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db16v's avatar
db16v
New member | Level 2
7 years ago

Sharing Dropbox with Virtual Machine

Hello,

Here's my scenario:

1. MacBook Pro (500GB HD)

2. VMware Fusion 10

3. Windows 10 Pro virtual machine (40GB HD)

4. Enterprise Dropbox

*** I'm looking for some best practices from Dropbox ***

Given the limited disk space on my virtual machine, my thought was to install DB on my MacBook and share, or "mirror", the MacBook folders using Fusion which includes the DB folder.

Is this scenario supported? What is Dropbox's recommendation in this scenario?

Mac
Setting up the apps
Windows
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    7 years ago
    Hi there, we cannot indicate whether this would work fully as expected as this is third party software and may have unexpected configurations. 
     
    We do have some general recommendations that may help.
     
    For Dropbox to work correctly, it needs to be installed in an OS that is not part of a Shared Session. If installing into a virtual environment, it would need to be installed into a user account that is part of this virtual desktop or virtual machine and only accessed by that user account. 
     
    The Dropbox folder should also be located on the same mounted drive that is running the virtual machine or virtual desktop.
     
    Please be aware that if you install Dropbox on a virtual machine or virtual desktop that are non-persistent, such that they are reset on a schedule or after logging off, Dropbox may be logged out and need to resync everytime this occurs.
     
    I hope this information helps! 
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago
    Hi there, we cannot indicate whether this would work fully as expected as this is third party software and may have unexpected configurations. 
     
    We do have some general recommendations that may help.
     
    For Dropbox to work correctly, it needs to be installed in an OS that is not part of a Shared Session. If installing into a virtual environment, it would need to be installed into a user account that is part of this virtual desktop or virtual machine and only accessed by that user account. 
     
    The Dropbox folder should also be located on the same mounted drive that is running the virtual machine or virtual desktop.
     
    Please be aware that if you install Dropbox on a virtual machine or virtual desktop that are non-persistent, such that they are reset on a schedule or after logging off, Dropbox may be logged out and need to resync everytime this occurs.
     
    I hope this information helps! 
    • db16v's avatar
      db16v
      New member | Level 2
      7 years ago

      Thanks for the quick reply.

      I'll take it a step back and ask a simpler question so I can better understand the "sharing" reference.

      My organization has an Enterprise dropbox with approximately 20 users. Each associate has a MacBooks.  Each associate has installed the Dropbox client under our respective macbook user account.

      We share DB files in this scenario. Is this scenario supported?

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        7 years ago
        That’s the normal Dropbox Business experience, where all users are part of the same team, sharing quota among themselves and able to share files in folders and team folders.
         
        However, the shared session in a virtual machine refers to something completely different. Namely, a shared session, once you log out of the VM or computer, will revert to the way it was when you started it up.
         
        A persistent session will save changes whenever you close the VM, and any changes made to the OS in the VM will be kept.
         
        Long story short, a shared session acts like a ‘guest account’ on a normal computer, any changes you make are forgotten when you logout. A persistent session is a ‘user account’ on a normal computer and any changes are saved each time you logout.
         
        More explanations on this can be found on the VMware site, or other VM sites in general.
         
        Hope this clarifies matters!

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