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VMWare Workstation Network Issue

O

octoberasian

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 13, 2007
Messages
4,081
I've asked this before but couldn't find a resolution to it. Just as before, I'm having issues with my Guest VM, Windows XP Pro SP3, from doing any outgoing network communication. Incoming network communication works fine.

For example, I have installed two games in WinXP Pro SP3 Guest-- Mabinogi and Pangya. I can download updates from the server just fine, but trying to connect to the server to actually log on is somehow blocked.

I'm using Vista SP2 64-bit for host. My intention is to move towards putting older 3D games in the Guest VM as I switch to Windows 7 as soon as it's released. The XP Mode that's being touted was a huge letdown as it's nothing more than Virtual PC custom tailored for Win7 with no 3D acceleration. VMWare Workstation at the very least can do it and do it decently. I can't even get VirtualBox to run 3D games without it crashing completely. So, I'm going to have to resort to VMWare Workstation to play older 3D games. Sims 2 and Sim City 4 exhibit issues with Vista already, same with Pangya as it crashes at least three times before I can actually get it to run in Vista. But, I can't play games that go online if they can't connect to their respective servers.

So, what could be the problem?

This is how I set them up:

Windows Vista SP2 64-bit (Host) | 192.xxx.xxx.29

  • Comodo Firewall 64-bit: VMWare Player and Workstation whitelisted
  • Windows Firewall (OFF): VMWare Player and Workstation excluded
  • VMWare Player/Workstation: Set to "Run as Administrator"
    • Windows XP SP3 32-bit (Guest) | Incoming work; Outgoing doesn't | 192.xxx.xxx.104
      • Comodo Firewall 32-bit: Mabinogi and Pangya whitelisted
      • Windows Firewall (OFF): Mabinogi and Pangya excluded
      • Bridged networking (Vmnet 0 | Realtek Gigabit Ethernet Controller)
      • VMCI enabled
      • AMD-V enabled
      • VMWare Tools installed
I know something must be blocking outgoing communications, but I can't figure out what. Port forwarding wouldn't fix it since this isn't incoming communication, but outgoing. There has to be something I'm missing and it's probably something so simple that I'm overlooking it.

Could VMWare Workstation have outgoing network issues in Vista 64-bit?

Is Vista 64-bit blocking outgoing communication from VMWare Workstation?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm very much wanting to get this to work.
Thank you.
 
You may need to enable a specific network port for VMWare to allow the outgoing connection. While I use Kaspersky Internet Security, I ran into similar issues when I built a network of only VM's. Check UDP and TDP Ports, also check that IP 192.xxx.xxx.104 isn't blocked in the firewall/network settings. I've had better luck not using the automatic bridged adaptor with my experiences using VMWare.

Hope this helps...
 
The thing though, I thought about it but what outgoing ports do VMWare utilize?

Would it work?

Also, I double checked, xxx.xxx.xxx.104 isn't blocked anywhere.
 
Disable all firewalls, then see what happens.
Also, if you are using a router of some sort, you may need to open odd ports the game requires in the router config.
 
bridged networking sucks. Use NAT instead. Literally - it's mostly broken at times.


or try this - I have to do this all the time for my bridged connections:
1. Open the network editor - go to the bridged network adapters.
2. For the Bridged section, pick a random network card for the bridged adapter.
3. hit apply.
4. Pick the actual physical network card to connect to the bridged connection.
5. Hit apply.

Do this every time you load workstation.
 
octoberasian said:
The thing though, I thought about it but what outgoing ports do VMWare utilize?

Would it work?

Also, I double checked, xxx.xxx.xxx.104 isn't blocked anywhere.
Click to expand...

None. Workstation uses a virtual network adapter for each special network - as far as your host OS is concerned, it's actually a physical network card it's talking to.
 
Turning on NAT didn't fix it either.

I must be missing a setting I've overlooked. It's still the same, incoming connections work but outgoing do not. And, in Virtual Network Editor, I can only configure port forwarding on incoming connections.
 
Correct, as there is no port forwarding on outbound connections - it's a virtual network adapter. Do you have the 3 VMWare adapters in your network card list?

You installed VMware tools, right?

Can you ping out of the VM?

Can you tracert out of the VM?

What adapter is the bridging set to use?
 
- VMWare tools installed and re-installed
- Switched to NAT, didn't work either
- Went to Vmnet 8 properties and placed a check next to Vmnet bridged connections, didn't work
- Switched the group for Vmnet 1 and 8 from Public to Private, didn't work
- I haven't tried tracert, but pinging the VM Guest worked
- Vmnet 0 is set to bridge to Realtek Gigabit Ethernet chip (but keeps disabling it)

Also, when I went from Public to Private, could the problem be that it says "Local" only? My Gigabit Ethernet (physical NIC) is "Local and Internet".
 
So did you do all of this without the 3rd party firewall you are using?
Local means just that, no Internet.
 
You only have the one physical nic?

It should say local and internet.
 
One physical NIC, and yes turned off both Comodo Firewalls (Guest and Host), including Windows Firewall (which is already off since I installed Comodo).
 
I am still able to ping Vmnet 8 - 192.168.149.1

C:\Windows\system32>ping 192.168.149.1
Pinging 192.168.149.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.149.1: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.149.1: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.149.1: bytes=32 time=34ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.149.1: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 192.168.149.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 23ms, Maximum = 39ms, Average = 32ms

I've tried disabling Vmnet 1 and 8 and set it to Bridged, did not work.

Vmnet 8 says "Access to Local only"

My Gigabit ethernet adapater says "Access to Local and Internet"

I tried to bridge both adapters, but that didn't work either and got a warning about it.

I tried manually setting an IP address to VMnet 8 and give it the same subnet and gateway as my physical NIC, but got a warning about having two NICs on the same subnet/gateway.

If anyone, and I mean anyone, that has gotten VMware Workstation to work properly and connect properly in WoW, or any other online game in VMware Workstation, could you please tell me the setup you are using to get it working?


I'll compare them to mine and I'll see if there is something I'm missing.

Also, if you have Vista x64 SP2, that'll help a lot too.

Thank you.

EDIT-- I have also uninstalled and reinstalled VMware 6.5 but it hasn't fixed anything at all.
 
I have NEVER had any communication issues with VMware Workstation using the "Bridged" setting. Yet I don't run any 3rd party firewalls in my guest's. There is absolutely no need.

The first thing I do when I install VMWare WS is disable the two network adapters it puts in my Hosts Network Adapters section, they are not needed.

Select "Bridged" for the guest VM's and they all pull an IP from my networks DHCP server just fine.

K.I.S.S
 
criccio said:
I have NEVER had any communication issues with VMware Workstation using the "Bridged" setting. Yet I don't run any 3rd party firewalls in my guest's. There is absolutely no need.

The first thing I do when I install VMWare WS is disable the two network adapters it puts in my Hosts Network Adapters section, they are not needed.

Select "Bridged" for the guest VM's and they all pull an IP from my networks DHCP server just fine.

K.I.S.S
Click to expand...

they're needed if you want to have the host see anything on the NAT/Host only virtual networks :)
 
lopoetve said:
they're needed if you want to have the host see anything on the NAT/Host only virtual networks :)
Click to expand...

Ahh, well I have never used the NAT setting. All my VM's either use bridged or are in their own team virtual LAN. For the latter the VM's don't even have internet access so it won't matter.
 
criccio said:
Ahh, well I have never used the NAT setting. All my VM's either use bridged or are in their own team virtual LAN. For the latter the VM's don't even have internet access so it won't matter.
Click to expand...

Then it wouldn't matter - they're literally ports for the host to drop onto those networks (technically, the host always gets the '1' IP, and the DHCP server on those networks / gateway gets the '2' IP) :)
 
Think I am having this same issue. I am running Win 7 x64 and WinXP SP3 in VMWare WS. I can't access any website from within XP.
 
do you still have the virtual network adapters? Bridged or NAT mode?
 
My network was set to NAT. I changed it to bridged and now its working. Can someone explain/diagram how these virtual network cards interact with the guest OS? For example, I can't ping the guest OS machine but obviously networking is working. What the difference in behavior between NAT and bridge?

Thanks!
 
Bird222 said:
My network was set to NAT. I changed it to bridged and now its working. Can someone explain/diagram how these virtual network cards interact with the guest OS? For example, I can't ping the guest OS machine but obviously networking is working. What the difference in behavior between NAT and bridge?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Whenever I do a VMware Workstation install, the first thing I do is disable the two network adapters it installs. They are not needed for Bridged and NAT mode.

In bridge mode, your guest VM gets an IP directly from your home network/DHCP server just like any other physical machine on your network. In NAT mode, your Host PC does NAT and DHCP specifically for the Guest OS.

I always use Bridge mode so my VM's act just like any other machine on my network.
 
I disabled those adapters and it does still work. Question, why can't I ping my host machine from the guest or vice versa?
 
I have no idea, that is very odd. Your guest can get an IP from you DHCP server? It has the same default gateway?
 
criccio said:
Whenever I do a VMware Workstation install, the first thing I do is disable the two network adapters it installs. They are not needed for Bridged and NAT mode.

In bridge mode, your guest VM gets an IP directly from your home network/DHCP server just like any other physical machine on your network. In NAT mode, your Host PC does NAT and DHCP specifically for the Guest OS.

I always use Bridge mode so my VM's act just like any other machine on my network.
Click to expand...

They're needed if you want the host to talk to the NAT/Host only network!

Bridge mode is known to break - it will lose which physical adapter it's linking to.

Bird222 said:
My network was set to NAT. I changed it to bridged and now its working. Can someone explain/diagram how these virtual network cards interact with the guest OS? For example, I can't ping the guest OS machine but obviously networking is working. What the difference in behavior between NAT and bridge?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You have 8 virtual networks that Workstation uses - 1 bridged, 1 NAT (an internal 192.168.x.x network with a NAT gateway at 192.168.x.2), and 1 host only (an internal 192.168.x.x network with no gateway), and 5 "custom" ones that are host-only unless you make them act differently. Those network cards take the .1 address in the NAT/Host only networks so that your HOST os and guest os can "talk" via the network. You can configure what the IP range is for all of them.

Bird222 said:
I disabled those adapters and it does still work. Question, why can't I ping my host machine from the guest or vice versa?
Click to expand...

If you're set to bridged, you shoudl be able to - I do this on a regular basis. If you're set to NAT, it's because you disabled the adapter to that network range.

Bird222 said:
Yep. It's on the same subnet.
Click to expand...

You're on bridged mode? Should work. Any firewall?
 
Are you using DHCP on the VM?

If so, try putting a static IP and using bridged mode.

Also, make Vista has ALL networks set as "private".
 
pacmantravis said:
Are you using DHCP on the VM?

If so, try putting a static IP and using bridged mode.

Also, make Vista has ALL networks set as "private".
Click to expand...

This. I forgot about vista's stupid networking stack. It'll keep setting them back to public as well.
 
I am bridged. I ran Wireshark and this is what I found. Trying to ping the guest OS from Win7, ARP request goes out and the reply is the same MAC address as the network card in Win7. The ping goes out but no response comes back. When I try to ping the host OS from the Guest OS, the ARP request goes out but there is never an answer. Can you guys explain this?
 
open the virtual network editor. Unbridge the connection picked. Apply. Rebridge to the right network adapter. Apply. Renew DHCP on the guest, then see if it works.
 
Same as before. It's just weird, it all seems to work but the host and the guest can't ping each other. It maybe my router. In one area of the config the guest has a unique MAC address and in another are it has the same MAC as the host. I am running DD-WRT firmware. I may try Linksys and see if it still acts the same.
 
Last edited:
Probably something with vista's networking stack. Works fine in XP. Let me install WS on my vista machine. Can another machine on the network ping the host/guest?
 
It was Win7 and XP firewall settings. Turning off both of those firewalls allowed pings.
 
What weird though is that the ping in XP (guest OS) won't be successful until the host OS pings the guest first.
 
that shouldn't really be. I'll admit that I avoid vista as a host, and 7 isn't supported yet though.
 
lopoetve said:
that shouldn't really be. I'll admit that I avoid vista as a host, and 7 isn't supported yet though.
Click to expand...

I used Vista 64 and now 7 64 without issues. I have about 12 VM's total and run usually 3 or 4 at a time and have never had any of the problems he is describing.

IMO he should do a clean un-install and re-install of Workstation.
 
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