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

   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>

      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>

3. Boot up the VM.

   # virsh start vm-name

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

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.