If a virtual machine is created by root, the USB floppy drive can be accessed without any issues. However, if a virtual machine is created by a non-root user, the floppy drive fails to attach and the following message is logged in vmware.log.
Floppy| Msg_Post: Warning Floppy| [msg.floppyImage.cantRead] FloppyImage: '/dev/sdc' is not readable and therefore Floppy| cannot be connected a floppy image Floppy| ---------------------------------------- Floppy| FloppyImage: Connect error: /dev/sdc will be disconnected. vmx| Msg_Post: Error vmx| [msg.device.badconnect] Failed to connect virtual device floppy0. vmx| ----------------------------------------
Solution
By default, the block device file does not have any access rights for users other than root and disk group members. When you are attaching a floppy drive on a blade server to a virtual machine, you are actually accessing that device via this device file. Because you need to attach the virtual floppy drive as an image (as described in the documentation), proper permissions must be set on the device file. In the case where a non-root user created the virtual machine, the user must have access to the device file for the physical floppy drive in order for it to be attached to the virtual machine.
If there is a security concern for providing non-root user access to a special device file, you can create a floppy image file (.flp) and give proper permission to that file. For instructions on how to create a floppy image file, refer to kb.vmware.com/kb/1739.
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