Virtio-fs mount not appearing in Windows 10 guest on openSUSE Leap 15.6 host

Host System:

  • OS: openSUSE Leap 15.6 (KDE desktop)
  • Virtualization: QEMU/KVM with virt-manager
  • Networking: bridged networking (br0), VM has correct IP and internet access
  • virtio-fs shared folder added via virt-manager with correct source and target paths
  • Shared folder on host: /home/alastair/vmshared (permissions 755)

Guest System (VM):

  • OS: Windows 10
  • virtio-win ISO version 0.1.285 mounted
  • WinFsp 2.0 installed successfully
  • virtiofs.inf driver installed from ISO (no warnings in Device Manager)
  • virtiofs.exe executed with:
    “F:\guest-tools\virtiofs.exe” -t shared -m X:

Symptoms:

  • Command reports: “The service has been started”
  • No new drive appears in File Explorer or in ‘mountvol’
  • Trying alternate drive letters (Z:, X:) has no effect
  • Rebooted VM and re-ran command — same result
  • No errors in Device Manager
  • virtiofs device shows installed and running
  • Host folder is valid and accessible

Next Steps Considered:

  • Verifying virtiofsd is running on the host and not crashing
  • Checking for security mechanisms (AppArmor, SELinux)
  • Investigating Windows registry setting for MountPoint
  • Checking for Windows Event Log or service error messages

Question:
Has anyone successfully used virtio-fs with Windows 10 guests on openSUSE Leap 15.6?
What additional steps might be needed to make the mount visible in Explorer?

Any advice appreciated.

I see nobody had replied. My workaround has been to use Samba and I am giving up on the original query.

This topic was automatically closed 7 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.