Need help running a Minecraft server on a virtual machine of Ubuntu on vmware esxi

[JulesBeHere]

Hello!  I'm trying to run a Minecraft server on Ubuntu, on a virtual machine I created on HPE Customized Image ESXi 6.5.0 Update 1 version 650.U1.10.1.5.  The Minecraft server is up and I can connect to it from other computers on my network using the ipv4 address of the virtual machine.  I have added ports 25565-25567 in my router, one rule for the virtual machine ipv4 address opening the ports and one rule for the esxi server.  I use Workstation Pro to access the Ubuntu virtual machine.  I know the port is not open because I use https://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/  to check, and it says the port is closed when the Minecraft server is running on the ubuntu vm but if I run the Minecraft server on my desktop computer it says it's open.  How do I open port 25565 so people from outside my network can connect to my Minecraft server?

[daphnissov]

Doesn't have anything to do with ESXi. The IP you provide the guest OS is connected to a virtual machine port group. There are no firewall rules applied to VM port group traffic, so the issue is either localized to your guest OS (a config issue) or upstream in your physical network somewhere.

[JulesBeHere]

I've been trying to pin down the issue for hours.  I took your advice and I'm trying to find the problem on my guest OS or upstream in my physical network.  It appears as if the port 25565 is being listened on by Ubuntu, according to the image I've attached.  I'm seriously stuck, I have no idea how to pin down the problem of why people can't connect to the Minecraft server from outside the LAN network.

[daphnissov]

That netstat output only shows port 25565 being listened to on an IPv6 socket, not IPv4.

[JulesBeHere]

How would I go about making port 25565 listen on IPv4?  I can't seem to figure it out.

[JulesBeHere]

I just made a Windows 10 virtual machine and set up a Minecraft server on it and tested port 25565, and it still appears to be closed.

[daphnissov]

No idea about Minecraft so another forum would seem to be more appropriate, but ESXi does not block any ports for VM traffic as I've already said.

[JulesBeHere]

Well, thanks for all the help you've given me!  I've posted in another forum, and hopefully someone there can help.  Or, maybe somebody here will know the answer.

Thanks!

[JulesBeHere]

Ok, so I've made some progress but I still need help. My VMware esxi firewall has been disabled so I can localize the issues and solve them one at a time. Users can connect to my windows 10 virtual machine which hosts my minecraft server externally on port 8000, but not on port 25565 even though its port forwarded on my router.  https://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/ says port 8000 is open when my minecraft server is running, and somebody connected, but when I run my minecraft server with port 25565 it says closed and nobody can connect.  Any ideas on what the problem could be everyone?