VMNet1 and VMNet8 were not created during installation

[Guest1234]

Hi,

I installed VMWare Player 4.0.4 on a Windows 7 64Bit host.

I'm using XUbuntu 11.10 as the guest os, and in the VM settings the network is configured to NAT.

I run a webserver on the guest os in port 3020 and I'm unable to connect to it from a browser I open in windows.

In the browser I navigate to: http://192.168.132.128:3020/ where 192.168.132.128 is the guest ip address as indicated by /sbin/ifconfig.

I suspect the problem relates to the fact that I don't have a VMNet1 and VMNet8 adapters.

Some how they were not created during the installation.

How can I re-install those adapters?

Thanks in advance,

Ido

[WoodyZ]

Have you tried uninstalling/reinstalling VMware Player?

If this was VMware Workstation you could try the Restore Default button in the Virtual Network Editor however unfortunately it is not installed by default in VMware Player.

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To install the missing Virtual Network Editor, from a Command Prompt:

VMware-player-*.exe -e c:\vmptmp

Then in the c:\vmptmp folder locate the c:\vmptmp\network.cab file and extract (double-click the .cab file) the vmnetcfg.exe (Virtual Network Editor) file to the VMware Player working directory usually "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Player" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player".  You can create a shortcut for it and place it with the VMware Player shortcut if you want easier access to it.  Note: It takes a little while for all the files to be extracted to then have access to the network.cab file.

Message was edited by: WoodyZ - Originally posted: Jun 23, 2012 7:12 AM

[Guest1234]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

I opened the Virual Network Editor and saw that the Subnet IP of VMNet8 was "192.168.132.0".

I changed it to be "10.0.0.0" and the gateway ip of this adapter to be "10.0.0.138" (that the ip address of my router).

Now I'm able to access the webserver on the guest os from a browser in windows.

However it seems that browsing from the guest os has become really slow (even performing google searches is really slow).

More than that I defined a mapping in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts for "local.mysite.com" and mapped it to the guest os ip.

When I browsed to "local.mysite.com" from the guest os by accident, I was suprised to see it worked even though I haven't definied a similiar mapping in /etc/hosts.

It seems like each request is delegated to to the host os for dns resolution (which I don't require) and perhaps explain at least some of the slowness I'm experiencing.

Now my configuration is as follows:

• Windows interal ip (lan adapter): 10.0.0.2
• VMNet8 adapter ip: 10.0.0.1
• Guest os ip (xubuntu): 10.0.0.128
• Router ip: 10.0.0.138
• Subnet ip for VMNet8: 10.0.0.0
• Gateway ip for VMNet8: 10.0.0.138

I have a few questions:

• Was the changes I made (chaning the subnet ip of vmnet8 to 10.0.0.0 and vmnet8 gateway ip to 10.0.0.138) correct?
• Do I only need the VMNet8 adapter if I'm using NAT? (currently in the "network sharing center" I have LAN and VMNet8)
• Is there something I can do to fix the speed issues I experience in the guest os?

Thanks,

Ido

[WoodyZ · Accepted solution]

• Was the changes I made (chaning the subnet ip of vmnet8 to 10.0.0.0 and vmnet8 gateway ip to 10.0.0.138) correct?

If the Physical LAN Subnet is using 10.0.0.0 then no changing VMnet8 to that Subnet is wrong.  Also setting the VMnet Gateway IP Address to the same IP Address as the Physical LAN Gateway IP Address is also wrong.  The Physical LAN and VMnet8 (NAT) are supposed to be completely separate and different IP Addresses, Subnet Mask, Gateway IP Address, etc.   Use the Restore Default button in the Virtual Network Editor to repair your improper configurations.

• Do I only need the VMNet8 adapter if I'm using NAT? (currently in the "network sharing center" I have LAN and VMNet8)

If you're trying to run a Web Server in a Virtual Machine and you want to be able to access if from beyond the Host and you have a Physical Router that the Host is connected to then just set the Virtual Machine's Network Adapter to Bridged and it will be a Peer on the Physical LAN.  Also in the Virtual Network Editor change VMnet0 from Automatic to a specific Host NIC as automatic bridging does not always work properly.

• Is there something I can do to fix the speed issues I experience in the guest os?

I'd start by using the Restore Default button in the Virtual Network Editor and then change change VMnet0 from Automatic to a specific Host NIC and then set the Virtual Machine's Network Adapter to Bridged.   (Using Bridged assumes your in a position to do so.)

If you need to use NAT then do so with it properly configured and use Port Forwarding as necessary in the Virtual Network Editor for VMnet8.

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Also even though your using VMware Player, nonetheless, read Chapter 5, Configuring Network Connections, in Using VMware Workstation so as to have a better understanding of the VMware Virtual Network Infrastructure.  (Note: Not everything in Chapter 5 will apply to VMware Player.)

[Guest1234]

Hi,

Thanks for your patience with helping me out.

I read the "Configuring Network Connections" section in the manual and it was very informative.

As it turned out, all I need to do was to click the "restore default" and this time it installed the network switches correctly.

Thanks,

Ido