I am having three vmnets in VMware workstation.
vmnet0 vmnet1 vmnet8
VMnet0 is bridged/automatic I tried playing with it changing lan card assigned to it.
Now following is configuration of vmnet0 at the time of writing this question
and vmnet8 is
The virtual machine IP address is
Windows IP Configuration in Virtual Machine
Ethernet adapter Ethernet0:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : ffff::ffff:fe6f:c3a4:ae3e%12
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.152.129
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.152.2
This is in range 192.168.152.X this is in vmnet8 so this virtual machine is connected to vmnet8
The setting here which I understand is that virtual machine is connected to vmnet8 which has only one Wifi card that is onboard Realtek
adapter which it is showing me as 2 adapters as in screenshot
Realtek RTL8723DE 802.11b/g/n PCI e Adapter
Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller #2
which I think is same LAN card.
Now if I want Virtual machine to be connected to VMnet0 to the bridged LAN Card DLink DWA-131 Wireless Network mode so
that I can bridge the Wifi connection to access point via USB Wifi Card. DLink or even If I wish to connect VM to Vmnet0
in NAT it is giving me errors.
I am not able to understand how to connect virtual machines to desired VMnets.
i.e. If I want to connect vm to Vmnet0 or vmnet1 or vmnet8 how can I choose desired vmnet.If I am doing some mistake
please guide me to some tutorial which can help me or some link that might have explained this concept better.
I am not able to understand how to do bridging for virtual machines to desired vmnet as a result my VMs are not having internet
connectivity.
I have my internet connectivity in host machine on Wifi2 connection which is my DLink USB Wifi. So I want Virtual machines to be
connected to a vmnet which is connected to DLink in bridged mode.
What mistake I am doing here. please guide me to some tutorial which can help me or some link that might have explained this concept better. I am not able to understand how to do bridging for virtual machines to desired vmnet as a result my VMs are not having internet connectivity. I have my internet connectivity in host machine on Wifi2 connection which is my DLink USB Wifi. So I want Virtual machines to be connected to a vmnet0 which is connected to DLink in bridged mode as in vmnet8 I am not having an option to share DLink USB Wifi in bridged mode.
The only way to have multiple NAT networks is to use a router vm, I do something like thats in this link
https://itpro.outsidesys.com/2015/02/19/home-lab-with-pfsense-workstation/
This lets you turn those host only or custom vmnet or lan segments into routable networks.
VMware Workstation allows only a singe vmnet being configured as NAT, and the VM's traffic will be routed through the host's current network connection.
However, you can have multiple Bridged vmnets, each of them connected to a different host network adapter.
The assignment to one of the vmnets is done within the VM's settings.
André
The only way to have multiple NAT networks is to use a router vm, I do something like thats in this link
https://itpro.outsidesys.com/2015/02/19/home-lab-with-pfsense-workstation/
This lets you turn those host only or custom vmnet or lan segments into routable networks.
The assignment to one of the vmnets is done within the VM's settings.
yes this is what I want to achieve any youtube video which can help me understand concept will help me to clear my doubt as I am not able to achieve the desired result.
Thanks sjesee to your link it is knowledgeable and will help me.
based on a discussion here https://superuser.com/questions/1507721/connecting-virtual-machines-in-workstation-to-desired-vmnet-...
in a comment it says that vmnet8 can not see usb wifi adaptor I am not sure if this is the case and that is correct or not.
In all your examples vmnet8 is set to nat, which is going to use an ip in your host machine, instead of bridging which would use an up from them physical network.The default is the same
See where it says external connection, and type. If you want to change that, you need to highlight vmnet8 and then click on bridged. Then it would look like this
since you can add more, I generally wouldn't change vmnet 0,1,8. Add additional ones by clicking add network, and then change those to bridged network adapters
To have multiple bridged network you have to pick on for vmnet0 though, none can say automatic as it will use all of them.
The network concept in VMware Workstation is:
André
Yes great you figured it out all correctly and I got exact thing from your screenshot.
Now the question I have is why is there vmnet0 what is its purpose?
Why is it default is there any specific reason for this?
Currently in my virtual network editor window I have following for vmnet8
and in the virtual machine network setting it looks like following in network adaptor I have set it to custom VMnet8
So is this a mistake here.
Your pfsense link is very much what I want to achieve
Why is it default is there any specific reason for this?
No special reason that I could think of. It's simply been the default for many years now.
André
Its these below, by default workstation needs some setup for this basic network types
Vmnet0 is the default bridged network
Vmnet1 is the default host only network
Vmnet8 is the default NAT network
This is why I suggest not adjusting those but adding new ones, and when you want to use it select custom.
I added 2 images in my reply just above while you commented here 2 comments above I added images.
Setting to custom and picking vmnet8 is the same thing as selecting NAT, no mistake there. Setting Custom to VMnet0 is the same thing as selecting bridged. If you are going to have mutltipl networks that need network adapters then custom is the way to go. The Bridged, Nat, and Host-Only adapters just need vmnet adapters, so for somereason vmware decided vmnet0, vmnet1, and vmnet8 for some reason like a.p. mentioned, no really logic that I'm aware of why they chose those numbers.
ok great for explanation so far I am clear with what you all mentioned I feel I understand now better the networking in VMware.
However here is are 2 screenshots which is present scenario on my system.
In this screenshot see I select bridge but the other USB Wifi Adapter DLink one is not coming in drop down menu.
The default one which it is showing does not have any internet connectivity.
Now following is setting in VM
and the internet is not existing there in VM.
Wifi 1 is Realtek adaptor which I do not prefer to use even for host machine.
Wifi2 is DLink USB Wifi adaptor which I always use to connect to wireless networks this one is not coming
in vmnet8 what can I do for this to get it in vmnet8 or did I miss something.
Also how can I reply to select the message you mention I am not able to see any option to quote the comment I manually copy paste the replies you do and that is difficult to select.
If the network card you want isn't showing up, change vmnet0 to a specific one, on automatic it selects all available. The wireless one thats on vmnet8, if you check in windows, is it connected to a wireless network and have an ip. If the real card can't connect, the bridged one won't work.
It took me a while to fully understand and grasp the concept and I wanted to be sure I am on same page as you are.
If the network card you want isn't showing up, change vmnet0 to a specific one, on automatic it selects all available.
Ok I change vmnet0 from automatic to Dlink card (this is Wifi2 and has an IP address from the ADSL Broadband router I have) all the internet and every thing I am able to post here is because of this USB wifi adapter connected to host machine and being able to work. This does not show in vmnet8 in drop down but it does show in vmnet0 drop down.
In ipconfig output on host machine this card shows as following
Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : domain.name
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . …... : ffff::ffff:ffff:61e2:a9eb%11
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . ………: 192.168.1.14
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . ……...: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . ……..: fffff::1332:fffff:fe58:d1d5%11
:192.168.1.1
Now I come to vmnet8
The wireless one thats on vmnet8, if you check in windows, is it connected to a wireless network and have an ip. If the real card can't connect, the bridged one won't work.
The card which is being shown here does not have an IP address this is Realtek one I have disabled it so that any way by mistake also I do not want to have any connections originating from this Wifi Card.This card in ipconfig output on Host OS shows as following
Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : domain.name
What I want here is Dlink wifi adapter which is being displayed as Wifi 2 Connection name in ipconfig output .It is basically a USB adapter working as Wifi.
I want virtual machines to NAT or bridge every thing to happen for this Wifi Adapter for the time being.
The other Wifi I will enable after I finish this experiment.
So this is the situation.