Chapter 19. Sharing files between the host and its virtual machines

Procedure

1. For each directory on the host that you want to share with your VM, set it as a virtiofs file system in the VM’s XML configuration.

   1. Open the XML configuration of the intended VM.

      # virsh edit vm-name

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   2. Add an entry similar to the following to the <devices> section of the VM’s XML configuration.

      <filesystem type='mount' accessmode='passthrough'>
        <driver type='virtiofs'/>
        <binary path='/usr/libexec/virtiofsd' xattr='on'/>
        <source dir='/root/shared-files'/>
        <target dir='host-file-share'/>
      </filesystem>

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      This example sets the /root/shared-files directory on the host to be visible as host-file-share to the VM.

2. Set up shared memory for the VM. To do so, add shared memory backing to the <domain> section of the XML configuration:

   <domain>
    [...]
    <memoryBacking>
      <access mode='shared'/>
    </memoryBacking>
    [...]
   </domain>

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3. Boot up the VM.

   # virsh start vm-name

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4. Mount the file system in the guest operating system. The following example mounts the previously configured host-file-share directory with a Linux guest operating system.

   # mount -t virtiofs host-file-share /mnt

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Procedure

1. In the Virtual Machines interface, click the VM with which you want to share files.

   A new page opens with an Overview section with basic information about the selected VM and a Console section.

2. Scroll to Shared directories.

   The Shared directories section displays information about the host files and directories shared with that VM and options to Add or Remove a shared directory.

3. Click Add shared directory.

   The Share a host directory with the guest dialog is displayed.

4. Enter the following information:

   • Source path - The path to the host directory that you want to share.
   • Mount tag - The tag that the VM uses to mount the directory.

5. Set additional options:

   • Extended attributes - Set whether to enable extended attributes, xattr, on the shared files and directories.

6. Click Share.

   The selected directory is shared with the VM.

Procedure

1. In the Virtual Machines interface, click the VM from which you want to remove the shared files.

   A new page opens with an Overview section with basic information about the selected VM and a Console section.

2. Scroll to Shared directories.

   The Shared directories section displays information about the host files and directories shared with that VM, and options to Add or Remove a shared directory.

3. Click Remove next to the directory that you want to unshare with the VM.

   The Remove filesystem dialog is diplayed.

4. Click Remove.

   The selected directory is unshared with the VM.