VPN problem "The network bridge device on /dev/vmnet0 is not running (vmware fusion)"

[radvas]

I have a macbook pro. I connect wireless most of the time. About 40% of the time, I connect to a remote network via VPN. I dont' always want both machines on the VPN, thus NAT is not a realistic option. However for the times I do want both host and VM on the VPN, I want then on the same subnet (again, making NAT not a good option).

So here's the problem.

1. If the host is connected to the remote network via VPN, the bridge device doesn't work, and I cannot connect to the network at all. (it throws the error listed in the subject line). It doesn't matter if I connect to VPN before or after starting the VM, the bridged net fails/disconnects when I connect to VPN via the host.

2. The above (#1) works just fine using VMWare desktop 6 on Windows. So I know the functionality is possible with other VMWare products.

3. This seems to have just started. I'm not sure, but I'd swear that this worked when I forst tried fusion.

The background:

I installed the trial of VMware fusion when I got the mac ~1 month ago. Yesterday, the trial expired, so I bought VMware fusion and entered the serial number, then this problem. I've read various suggestions in the forums, such as using NAT (not really feasible), and uninstalling/reinstalling fusion (tried it, didn't help).

Any help is welcome.

Thanks,

Rich

[rcardona2k]

I don't know if this is solution for you but, you can keep your VM and the host on a common subnet if you add a second network to the VM ("Network 2") using host-only networking. This way you have the benefits of using NAT on the primary connection, sharing the host internet connection (VPNed or not) and the guest and your MBP are always connected to each other via the secondary network, ie. file sharing, IIS, or anything else they need to access each other for.

[Toivonen]

Hi

I have exactly the same problem. Same error message.

Via ethernet- and airport connection bridge does work, but when using Sierra AirCard 880E I can use only NAT. I can't connect to our company network via VPN using NAT, it works only bridged. I'd appreciate if somebody would have solution for this.

[Bob_Zimmerman]

I think Mac OS X just has problems with cell modems in general. When I'm using a cell modem of any kind (I normally use a Treo with Bluetooth in tethered mode, but I've tested with dedicated EDGE and 3G cards), I can connect just fine, but I never get an Office Mode address when using Check Point SecureClient. I've seen other issues using them, too.

[Toivonen]

For me it seems that Fusion creates network bridge to AirPort and Ethernet, but not for mobile network. Can't be sure, because there is no way (using GUI) to see if bridge is created or not.

It should be possible in terminal to manually do this by editing Fusion configuration files. If somebody only know how.

[rcardona2k]

I have a working solution for this problem. It requires enabling Internet Sharing in OS X and modifying Fusion's boot.sh favoring Airport for bridging over Ethernet. The easier part is enabling Internet Sharing (Leopard is shown, the steps are similar for 10.4). Open System Preferences > Sharing and select to share your WWLAN card with Ethernet and Airport.

Then in Terminal (you can use TextWrangler or BBEdit to edit files owned by root), I opened /Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh and search for "en0" change these lines to look like:

1. vmnet-bridge puts itself in background (daemon mode)

1. Bridge to host network interface 'en0'.

#"$LIBDIR/vmnet-bridge" -d /var/run/vmnet-bridge-vmnet0.pid vmnet0 en0

"$LIBDIR/vmnet-bridge" -d /var/run/vmnet-bridge-vmnet0.pid vmnet0 en1

1. Bridge to the primary host network interface (which can change over time).

2. "$LIBDIR/vmnet-bridge" -d /var/run/vmnet-bridge-vmnet0.pid vmnet0 ''

;;

What I did was duplicate the "LIBDIR" line with en0, added a "#" in front of the original line and in the duplicate change en0 to en1. After you make this change you need to restart Fusion networking with Terminal using: sudo "/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh" --restart

OS X Internet Sharing is a NAT solution but OS X's NAT, I have found is more VPN-friendly than Fusion's. Like cable providers, you have to use some form of NAT because WWLAN providers will not issue you more than one IP per connection which is what a bridge implies.

Anyway, in the VM, I choose Virtual Machine > Bridged, then made sure the connection is active with Virtual Machine > Network > Connected. In Windows, I confirmed I had an Apple-issued NAT address over Bridged which in my case is a 10.0.2.x address. I tested my Internet access with Internet Explorer, then connected to my company VPN. It all worked fine.

( This message was posted via the WWLAN - bridged connection. )

Edit: fixed some typos, edited later without the wwlan connection.

[Toivonen]

Thanks, rcardona2k

I really appreciate your help.

Just one question before I'll try that; is this easily reversible?

My AirPort and Ethernet is working fine now and if something unexpected would happen and those stop working.

This is something I most surely will test.

Thanks again.

____

Tomi

[WoodyZ]

Just one question before I'll try that; is this easily reversible?

Yes... Turn off Internet Sharing on the Device and then you would simply re-edit the "/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh" file placing "#" in front of the "$LIBDIR/vmnet-bridge" -d /var/run/vmnet-bridge-vmnet0.pid vmnet0 en1 line and remove the "#" from the "$LIBDIR/vmnet-bridge" -d /var/run/vmnet-bridge-vmnet0.pid vmnet0 en0 line and the run the following command in Terminal.

sudo "/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh" --restart

[rcardona2k]

@ Thank you Woody

@ Yes the change is easily reversible. You can make a backup of boot.sh (i used: cp -p boot.sh boot-backup.sh) and restore from your backup to reverse the change.

If your Ethernet connection is active to a local LAN, then you may want to uncheck sharing the connection to that interface since I'm using wireless as the bridging connection.

Good luck, please let us know if this worked or not.

[Toivonen]

Sorry... I'm a bit newbie on Mac.

I did create backup of my boot.sh-file and then did try.

And... YES! It's working.

Only downside is that when switching from AirPort-network to mobile, I need to enable/disable sharing. When sharing AirCard, I cannot connect to AirPort. But this is no problem at all, just a thing to remember.

Now I can use OSX in open network, while Windows is in company network. And it's now working in Ethernet, AirPort and also AirCard.

I don't know how to thank you rcardona2k... you've just made my life much easier. Thank You.

Thanks also to WoodyZ.

____

Tomi

[rcardona2k]

Great, you did all the work.

This is why these forums are here to help people out.

Thanks

[Toivonen]

Got a bit of a problem now, I didn't test yesterday.

I'm currently at the office, but out of Wlan and using Ethernet cable.

Now I can't connect bridged when I'm connected to Ethernet. Via AirCard and AirPort, bridged will work.

Is there a way to have all these connections available without modifying boot.sh every time when switching between Ethernet and AirPot & AirCard?

Thanks... again.

___

Tomi

[WoodyZ]

Got a bit of a problem now, I didn't test yesterday.

I'm currently at the office, but out of Wlan and using Ethernet cable.

Now I can't connect bridged when I'm connected to Ethernet. Via AirCard and AirPort, bridged will work.

Is there a way to have all these connections available without modifying boot.sh every time when switching between Ethernet and AirPot & AirCard?

Since there is no way to accomplish this through the Fusion UI the best suggestion I can make is to script the process so it is as automated as possible. Any receptive task I have to undertake I write a script in the appropriate language for what is necessary and in a case like this a bash script should suffice. You could write a single script that you pass a argument to and it processes the script based on the argument supplied thus allowing a single script to handle multiple scenarios.

[Toivonen]

Thanks, WoodyZ

I tried to do a script, but failed to get it working. After some investigation I got this far:

do shell script sudo "/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh" --restart password "pass" with administrator privileges

or

do shell script "/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh" --restart password "pass" with administrator privileges

or

do shell script "/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh --restart" password "pass" with administrator privileges

pass = my password that works with this command in terminal (also root password)

But none of these will work.

I can't figure out how to get it correct in Automator -> Utilities -> Run script.

____

Tomi

[lauwersp]

I'm having the same problem with a different config. I just bought an Xserve and will be using Windows Server 2003 from with the Fusion environment. I'd like to assign the windows environment its own static internal ip, but i get this same message when I enable the Network Bridge mode in Fusion. Being a new Xserve, I have no Airport connection that I can defer to. I HAVE bound the two ethernet ports into one IP though...

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.