go to VMware settings.
- Detach
and reattach the VMware Tools ISO:
- Click
VM → Install VMware Tools (or "Reinstall VMware
Tools").
- If
the VMware Tools ISO does not mount automatically, manually mount it:
- sudo mount /dev/cdrom
/mnt
- Install
it manually:
- cd /mnt
- ls # You should see a file like
VMwareTools-<version>.tar.gz
- sudo tar -xvzf
VMwareTools-*.tar.gz -C /tmp
- cd
/tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
- sudo ./vmware-install.pl
- Restart
Ubuntu:
- sudo reboot
After reboot, try mounting the shared folder again:
sudo mount -t fuse.vmhgfs-fuse .host:/ /mnt/hgfs -o
allow_other
✅ Now, check /mnt/hgfs/ again
for your shared folders. 🚀
Let me know if you still face issues! 😊
