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MkFly
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-15-2009 07:19 AM

Allowing NAT through Windows Vista Firewall with Advanced Security

Using VMware Workstation 6.5.1 build 126130, Windows Vista Ultimate x64 with SP1 is the host OS.

On the host (Vista), I'm using the Group Policy Windows Firewall with Advanced Security to block all services/programs/traffic that isn't whitelisted.

In my current environment, using Bridged Networking is not an option, so I've opted for NAT.

I have Windows XP x86 SP3 installed as a guest OS. The guest OS is recieving a VMware-assigned IP from the VMware DHCP server, although I can not connect to the network/internet. If I allow all services in the host's firewall, I can get through to the internet. If I allow just the "VMware NAT" and VMware DHCP" services in the firewall, I can not connect.

So my question is,

What service(s) do I need to allow through the host's firewall to allow NAT to function properly?

Thanks Smiley Happy

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4 Replies
MkFly
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-19-2009 11:40 AM

Any help? Smiley Sad

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MkFly
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-19-2009 02:32 PM

Okay, so ... I allowed all[/b] services running on my machine individually[/b], and it the guest on NAT WILL NOT connect.

But if I have a rule to "allow all services," it WILL connect.

What's going on here? I don't want all of my systems services to have network access, only the ones needed for NAT.

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MkFly
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-20-2009 01:46 PM

Well, if nobody is able to help with setting up NAT, maybe somebody could tell me how to set up Bridged networking when the host is using WPA2-Enterprise with PEAP?

I tried to enable wired 802.1X on the Guest (XP Pro), but it will not prompt me for my credentials! And so the connection fails. Any help with either?

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MkFly
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-20-2009 02:29 PM

Got NAT working! Smiley Happy Still haven't figured out 802.1X,so feel free to bump this thread if you find a working solution for that. Smiley Happy

I assumed the vmnat.exe that I needed to allow was in %ProgramFiles% (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmnat.exe. It's actually running from %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\vmnat.exe. I would have thought that simply allowing VMware NAT as a service would have got it, but apparently not.

Allowed the version in SysWOW64 (by itself) and NAT is good to go. :smileygrin:

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