Vmware-tools have a kernel module for shared folders. On Ubuntu 14.04 the module compilation fails with something like "alias […] inode.c […] line 28". The fix is quite easy, here are the simple steps:
cd vmware-tools-distrib/lib/modules/source tar -xvf vmhgfs.tar cd vmhgfs-only vim inode.c ":%s/d_alias/d_u.d_alias/g" (execute vim command inside editor, no quotes) ":wq!" (execute vim command) cd .. tar -cvf vmhgfs.tar vmhgfs-only
Now install vmware-tools normally, then shutdown and add a shared folder to your VM. After a new boot you should access your shared folder at /mnt/hgfs
source: vmware communities