VMware Workstation Tutorial - VMware Virtual Network Overview

Overview of VMware Virtual Networks on VMware Workstation.

As you may already know, you access the Virtual Network Editor by clicking Edit then Virtual Network Editor...

After a fresh install of VMware Workstation we have the default virtual networks of VMnet0 as a Bridged network, VMnet1 as a Host-only network and VMnet8 as a NAT network.

Let's step through a Bridged network, a Host-only network and NAT network and discuss what they are, why to use them and how to configure each.

The first virtual network is a Bridged network. A Bridged network is one where the Guest OS shares the Host network adapter in connecting to the physical network. The Guest OS uses the same DHCP Server, DNS Server and Gateway as the Host OS.

You can only have one Bridged network per physical network adapter on the Host computer.

A Bridged network is used to integrate with your existing network. Examples for using a Bridged network are when the Guest OS needs to:
• Communicate with other computers on the LAN
• Integrate into a domain

This makes sense when IT Departments virtualize a portion of their hardware environment going from, for example, eight servers and eight OS's to one server and nine OS's.

Another example is, I use VMware Workstation and my Host OS as a pristine environment and my computing, if you will, is performed on a VM Guest OS where both are part of my domain and infrastructure.

By default, our first Bridged network VMnet0 has Bridged to set to Automatic. If we click Automatic Settings, we see every connection is available to be bridged. If we were to add a new Bridged Virtual Network we'll receive an error stating "There are no un-bridged host network adapters." Let's click Add Network, select and available virtual network, change network type to Bridged and there is our error.

We can resolve this by either changing VMnet0 Bridged to as specific network adapter or by removing a network adapter from the Automatic Settings.

The next virtual network is a Host-only Virtual Network and is a private network between the Host OS, which is optional and other Guest OS's on the same virtual network. There is no public access outside this network; meaning there is no Default Gateway.

To not permit the Host OS access to this Host-only virtual network we must uncheck 'Connect a host virtual adapter to this network.' If this is checked, the Host OS will have a virtual network adapter which provides access to this network.

VMware on the Host OS will supply DHCP services which are also configurable. By default the DHCP service is enabled; to disable uncheck 'Use local DHCP service to distribute IP addresses to VMs.' We set the Subnet IP and Subnet mask below. We can also configure DHCP services by clicking 'DHCP Settings...'

To add a Host-only network we follow the same procedure and click 'Add Network...', select an available virtual network and chose 'Host-only'.

Essentially, a Host-only network is used for isolation of Guest OS's

The last virtual network is a NAT Virtual Network. NAT is short for Network Address Translation. A NAT Virtual Network is similar to Host-only with the exception it is not private and you can only have one NAT Virtual Network.

Since the Guest OS's now have access to the public world beyond the Host OS we need the ability to configure the Default Gateway, DNS service, NetBios and Port Forwarding. This infrastructure is all served by VMware on the Host OS.

To configure these options we click 'NAT Settings...' Here we can set the Gateway IP to be passed out by DHCP service. Do not confuse this with the same IP address as the Host OS, it must be different unique.

Next we can add a port forwarding from the physical LAN to inside the NAT Virtual Network VMnet8. For example we can add FTP with a Host OS port of 10021, type TCP, Virtual Machine IP address of 192.168.184.44 (some static ip on VMnet8 to FTP server), Virtual Machine port of 21 and a Description of FTP. Furthermore we can allow Active FTP vs. Passive FTP by checking or unchecking 'Allow active FTP.'

We can also configure the DNS Settings by clicking 'DNS Settings...' To have the Host provide the DNS service we check 'Auto detect available DNS servers.' If we have a DNS server on the NAT Virtual Network then uncheck 'Auto detect available DNS servers' and specify the IP address of the Preferred DNS server and Alternate DNS server(s).

A NAT Virtual Network is ideal for managing a small network where it is truly independent of everything on the physical LAN. For example, a complete network of Domain Control, DNS Server, DHCP Server, Web Server and Workstations can all be configured on a NAT given the Host Computer or Server had the resources to run each simultaneously.

[tlarn]

Excellent tutorial. I wasn't understanding the network settings until I watched your video. Now my virtual gear is connected. Thx!

[TheJason]

Great help! I created 2 server 2016 vm's, got it all set up on a 4port NIC i had (not using at the time) and it was all working. I forgot that when I moved it all to another machine that hosts my media that I had to re-configure the VMnet settings in the virtual network editor lol. It's all working like a champ now!

[AnandSingh-htur]

Thank you so much, sir. I had messed up my settings. This video is the only thing that helped me, had been looking for the solution since last 2 days.

Love from India

[CanadaEhhhhhhh]

Cheers, great video explaining Virtual networks on VMWARE Workstation!

[creativeitresources]

Hi Dinesh, you're on the right track. If you use NAT, you can do anything you want. Let's say you have a NAT subnet of 192.168.184.0 with mask of 255.255.255.0. You're DHCP range could be something like .100 thru .254 then your static IP's would be between .1 and .99. Next, under NAT Settings your gateway should be 192.168.184.2. You can also specify your DNS server, for DHCP, under NAT Settings/DNS Settings. So, static ip's below .100, gateway .2, DNS is Domain Controller IP. Let me know.

[itmemo]

best vmware tutorial network , thanks a lot

[creativeitresources]

Hi Luis, sorry I missed your comment. Create a custom VMNet (e.g. VMnet8) as a NAT network. Check 'Connect a host virtual adapter to this network' so the host can access services. Also check 'Use local DHCP service to distribute IP address to VMs'.

As for the Domain Controller, set it up as usual and install DNS services on it.

Also watch my "VMware Workstation Tutorial - Domain Trust Relationship Failed" video if you are using Snapshots domain computer VMs to resolve work around issues.

[creativeitresources]

That's great! I'm glad you found this useful.

[creativeitresources]

Easiest approach is to use the default VMnet0 Bridged network. This will function as if it is a new computer on your network. First, verify you have a network adapter configured for this VM under this VM's settings. Inside guest OS run 'ipconfig' from the command prompt and you should see an IP Address, DNS address and a Gateway address. Should be similar, except the IP, as the host. Next, from the command prompt you should be able to ping with a response from the host IP and yahoo.com.

[luisp]

hi jeff, this was a very nice and helpful tutorial, but i still dont have clear how to create a virtual network, in my case im trying to connect two virtual machines running server 2008 r2 one installed the domain conroller already and the second server trying to join to the first one, but for some reason i dont understand which option should i use to make this connection possible, i would appreciate if you could help me thank you!!!

[creativeitresources]

So no other bridged networks in the Editor? Do you only have a WIFI adapter available to be bridged when all is working correctly? Do you shutdown VMware gracefully when you restart, shutdown, hibernate or suspend the host? And lastly, has this always been the case or since an update or upgrade?

[Desidesi]

@jeff by 'network adaptor ' do you mean network interfaces etho eth1 etc ?

[creativeitresources]

Hi Guy, terrific question. Sounds like you are on the right track.  Remember, keep it simple.  When setting up a guest it is the same regardless of the network connected too, let it be physical or virtual.  The host is one of the three options:

*Bridged, guests are on the physical network which the host is connected too.
*NAT, guests are on a private virtual network with the host and other guests where the host manages the internet traffic.
*Host-Only, guests are on a private virtual network with the host and other guests with no internet.

If you choose the appropriate virtual network for the guest VM settings the guest is identical to standing up any physical server or client on a physical network.  It then becomes a matter of who can communicate with the guest and if the guest can access the internet.

Hope that helps!  Cheers.  -- Jeff

[Rani-wmqq]

Hello, so if i wanted my VM's to all have IP Addresses different from the host. Which connection would i use?

[garcand]

Which connection would we use for PENTESTING? Thanks.

[creativeitresources]

The only real way to achieve this is using a Bridged network. You should be able to leave the host as is (less one gateway for routing purposes or no ip at all). You will need 2 static ip's, one for the host and one for the guest (Win7). Set VMnet0 for Bridged/NIC 0 (Realtek). In the guest you will then assign the static ip (different from the host), DNS and Gateway. Therefore you are forcing the guest which NIC to use and also still using a static ip.

Hope that helps...

[bakkasur]

Does the Host only adapters have Gateway what is the gateway can we manually assign them or they get configured by the vmnet with integrated dhcp server?

[sagunsangwan]

Sir plz help me out🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Actually i installed kali, metasploitable on VMware and now i have to connect them on same NAT name according to my tutorial but I'm not able to find the settings where i can change the name of NAT and connect them . And i hv workstation 15 in that i had installed all this...

[dharmacool]

hey Jeff

M running tomcat server in VM centos...and it is accessable in local system using nat setting ...but other systems which are connection in Lan are not able to access...can you guide on this.... thanks

[andyGPT]

Hi, I have kali Linux and metasploitable on my VMware. I have set them to host onl network and set the ip address range with the mask. Am guessing that they are now getting their ip addresses dynamically though I didn't select the DHCP option because I don't want this. Since these are not windows machines and metasploitable barely has an interface, how and where do I set the static ip address for the two? I hope am making sense