Thinkpads Forum

This system is running OS/2 4.52 in VirtualBox 6.0.14 on a Windows 10 host. I haven't yet been able to get Guest Additions to work. I have an .exe, downloaded on the host as a .zip, that I would like to get into the VM, so that I can install it there. Without the Guest Additions, this seems to be a challenge:

• Copy and Paste doesn't work.

• I tried adding a SATA controller, but VirtualBox seemed to be looking for a VHD, not a physical drive.

• The VM doesn't seem to recognize USB drives.

• An attempt to run Netscape within the VM, so as to download the .zip directly into the VM (where I would then figure out some way to extract the .exe), left the VM unable to boot.

• I don't know the OS/2 command (if any) that would download the .zip directly, without requiring a browser.

Maybe I have to put the .exe into an ISO and mount that? Surely there must be a more direct route.

File transfer between VirtualBox guest and host is a network connection. File sharing must be enabled on both systems, then files can be shared between the two just like between any other physical computers on the network.

Thanks for that tip. It inspired a search leading to a VirtualBox forum exchange. There, they say Guest Additions are required for Shared Folders to work. Without the Guest Additions, one of the participants says that, to get files into a DOS guest, "an ISO image is about your only practical option." So I guess I'll try that.

OK, so this topic is more "How to Install Guest Additions in VirtualBox", than "Getting Files into an OS/2 VirtualBox VM".

Once VirtualBox is install and you have installed a guest OS on VirtualBox, go to the menu bar at the top of VirtualBox, select "Devices" and the last item on the menu list will be "Insert Guest Additions CD Image", choose that option, then go to the CD/DVD drive in the virtual OS and run the installation from there.

In the dozen or so times I've installed virtual systems using VirtualBox, I've never run into an instance where the Guest Additions CD image was not included in the VirtualBox package. Never had to download or transfer files from anywhere to set up Guest Additions. That said, I've never run OS/2 virtualized or otherwise, so there may be differences I'm not aware of.

VirtualBox *does not* support copying files between a guest and a host--it only supports copying *text* between the two; the fine print is misleading. So--even if you were to try and install a Windows VM you wouldn't be able to copy files from your host to the client


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