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wcschu
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Fusion on Mac Pro -- Dedicate one NIC to Guest only (and have the OS ignore it)

Like the topic states. Is such a thing possible?

I'm not sure if I'm looking in all the wrong places, or just posing the question incorrectly.

Here's what I was wondering:

I have a Mac Pro with two NICs. I want to use one for the host (OS X) and the other solely for the guest OS. And by using it for the guest OS, I want OS X to completely ignore it.

If it is possible, how do I implement such a setup?

:smileyconfused:

1 Solution

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WoodyZ
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1. OS X > System Preferences > Network > Gear Icon > Set Service Order

  • On the Service Order Sheet, arrange NIC Priority placing the NIC to be used for the Host at the top of the list followed by the NIC dedicated to the VM's, then click OK.

2. OS X > System Preferences > Network

  • Select the NIC dedicated to the VM's and then for Configure IPv4: select Off then click Apply.

  • Then for Configure IPv4: select Using DHCP with manual address.

  • Then for IP Address: use a Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Reserved Address of 169.254.0.0 through 169.254.255.255 and click Apply.  This is the Address Range for Automatic Private IP Addressing that would normally be assigned if the NIC did not have connectivity however not to worry, it will... only for the VMware Bridge that will be set in the next step.

3.  Target Virtual Machine Settings > Network Adapter > Bridged Networking, select the NIC chosen for VM dedicated use.

  • Now the Virtual Machine will acquire it's Network Configuration Information from the Host LAN's Router or you could assign appropriate Static IP Address, Subnet Mask, Gateway and DNS Server IP Addresses in the Guest OS's NIC configuration, if you so choose.

Note:  If this doesn't work for you, although as described it works for me, you may need to select Manually for the Configure IPv4: and use a Reserved Address in the Range previously mentioned with a 255.255.0.0 Subnet Mask while providing appropriate Host LAN's Router Gateway and DNS Server IP Addresses.

Another issue that can arise if using a WiFi NIC dedicated to the VM's, some WiFi Routers will not allow bridging multiple IP Addresses to the same MAC Address.   If this is the case for you, then you need to use Wired Ethernet for the NIC dedicated to the VM's! Smiley Wink

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WoodyZ
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1. OS X > System Preferences > Network > Gear Icon > Set Service Order

  • On the Service Order Sheet, arrange NIC Priority placing the NIC to be used for the Host at the top of the list followed by the NIC dedicated to the VM's, then click OK.

2. OS X > System Preferences > Network

  • Select the NIC dedicated to the VM's and then for Configure IPv4: select Off then click Apply.

  • Then for Configure IPv4: select Using DHCP with manual address.

  • Then for IP Address: use a Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Reserved Address of 169.254.0.0 through 169.254.255.255 and click Apply.  This is the Address Range for Automatic Private IP Addressing that would normally be assigned if the NIC did not have connectivity however not to worry, it will... only for the VMware Bridge that will be set in the next step.

3.  Target Virtual Machine Settings > Network Adapter > Bridged Networking, select the NIC chosen for VM dedicated use.

  • Now the Virtual Machine will acquire it's Network Configuration Information from the Host LAN's Router or you could assign appropriate Static IP Address, Subnet Mask, Gateway and DNS Server IP Addresses in the Guest OS's NIC configuration, if you so choose.

Note:  If this doesn't work for you, although as described it works for me, you may need to select Manually for the Configure IPv4: and use a Reserved Address in the Range previously mentioned with a 255.255.0.0 Subnet Mask while providing appropriate Host LAN's Router Gateway and DNS Server IP Addresses.

Another issue that can arise if using a WiFi NIC dedicated to the VM's, some WiFi Routers will not allow bridging multiple IP Addresses to the same MAC Address.   If this is the case for you, then you need to use Wired Ethernet for the NIC dedicated to the VM's! Smiley Wink

wcschu
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Genius!

Worked like a charm! I'm definately going to mark this as "need to know" information for me.

It's elegant and simple.

Thank you for the help! :smileygrin:

mntnbighker
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I wanted to do the same thing, and I found that if I set IPv4 to Off without any "169" address or other settings, my VM can use ethernet port 2 just fine. My problem was that in our environment they use port security so unless I clone the actual MAC address in the VM my traffic is blocked. At least until I can get port security disabled. It's a dumb policy on a system running VMware, since it's a virtual downstream switch. I running VMware 7.x at the moment on Yosemite.

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DigitalclipsVM
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It's now March 2019 and I am running the latest developer beta Mojave and the latest VMWare on a 32 GB, six-core Mac Pro late 2013 and your solution still totally worked ... Thank you so much!

I am now able to run OpenSimulater using DreamGrid in a VMware with Windows 10 Pro on my Mac Pro and access with a viewer on the Mac side as both are now using their own Ethernet port.  No loopback required.  This rocks and thank you a million times.  It would have been impossible to solve without your post. 

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