VirtualBox: vboxsf filesystem wrongly detected as readonly?

Question

I have VirtualBox (Windows XP host) running a CentOS 6.0 virtual machine, with one shared folder.

Here is the list of mounted devices:

[root@localhost ~]# mount -l
...
www on /media/sf_www type vboxsf (gid=501,rw)

Looks like it's read/write.

Now if I try to write on this shared folder:

[root@localhost ~]# touch /media/sf_www/test
touch: cannot touch `/media/sf_www/test': Read-only file system

Any idea about what I'm doing wrong?

Edit: just tried to manually mount it elsewhere, same problem:

[root@localhost ~]# mount.vboxsf -w www /mnt/www
[root@localhost ~]# mount -l
...
www on /media/sf_www type vboxsf (gid=501,rw)
www on /mnt/www type vboxsf (rw)
[root@localhost ~]# touch /mnt/www/test
touch: cannot touch `/mnt/www/test': Read-only file system

Note: the www folder is writeable on my host machine.

In case you came here with similar errors creating *soft-links* see this question: https://superuser.com/questions/446362/why-cant-i-create-soft-link-on-vboxsf-file-system — Pierz, Feb 20 '18 at 17:17

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 05 '11 at 19:49

7

Ok, I found the solution. Actually, I changed my shared folder from readonly to "read/write" while the machine was running, then rebooted the machine.

The solution was simply to properly shut down the machine, then start it again.

answered Dec 05 '11 at 19:49

BenMorel

4,507
10
57
85

1

Thanks for this! Was starting to run out of hairs to pull out of my head - you saved me from having to purchase a wig :) – kander Sep 05 '12 at 13:29
Glad I could save your hair :-) – BenMorel Sep 05 '12 at 13:41
1

Doing a full shutdown rather than just a reboot does the trick there... thanks! – Patrick F Aug 09 '15 at 23:38

VirtualBox: vboxsf filesystem wrongly detected as readonly?

1 Answers1