I’m creating my own SCCM VM environment at home using VMware Player. I have one server VM that is running Windows Server 2008 Enterprise version with SQL Server 2008, AD DC, and SCCM installed. I also have a desktop VM running XP Pro w/ SP2 which is joined to the domain that I created on the Server VM. I am running both of these VM’s simultaneously on a desktop with 6 GB of RAM and a quad processor. Neither one of these VM’s is using a static IP. They are obtaining the IP address via DHCP from a wireless router. The host desktop is connecting via cable to the wireless router. The router is connected out to the internet.
I would like to be able to access the internet, at least from the server VM, and still be able to ping from server VM to XP VM, and vice versa, by name. But I can’t seem to come up with the right network configuration. I’ve tried various combinations of bridged, NAT, and local configs but I can’t quite get it right. Heck, I’d be satisfied with just getting both VM’s to talk to each other and forget about the internet but I can’t seem to figure it out. (ping fails by name and IP)
Should I be using a static IP for the server VM or for both the desktop and server? Do I need to set up DNS on the server and point each to the local DNS service? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Two things to check:
1. Is the Windows Firewall completely turned off? Sometimes, it causes unexpected networking issues in either direction (Server to Client and vice versa)
2. Do the 2008 NICs show up as belonging to Unidentified Networks in the Network settings GUI? If so, Windows is supposed to allow you to reclassify them as Home or Work. Either that, or you need to hack the registry a little.
Sorry, man, that's the best I can do.
Good luck.
Hello TNFamilyMan,
Are the DNS entries correct for both Servers?
There's two ways that I have accomplished what you are trying to do?
1. Single NIC setup on both VMs. Apply an additional IP to the NIC so that you have IP information for both the internal and external networks on the same NIC
2. Two-NIC setup on both VMs. 1 for Internal Network (Set to Host-only) and the other for External Network (set to Bridged or NAT, whichever works for your environment). on the Internal NIC, use static IPs and make sure they are listed properly in your DNS server.
I hope this helps.
Thanks, RaZaKKaZaR. That was very helpful. I think I've followed all of your instructions in option #2 (2 NICs for each VM) but I'm still a little hung up. I created a Bridged and Host Only NIC on each VM and set a static IP on the Host Only NIC with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, no default gateway, and used the static IP of the server VM as the primary DNS server. On the server VM I set a static IP on the Host Only NIC as well with all of the same config but different IP. I added an entry in DNS for the client VM. There was already an entry for the server.
Now I can reach the internet on both VMs and I can ping the server from the client VM. But I can't ping the client from the server. It resolves its FQDN and IP address but comes back with Request Timed Out. Any ideas?
Hmm, it would be helpful if you could post a screenshot of your network properties dialogs for both internal NICs.
I'm sorry to ask a dumb question, but the VMs' Internal NICs are on the same subnet, right?
I usually have my AD+DC+DNS Server on a completely separate VM (with only Host-only networking) from my application server and client VMs. So, you may have encountered hiccups that I have not seen before.
I will do my best to help, though. ![]()
Hello TNFamilyMan,
Just to confirm, can you ping the XP node from the 2008 Server by IP?
there might be a problem with Windows 2008 detecting the internal network as "unidentified" and preventing communication.
Regards,
Trevor
I can't ping either IP address on the client from the server. I can ping both IP addresses on the server from the client.
Two things to check:
1. Is the Windows Firewall completely turned off? Sometimes, it causes unexpected networking issues in either direction (Server to Client and vice versa)
2. Do the 2008 NICs show up as belonging to Unidentified Networks in the Network settings GUI? If so, Windows is supposed to allow you to reclassify them as Home or Work. Either that, or you need to hack the registry a little.
Sorry, man, that's the best I can do.
Good luck.
You're welcome, TNFamilyMan. thank YOU for awarding the forum points, and Happy VM'ing ![]()
