Shared directory for Kali Linux on VMware Workstation

This post shows how to always share a directory from the VMware host with a Kali Linux guest. The sharing can be temporary, check the sharing options in the settings window.

VMware preparation

Select the virtual machine and click the Edit virtual machine settings.

In the Virtual Machine Settings window select the Options tab then the Shared Folders setting.

Select Always enabled for Folder Sharing and click Add... to add shared directory:

Name: host (you can use another name)
Host Path: the path to host’s directory
Attributes: check Enabled

Click the Save button and start the virtual machine.

Kali virtual machine

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/shared

cat << 'EOF' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab > /dev/null
vmhgfs-fuse /mnt/shared fuse defaults,allow_other 0 0
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo mount /mnt/shared
ls -l /mnt/shared/host