Drag-n-Drop comes to VirtualBox5

I’m always trying to remember how to set up shared folders between my MacBook Pro and my VirtualBox VMs. This has mostly been because I want to install something on a VM that I have downloaded to host system. There are a multitude of way to accomplish this, so by all means pick your poison. Anyway, I Googled something crazy like: “How do I share files from Host to Guest vbox mac osx”? This time a link shows up with this: “Starting with version 5.0, VirtualBox supports to drag’n drop content from the host to the guest and vice versa.” Here is the link to the more detailed site. Fortunately I downloaded VirtualBox 5 earlier today, let’s give this little gem a try.

 

 

Make sure you install the latest version of Guest Additions (VBOXADDITIONS_5.0.0_101573) by clicking on Devices and selecting: insert Guest Additions CD Image

 

Click through the install process, enter the root password.  For this BigDataLite-4.0.1 VM, it’s welcome1. Then wait for the install to complete.

 

You might want to restart your VM at this point, but I chose the risky route and just kept going.

Next back at the Devices option in the toolbar where you will identify your Drag and Drop option (Disabled, Host to Guest, Guest to Host, or Bidirectional)

 

As you can see, I decided on Host to Guest. All that’s left to do is drag a file over. For simplicity’s sake, let’s try something from the desktop to desktop.   Watch this:

There you have it.  Drag and Drop from Host to Guest using VirtualBox 5

Enjoy!