using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

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dc0d32

using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by dc0d32 »

hi there,
i have VMWare [4.5.2 build 8848] on XP. i want to work in winXP, but want to compile on GCC in virtual linux. i don't want to repartition the disk. The problem is that how do i operate on the files that are currently on my REAL hard disk ? i tried to use the physical disk partitions, but the data written in the linux editor was not saved on the actual disk, and after some time, my folder screwed up. please help me out.
thanx
mystran

Re:using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by mystran »

Easiest way is probably to setup network for the VMWare, and then just use network shares (probably SMB in this case) just like you'd use between multiple real computers.
AR

Re:using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by AR »

Or you could just use Cygwin...
mystran

Re:using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by mystran »

Cygwin isn't Linux, and Linux was requested. :)
AR

Re:using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by AR »

...but running Linux in an emulator is rather redundant when you can run all the Linux software natively...
mystran

Re:using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by mystran »

My biggest complaint with cygwin is that you don't get the Unix environment. You get the programs, but they feel detached from their home.
dc0d32

Re:using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by dc0d32 »

calm down guys!

i want the unix environment inside windows [i must operate on XP for many reasons, don't have enough rights to resize and repartition my HDD :'(, college computer, i have to manage].

and what about the "shared folder" thing? how does that work?

thanx
AR

Re:using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by AR »

I'm not getting worked up, there are more important things to worry about, I was merely suggesting Cygwin as the software will run faster than in an emulator.

Shared folders are created by simply right clicking a folder, open "Properties", change to the "Sharing" tab and tick "share this folder." You can then use Samba on Linux to access the folders across the "network" [VMWare's virtual network card will allow the emulated OS to loopback to the real OS to access the folders].
mystran

Re:using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by mystran »

About VMWare performance: VMWare generally performs almost as fast as native code except for OS code which obviously has to be emulated at least partially.

That said, running Linux under VMWare is definitely fine from the performance point of view. For some extra boost, running X server in Windows, and connecting it using "network" to the "remote" Linux box can give better interactive performance.
dc0d32

Re:using VMWare to operate on physical partition/folder

Post by dc0d32 »

Wow. I finally figured it out. here is how i did it if anyone is interested.

1. Installed the VMWare tools :D inside linux [earlier, i missed this part]
2. Now, a folder named "hgfs" appears under the /mnt directory.
3. in the VMWare interface, when editing the Virtual machine, there is a second tab, which contains an entry called "Shared folders",
4. enable the shared folders
5. add any folder you want in the list
6. restart linux

now, the shared folders should have appeared in the /mnt/hgfs/ directory.

enjoy

and thakx.
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