VMnet Adapters Won't Enable

[rccall]

Can anyone help me get my VMware adapters to become enabled?

Here's the scenario:

1. I uninstalled VMware and re-installed it (version 6.0.4 build-93057). It is running on a Dell Latitude D630 under XP SP2.

2. I configured VMnet8 (the NAT vmnet) to be on the 192.168.96/24 subnet, and restarted NAT and DNS services in VMware.

3. In the "Host Virtual Adapters" configuration tab, the adapters show as Disabled. If I pick one and change it to Enabled, it briefly shows as Enabled UNTIL I hit Apply, at which point it goes back to being disabled.

Can anyone tell me how to get the adapters to become Enabled?

I am including screen shots of the VMnet configuration, and my vmware.log file. I posted this question under a different subject line, but I think my subject was too vague; so I'm posting again in the hope that this specific problem can be resolved before I move on to other network issues.

Thanks!

Chris

[Peter_vm]

What guest OS do you use? Do you have VMware Tools installed in guest?

[AWo]

Check if they are disabled under the host network properties.

Check that you do not have the same IP address range on your physical adapter.

Check that the VMware NAT and DHCP service start mode is set to "Manual" or "Automatic".

Check the hosts system and application event log.

[rccall]

Hi Peter,

I actually have a couple of guest systems: One is Windows 2000 and one is Linux.

The Win2K one may have VMware tools installed.

The Linux one doesn't, since it's a command-line system and VMware tools doesn't seem to install (or be very helpful) there.

[Peter_vm]

So you have the same problem in Windows guest?

Please attach/post "vmware.log" from that guest directory on host.

[rccall]

They are not disabled in Windows Network properties.

I do not have the same IP address range on any physical adapter.

I don't understand what you said about Manual/Automatic. Where would I find this?

Where is the hosts system and application event log? What would I look for?

Thanks,

Chris

[AWo]

So you have the same problem in Windows guest?

Isn't this more a problem which appears on the host? So if the VMware Tools are installed and the guests log file should not help here, should they?

[rccall]

Peter,

I guess I haven't been making myself clear.

The problem doesn't occur in either of the guests. The problem is an issue with the VMnet adapters themselves, which exist independently of any VMware guest systems. The adapters will not become enabled, no matter what I do.

But to answer your question (I think): Yes, I cannot communicate with the Windows guest either. I am attaching the vmware.log from the Windows guest.

[rccall]

AWo,

Thanks. That's what I've been thinking all along.

But how do I solve this problem on the host?

Chris

[Peter_vm]

Are yout talking about VMware virtual host adapters for VMnet1 and VMnet8?

Maybe you disabled them in host OS (Windows XP)?

Check their properties in My Network Places properties.

[AWo]

I don't understand what you said about Manual/Automatic. Where would I find this?

If you start "Computer Management --> Applications and Servcies --> Services" you'll find a lot of services which run on your Windows host. Some of them are VMware services and all of them can have a start mode of "Disabled", "Manual" or "Automatic". If a service is set to "Disabled" they can't be startet.

Search for the VMware DHCP and NAT services and check if they're set to "Disabled". The names start with "VM".

To start "Computer Management" right-click on the computer symbol on your desktop and choose "Management" or use "Start --> Administration --> Computer Management".

Where is the hosts system and application event log? What would I look for?

You'll find them in "Computer Management, too. Under "Events".

[rccall]

Hi Awo,

Thanks for the clarification. I didn't realize you were talking about the Windows Services and Event Viewer. But now that I do...

I looked at the VMware services, and found that all except the VMware Agent service were enabled and automatic (see screen shot). Just for fun, I started the agent service, and then tried to enable my vmnet8 adapter; but it didn't work (went right back to Disabled when I hit Apply).

I also looked through the Windows event log for VMware-related stuff. I did see some events related to VMware (see screen shot) but I don't really know what to make of them. Perhaps you'll have a better idea than I would.

One notable thing here is that if I look at the Windows Properties for the adapter, I see that it's not configured to use TCP/IP. In the past, I've solved this "adapter won't Enable" problem by messing with the Windows Properties for the adapter; but I've discovered that in this particular case, doing so will allow the adapter to become Enabled but won't actually let the adapter work. In particular, the Gateway associated with the vmnet8 adapter won't be reachable (pingable) from either host or guest.

But I'm getting off on a tangent here. The real question for now is: What's the appropriate way to get the vmnet adapters to become Enabled? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

[rccall]

Peter,

Yes, that's exactly what I mean.

Take a look at the screen shots on some of my other posts in this thread. From Windows' perspective, the adapters are enabled/connected.

[AWo]

Of course you need TCP/IP enabled, as this is necessary to get (or send out) an IP address via DHCP. So, without TCP/IP I can imagine that VMware doesn't know how to bind the services to these adapters. I'm not sure, but I would also enable the VMware Bridge protocol, but I don't know (and I can't check it, now) if this is necessary vor VMnet1 and VMnet8.

[AWo]

One notable thing here is that if I look at the Windows Properties for the adapter, I see that it's not configured to use TCP/IP. In the past, I've solved this "adapter won't Enable" problem by messing with the Windows Properties for the adapter; but I've discovered that in this particular case, doing so will allow the adapter to become Enabled but won't actually let the adapter work. In particular, the Gateway associated with the vmnet8 adapter won't be reachable (pingable) from either host or guest.

I'll never tried to ping the VMnet8 gateway. By default its IP is the host's VMnet8 IP address +1. What do you mean by that the adapter doesn't work? Weren't you able to communicate from the guest with the outside network the host was connected to?

[rccall]

AWo,

It makes sense to me that TCP/IP must be enabled on the adapter. What bothers me is this:

Why doesn't VMware enable it? Why should I have to go in after the fact and monkey around with the Windows settings for the adapter?

My fear is that if I don't let VMware do it the "right" way (whatever that means in VMware-Land), things won't work properly.

And indeed they haven't been working over the past day or so. If I checked TCP/IP in the Windows configuration for the two adapters, I could enable them in VMware, but I found that the host and guest could not communicate; and in fact, the (.2) gateway address for the vmnet8 adapter was not reachable (pingable) from either host or guest.

Just a moment ago, I tried this one more time--except this time, I checked all the boxes in the Windows properties for the adapter, instead of just checking TCP/IP. That seems to have fixed things so that the host and guest are able to communicate.

So apparently there's at least one protocol (probably VMware bridge proto) that doesn't automatically get pulled in by checking "TCP/IP"; and that's what I was missing before.

However, the same old question is still nagging at me:

Why doesn't VMware configure the host adapter properly in the first place? Is this a known bug? Is the workaround documented anywhere? Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks again,

Chris

[Peter_vm]

VMnet8 and VMnet1 should NOT have VMware Bridging Protocol assigned or enabled!

Why do you play with default settings there? Defaults work fine in almost all, but unique cases!

First you had no TCP/IP enabled on it, now you have Bridging on, c'mon....

[AWo · Accepted solution]

It makes sense to me that TCP/IP must be enabled on the adapter. What bothers me is this:

Why doesn't VMware enable it? Why should I have to go in after the fact and monkey around with the Windows settings for the adapter?

My experience (at least up to now) is that VMware did enable it and was working well right after installation. I did a lot installations for myself and customers. But I always left the default settings where possible.

My fear is that if I don't let VMware do it the "right" way (whatever that means in VMware-Land), things won't work properly.

It depends...I would say it is always a good idea to stick to the defaults as the VMware put some thoughts on them. But there might be environments or necessities where you have to change it. Then you must know how to change it and what the effects are.

And indeed they haven't been working over the past day or so. If I checked TCP/IP in the Windows configuration for the two adapters, I could enable them in VMware, but I found that the host and > > guest could not communicate; and in fact, the (.2) gateway address for the vmnet8 adapter was not reachable (pingable) from either host or guest.

Is something not working, yet? What kind of setup do you want to use? Maybe I can help you here, too.

Just a moment ago, I tried this one more time--except this time, I checked all the boxes in the Windows properties for the adapter, instead of just checking TCP/IP. That seems to have fixed

things so that the host and guest are able to communicate.

So the primary problem is solved and it's working, now?

So apparently there's at least one protocol (probably VMware bridge proto) that doesn't automatically get pulled in by checking "TCP/IP"; and that's what I was missing before.

Apparently it was not checked but VMware checks it by default, so I can't tell you why this was not the case with your installation.

However, the same old question is still nagging at me:

Why doesn't VMware configure the host adapter properly in the first place? Is this a known bug? Is the workaround documented anywhere? Any info would be appreciated.

As I said already, I did many installations and all went well. I had nothing to change or look after to get it to work. It is not a bug or you would have found this problem here more (more, more...) often. But, there is always a chance that something goes wrong, som erequirements are not met or somebody makes a mistake.

Thanks again,

No problem, think about awarding points, please.

[AWo]

VMnet8 and VMnet1 should NOT have VMware Bridging Protocol assigned or enabled!

Ah, here's the answer to the thing I didn't know from an expert.

[rccall]

Hi Awo,

I thought I posted an update here, but it seems to have vanished; so let me add further info.

Over the past day, I've tried to solve the Enable issue by checking "TCP/IP" in the Windows properties for the adapter. This didn't work, because it didn't allow the host & guest to communicate; and in particular, the guest was unable to communicate with the (.2) gateway address for the host adapter.

A little while ago, I gave the above solution one last tryexcept that I made sure to check all the boxes, instead of just "TCP/IP"so in particular, I checked the one for the VMware bridge protocol. Doing this allowed me to enable the adapters, and also (Hallelujah!) allowed the host and guest to communicate.

So apparently the trick is to make sure all the protocols are checked.

But what really bothers me about this is: Why doesn't VMware do this? Why do I have to go into Windows settings, independently of anything I've done in VMware, to get things set up properly? And (here's the big question) how do I know I haven't "fixed" the problem in a way that doesn't really fix it? How do I know that there's not some other setting that VMware didn't set correclty? And is there an officially-sanctioned, VMware-only, method of doing this?

I've got a fix, which is good. I just don't know whether it's the proper fix, which is not so good. If you have any further info, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.