request: Please mount windows shared folders under /Volumes

Discussion in 'Feature Suggestions' started by unused_user_name, Dec 10, 2007.

  1. unused_user_name

    unused_user_name Pro

    Messages:
    495
    This thread was moved from " Parallels Desktop for Mac > Windows Guest OS Discussion".
    Alicia

    Hello,

    Once again I'm popping out of lurking mode to report an annoyance. I'm using the latest build of parallels (5582), but this has been an issue for a while now.

    I like to run windows, and then use mac apps in order to interact with the Windows filesystem. Specifically I like to use emacs to edit source files in Windows, which are then compiled by Visual Studio.

    I've found that parallels mounts the Windows filesystem in /private/tmp/****/c/... where **** is a 4 digit number that changes each time I launch Parallels. Parallels devs: can you please move this mount point to /Volumes/(VM NAME)/c? Putting a mount point in /private/tmp violates standard mac conventions, and also is really annoying to have to figure out where it moved to every time I launch the program.

    Thanks!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 11, 2008
  2. Alicia

    Alicia Parallels Team

    Messages:
    683
    Hello,

    yes, you're right, Parallels mounts Windows discs to the /ptivate/tmp/<4 random digits>.
    To solve your issue you can use an alias to this folder. Please, use /.../<your VM folder>/Windows Discs/<C drive>.

    Best regards,
    Alicia.
     
  3. thughes

    thughes Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    Second

    I second that request. Parallels should mount images in a manner consistent with other *NIX systems. I have build scripts which need to know the location of files on a WinXP guest OS, and having to change the random number every time is a pain.

    Is there a way to make this request "official"? Something that the product guys and developers will consider and reply to?
     
  4. Alicia

    Alicia Parallels Team

    Messages:
    683
    Hello,

    I'm moving this thread to the "Wish Lists" forum and I'll inform our developers about your request. Thank you for your initiative!

    Best regards,
    Alicia.
     
  5. rptb1

    rptb1 Member

    Messages:
    32
    I'd like at add my vote to this. The current scheme means that I cannot make links or aliases to files, that "open recent" fails to work i applications, and so on. Please mount the disk in a consistent location. Personally I don't particularly care where that is, as long as it's the same place every time for the same disk.
     
  6. DOCa Cola

    DOCa Cola Member

    Messages:
    25
    yep, seconded. i see the problem with having multiple VMs. this could circumvented easily by having the virtual drive mounted to /Volumes/C<fixed id associated with the parallels vm>/ that is assigned per default on VM creation but - if desired - can be changed to a custom location through (advanced) configuration later.
     
  7. mstratus

    mstratus Bit poster

    Messages:
    4
    I second the request

    I'd also like fixed paths for the mounted directories. Aliasing is not an option really, as it'd have to be done manually, or it would have to be attempted in background at set intervals or it would have to detect when Parallels has started which as of now I don't know how to do (other than by placing my own Parallels application in front of the official one). Besides, files open through the volume mounted by parallels and visible in Finder would end up having different paths than files opened through the alias. And that could mean trouble.
     
  8. mstratus

    mstratus Bit poster

    Messages:
    4
    Choosing the Stable Paths

    The path to use should not be /Volumes/C<some stable id>/ but rather /Volumes/<Unique VM Name or ID>/C/, unless Mac conventions are strict in this regard. Otherwise, those of us who like many drives may not like the explosion of drives and using two virtual machines may end up looking ugly.

    If anything, the path should be /Volumes<Unique VM Name or ID>C/ with a name preferable to an ID (it's meant for people to browse through).

    Moreover, if Mac mount point conventions don't require that the mounted drive be a child of /Volumes (that is, a descendant is good enough), then the volumes could be further grouped under /Volumes/Parallels Desktop/ to reduce the chance of name clashes with other volumes that one may want to mount.

    /Volumes/Parallels Desktop/<Unique VM Name or ID>/C/
    /Volumes/Parallels Desktop/<Unique VM Name or ID>/D/

    This is beginning to look nice...
     
  9. John@Parallels

    John@Parallels Forum Maven

    Messages:
    6,333
    You can always access Windows disks as
    /path/to/pvm/file/Windows\ Disks/C
     
  10. mstratus

    mstratus Bit poster

    Messages:
    4
    PVM File

    I couldn't find a PVM file on my system. I used Mac's locate shell command; its database seems up-to-date. Is this feature only available in Parallels 4? I'm still on 3.
     
  11. voobrajulia

    voobrajulia Member

    Messages:
    96
    PVM bundles are only in Parallels Desktop 4.0.
    In version 3.0 all VM's files are stored in Virtual Machine directory which is usually /Users/<Yoour user name>/Documents/Parallels/<VM name>.
     
  12. DouglasI

    DouglasI Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    Count me in

    I'd like to include my vote for mounting in a fixed path under /Volumes/(unique VM name)/C.
     
  13. TarekE

    TarekE Bit poster

    Messages:
    8
    I have the same issue. Is there a work around for the time being to have a fixed path? I did not quite understand the support posts.
    Thx
     
  14. johnnyn

    johnnyn Bit poster

    Messages:
    4
    It is possible to mount the disks in /Volumes consistently when VMs run or shut?

    For example, I have a hard disk in /Volumes/Data and attached it in a widows VM. When the VM starts, it's gone (occupied by the VM). Is it possible to mount the hard disk in the same place /Volumes/Data rather than /private/tmp/xxx/D? thus the programs in Macos don't need to open files in different places every time the VMS up/down.

    Currently I have to connect to the windows VM and mount a smb disk in /Volumes/Data which is bad sometimes. If I forgot to disconnect the smb disk before shuting down the windows VM, the mac os takes very much long time to response if I shutdown the mac os that is terrible.

    I don't think it's hard technically at all. Just no one seriously looks into people's need.

    Please, do this little change and it will benefit a lot of users.
     
  15. johnnyn

    johnnyn Bit poster

    Messages:
    4
    It's not "always". when you shut down the windows VM, nothing is in that folder /path/to/pvm/file/Windows\ Disks/C anymore. Please make consistent. We REALLY need it in a fixed same folder whether the VM is up or down.
     
  16. joevt

    joevt Forum Maven

    Messages:
    1,229
    When you shutdown the Windows virtual machine, the virtual hard disk is no longer accessible so of course /path/to/pvm/file/Windows\ Disks/C should no longer work. Parallels Desktop 7 keeps the links in the folder but they don't work when the virtual machine is not running.

    Parallels Desktop 7 uses two different methods for mounting a virtual machine's hard disk:

    #1) When a virtual machine is running, the virtual hard disk is mounted in Mac OS X using the following process hierarchy (viewed using Activity Monitor.app):
    Code:
    sh
      prl_disp_service
        prl_vm_app (the virtual machine process)
          vfstool
    The disk appears in the Finder as the name of the virtual machine with the drive letter used by the virtual machine: e.g. "[G] Windows 7 64"

    The mount command shows something like this (pid is the process id of the prl_vm_app process):
    Code:
    vfstool#vm-pid32311 on /Volumes/G (prlufs, nodev, nosuid, synchronous, mounted by joevt)
    Notice that virtual hard disks are mounted at /Volumes by drive letter. Multiple running virtual machines using the same drive letter will have a number appended to the drive letter for the mount path like this: "/Volumes/G 1"


    #2) When a virtual machine is not running, the virtual hard disk can be mounted in Mac OS X using Parallels Mounter.app. The process hierarchy looks like this:
    Code:
    Parallels Mounter
      Parallels Explorer
        PEFSUtil
    The disk appears in the Finder as the name of the .hdd file without the .hdd extension and with a different drive letter per partition, starting with [C] (e.g. "[C] Windows 7 64-0") no matter what drive letter is used in the virtual machine the disk belongs too since it's possible for a virtual hard disk to be used by more than one virtual machine that may use different drive letters for the same partition (drive letters are a figment of the Windows registry, they are not a property of the hard disk itself).

    The mount command shows something like this:
    Code:
    PEFSUtil@prlufs2 on /Volumes/.PEVolumes/PEVolume{a0dfb333-a9b5-4e10-9882-838800de0a07} (prlufs, local, nodev, nosuid, synchronous, mounted by joevt)
    Notice that there is now a "local" mount flag. This means the file system on the host Mac is in control of the contents of the disk and the Finder Get Info dialog will not show Server information. #1 above does show server information because the file system is not local (it belongs to the virtual machine but the Finder Get Info says localhost instead of the name or IP address of the virtual machine). Since locally mounted Parallels disks are not associated with a virtual machine, it makes sense that the mount path does not include the virtual machine name.


    Now, for a virtual hard disk to remain mounted in Mac OS X whether the virtual machine is running or not, Parallels would need to rearrange all that perhaps by using a meta file system running in Parallels Explorer that would somehow seamlessly handle the transition between the virtual machine running and not running. Is it possible for the "local" flag to change for a mounted file system? If not then it would need to be removed from the case where the virtual machine is not running. That might cause a slight performance issue or some other issue related to the difference between local and non-local file systems. I think it would be best if the partitions were mounted in /Volumes using the volume name of the disk (like Mac OS X would do it). If the partition doesn't have a volume name, then the name of the virtual hard disk file should be used with the partition number (if there's more than one partition) since drive letters don't make sense when the virtual machine is not running or if the virtual hard disk is for a virtual machine other than Windows.

    Another feature I would like to see is the ability to have Parallels mount Boot Camp partitions using it's file system without the virtual machine running. This only require Parallels Mounter to unmount the partition if it's currently being controlled by a different file system, otherwise the implementation is exactly the same as for a virtual hard disk file.
     

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