VMware Fusion Shared Folders on Debian Guest

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for setting up and persistently mounting VMware Fusion shared folders on a Debian virtual machine using open-vm-tools.

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🧰 Prerequisites

• VMware Fusion installed on your macOS host.
• A Debian guest OS installed in VMware Fusion.
• A Shared Folder configured and enabled in VMware Fusion:
  • VM > Settings > Options > Shared Folders
  • Note the Name of the shared folder (e.g., MySharedFolder).

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🪛 Steps

1. Install open-vm-tools

Run these commands in your Debian VM terminal:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop

open-vm-tools: Core integration
open-vm-tools-desktop: Optional, for GUI features like drag & drop, clipboard sharing

Then reboot your VM:

sudo reboot

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2. Manual Mount (Optional - for testing)

Check if shared folders are already mounted:

ls /mnt/hgfs/

If not, manually mount with:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/hgfs
sudo /usr/bin/vmhgfs-fuse .host:/ /mnt/hgfs -o allow_other

To mount a specific shared folder (e.g., MySharedFolder) to a custom path:

sudo mkdir -p /home/youruser/my_host_share
sudo /usr/bin/vmhgfs-fuse .host:/MySharedFolder /home/youruser/my_host_share -o allow_other

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3. Persistent Mount via /etc/fstab

Edit the fstab file:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Mount all shared folders:

.host:/ /mnt/hgfs fuse.vmhgfs-fuse defaults,allow_other 0 0

Mount specific folder:

.host:/MySharedFolder /home/youruser/my_host_share fuse.vmhgfs-fuse defaults,allow_other 0 0

Mount with user ownership (replace 1000 with your UID/GID):

.host:/MySharedFolder /home/youruser/my_host_share fuse.vmhgfs-fuse defaults,allow_other,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0

Find your UID and GID using:

id -u yourusername
id -g yourusername

Save & exit (in nano: Ctrl+O, Enter, then Ctrl+X).

Test the mount:

sudo mount -a

✅ No errors? You're good to go.

Reboot to apply:

sudo reboot

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4. Verify Access

After reboot or manual mount:

ls /mnt/hgfs/MySharedFolder
# or
ls /home/youruser/my_host_share

You should see your macOS host files available!

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⚠️ Important

Before editing /etc/fstab, take a VM snapshot in VMware Fusion. This protects you in case a misconfiguration causes boot issues.