The Devign Path

I found a way to share folders between my Ubuntu virtual machine and Windows 7. Here’s why.

I’ve been getting into server side JavaScript recently with node.js and it is a lot of fun. But the downside is that it’s constantly changing and I have to use git a lot. I find it easier to get my head around git in the command line than the Windows GUI. Go figure. And I would love to try and use Visual Studio to code some JavaScript because it’s faster than other JAVA based IDEs on Windows and I saw Scott Gu using it at the Guathon and I was well impressed.

Also, I want to be able to have the command line goodness of Linux and all the luxuries of Windows (including playing music files of any format I want). I did think about buying a Mac if only for Coda. Drool.

Here’s how. Get a Ubuntu virtual machine up and running. The Ubuntu 9 iso and the VMware player worked for me. The rest goes something like this -

In Ubuntu

• Create a new folder
• Right click on it and select "Sharing options"
• Check "Share this folder" and "Allow others to create and delete files in this folder"
• Download Samba Server configuration
• Add a share – using the new folder you created previously
• Add a user – with a username and password

In Windows

• Go to My Network
• Log in to folder using user name and password set in Ubuntu

Note:
Ubuntu permissions override Samba permissions which is why we have to share the folder in Ubuntu first before we can create/modify files/folders in Windows.

If in Windows you get the error message "Multiple connections to a server or shared resource by the same use etc.." open up the command prompt and run "net use * /delete" this will delete current users saved by Windows.