mac os Sierra (not the high one), Fusion 11.1.latest, Ubuntu 18.04 as guest
SATA III hard disk (WDC) in SATA-USB 3.0 disk dock station
For external disk attached to guest under v.m.'s Settings > USB & Bluetooth following command does not work in guest
smartctl - t short /dev/sdX
Permission denied
To fix it disk was attached to v.m. in raw mode by following instructions found in kb.vmware.com/s/article/2097401.
.vmx file attached that disk on sata bus, all other points as in mentioned KB article.
In consequence disk was available in guest however
* with no SMART support
* reported to guest as VmWare virtual disk - original brand and model name lost
Physical disk however supports SMART - it works fine if to attach it to guest in non-raw mode by usual ways.
Any way exists to attach and USB external disk in raw mode but SMART support and disk brand/model name dont get lost on guest side?