Another Problem Configuring VMWorkstation for Remote Desktop

[JasonInLasVegas]

Thanks in advance everyone for lending a hand with this:

The objective is to RDP into the Guest from the Host as an administrator simply to manage the guest OS....typical scenario, right?

I have a Vista x64 HOST with VMWare Workstation 6.5.3 (build 185404) and a GUEST Windows Server 2008 x64. The network is "bridged" and my router/gateway is DHCP and registering the DNS for all IPs on the network...a single subnet exists--that is to say, every machine is within a single 4th-segment IP range, nothing fancy.

Both Guest and Host firewalls are disabled while these tests are going on, and there are other machines (without VMWare) on the same net to test connectivity with. Note that the guest Server is not acting as DNS or AD DS server roles....just file server for now. (until I can manage it with RDP, then I will turn it into an app. server, in theory.)

The Problem: The Host PC can Remote Desktop to other PCs on the network, but can not RD to the Guest OS.

I watched netstat (from the guest session) during the RDP attempt and it only shows initial TCP prompting by the host to the guest, then all netstat traffic goes away, then the RDP on the host reports "can not connect...blah blah."

Also, I can ping from both directions by IP or by machine name, therefore it seems DNS has full name resolution.

This may be a red herring, but I am wondering how VM or my router handles the loopback call by RDP to the same machine...because of course the guest is inside the host adapter. Or is that part of the magic of VMWare, that the VM adapter appears to the router as a completely different device, so no loopback is happening?

Attached is a txt file with IPCONFIG /ALL for both the guest and host.

Again, many thanks for helping resolve it!

[louyo]

>>Also, I can ping from both directions by IP or by machine name, therefore it seems DNS has full name resolution.

I wouldn't hang my hat on that.

I am doing similar, with terminal services, so I know it will work. Since you appear to be bridged, the server should appear the same as a stand alone machine.

1. Give your Server a static IP address.. (just stay out of the DHCP server's range)

2. Create an entry, for the server, in the hosts file of your Vista machine. This is in lieu of installing the DNS server role which would be better. But if all you want to do is remote management, I would think an entry in the hosts file should do the trick.

For test purposes:

Turn off all firewalls

Log in to RDP as administrator (VMSERVER01\administrator) to avoid any license server (or lack thereof) restrictions. That is, log on to the server as administrator. That should bring up an administrator session and you can then test vanilla user later if you are going to do thin client stuff. Both work OK here in a Server 2008 VM. My host is Linux but that shouldn't matter.

Lou

[JasonInLasVegas]

OK, so here's what I heard I should try:

• avoid DHCP with the guest OS; apply a static IP in the bridged VM adapter's advanced properties. Stay out of the DHCP' dynamic IP range.

• Q: Should I manually configure DNS to point to my router/gateway in the advanced properties as well? Or should I let the adapter "automatically asign DNS?"

• put an entry for the GUEST server in the HOST OS "hosts" file. I assume by using the static IP address given in step one.

• Use the GUEST OS administrator login for RDP to avoid TSSC license server (client connects) issues.

Pretty straight forward, I will report back on results (not in a month, but tomorow.) Meanwhile, plese clarify the guest adapter advanced properties configuration parameters for me, please.

Thanks, more to follow.

[louyo]

I would try the following:

Use a static IP address in the server (VM)

Just use the same DNS server IP address that the router/DHCP server passes out. (172.23.30.1)

put the name and IP address of the server (VM) in your Vista hosts file.

FWIIW, I just did some more testing and I AM able to connect to the server via remote desktop connection using the IP address (this from an XP VM, my host is Ubuntu and I can connect with that as well).

Make sure that remote desktop is enabled (Server Manager/Computer information).

It is not completely clear, to me, if the Terminal Services role is also needed, but it is usually installed by default IIRC.

Lou

[JasonInLasVegas]

Ok Lou,

Here's what I found...(short answer is no luck yet.)

I put both the Host and Guest on static IPs, outside the DHCP range of the router/gateway, ensured that both the IP and Name of the Guestws in the Host machine "hosts" file. Next, I opened netstat in a CMD window on the Host machine. I booted up the guest and strted an netstat inside a CMD window there too.

Next, I made sure all the RDP services were started on the Guest, that the Guest firewall was temporarily turned off, and that the "Accept Remote Connections" checkmark was enabled on the Remote tab of System Properties.

With all that verified, I started an RD from the Host to the Guest, then rapidly, and repeatedly, watched the netstat TCP/IP traffic out of the host. I also quickly ran netstat on he guest/server OS while the RD session was attempting to connect.

In netstat, I do see "host_ip:port:ms-wbp-microsoft " and SYN_SENT as the STATE, but never get to an ACKNOWLEDGED state.

An interesting thing, though. Although I still can not RP to my GUEST OS... I can RDP from my GUEST to other PCs on my subnet. This works fine, and it works exactly as if my HOST is RDP-ing to those other PCs.

So, my HOST can remote into another physical PC, and my GUEST can remote to another physical PC, but my HOST still can not remote to my GUEST.

Any more suggestions, or any file outpute I should capture and Attach for reference?

Anyone, anyone? (Seriously, thanks for the help/input.)

[louyo]

short answer is no luck yet. \

Bummer

I had suggested the enable Remote Desktop because the error message is the same as it is for a wrong or not found address. Don't know why.

The screen I get is attached as RDP.jpeg

You might want to use Wireshark (ethereal) to debug. I included another 2 jpg files, connect and no connect. The no connect was created by turning off the enable RD option. If the RDP session cannot find the remote machine (guest in your case), it will just do the ARP "who has" and won't get a response. In my example, I was connecting from a laptop on the LAN (my host is Linux). The Server 2008 guest is 10.0.2.10 (note the vmware MAC) and the laptop was 10.0.2.135.

Did you try remote connection from another machine on the LAN?

Can't offer any more. Sorry..

Lou

edit: the dummy uploaded the wrong file

[JasonInLasVegas]

So, I was gonna get wireshark to help me fill in the comm. details.

Also, Yes, I can connect to the Win Server 2008 GUEST OS from any other PC on my LAN. And I can connect to my HOST (Vista) from y other PCs, and I can connect to the PCs from the Vista HOST via RDP (no VMware involved at all) and lastly, I can connect from the GUEST to the PCs.

In summary, the only broken RDP sessions are strictly between my Host and my Guest, in either direction. Whenever I include another PC as either sender or receiver, then it all just works.

I have toask, is this intentional/by design? What I mean is, would I reach some kind of infinite display loop if I used my Guest OS to RDP to my Host OS desktop, then saw my VMworkstation running showing my Guest OS in it with an RDP connected to my Host inside that, and so on....

Either Wireshark, or someone bring me to my senses with a clear statement that "Hosts and Guests can not connect via RDP, for such and such reason. Only use RDP for connecting either Guest or Host to yet another system (physical or virtual.) (period.)

Lou, thanks for the effort, and please let me know if you uncover anything explicit in the VMWare support content on this topic!

[JasonInLasVegas]

Here's one last thing, and it may be the ultimate proof of function/non-function...(or is it dis-function?)

I bring up two Guest OS within my Vista x64 Host. One is the same ol Windows Server x64, the other is a Vista x64 created from a VHD of my host. So, basically, I have a snapshot of my Host OS as a guest...minus the VMWare workstation and removing the conflicting network addresses.

Then from the Vista Guest, I can indeed RDP into the Windows Server Guest....so basically, I can build the "Team" stack "Client, Web-Server, App-Server, Database-Server" in order to finally mimick the behavior of a client Remoting into the remaining 3-tiers for diagnostic purposes.

Seems strange that I need a client Guest OS, and can't accomplish the client application actions from my Host OS, but at least it can be done.

So, all is 1-guest too confusing, yet functional.

(by the way, four guests gets a bit heavy to carry.)

[Scissor]

Make sure you have the latest driver installed for the NIC in your Host. What AntiVirus do you have installed on your Host? Any other 3rd party firewalls or other 'security' software installed?

Try (temporarily) disabling any Large Segement Offload or any other "offload" settings from the advanced settings of your Host's NIC properties to see if that helps.

[K-MaC]

While this doesnt directly resolve your problem, could you try installing OpenVPN on your Guest as a server and on your Host as a client and try to RDP to the IP assigned by OpenVPN. It shouldnt take long to get this setup.

Cheers

Kevin

[louyo]

Just a WAG, but you don't by any chance have multiple guests with the same MAC address (via copying the guest files)?

>>by the way, four guests gets a bit heavy to carry.

True, I improved things a lot by using a striped RAID array for guests and 8GB of RAM.

If you install any SBS 2008 guests,they demand a lot of RAM.

Lou

[JasonInLasVegas]

Thanks for more of these ideas, I appreciate the thoughtful comments!

Yes I tried the latest driver thing...FYI it's an Intel 82575EB Gigabit onboard. I did notice that the guests are impersonating the NIC with a more generic Intel network adapter. Perhaps I should install the 82575EB driver into the guests?

As far as antivirus and 3rd party firewalls, I use CA Security Suite 2009, and completely disable all aspects of it while testing....for brief periods of time.

Great suggestion about the large offloading, I will disable it and go back to regular packets on the Host adapter....but I am skeptical.

[JasonInLasVegas]

I will double-ckeck on the Guest MACs; and as far as the 4 guests goes, the current Host is 2 socket Nehalem (Xeon 5550s) with 12Gb and a 3-disk Raid 5. I am moving up to 24Gb of ram...always moving in triplets (3x4Gb additions) for the DDR3 to work correctly with the Nehalem architecture.

I can pull the weight, I just don't see the point, if I can get my Host to talk to the Guest Server acceptably.

Lou, I think you are on to something with the MAC's...so I will check and edit this post with results!

[JasonInLasVegas]

EUREKA!

Here's the latest: When I use the Ethernat NAT Guest adapter option, I can now Remote Desktop from my Host into my Guest. I can even enable firewalls on both Host and Guest, with appropriate rules and RDP works correctly.

To get a cleaner result, I also modified the Virtual Network router subnet and IP rules, then assigned a static IP to the guest within the NAT subnet I also update my Host OS hosts file with the NAT subnet IP. everything resolves correctly, that is, I can RDP using the Guest server name only and get connection from Host to Guest.

HOWEVER, the guest Ethernet NAT adapter and virtual router does not allow for DNS cross-subnet routing, so now I can no longer reach my Guest server from any of the regular PCs on my network, argh! It does allow for port-forwarding from the host into the NAT, so I may be able to port-forward for access to the Guest server.

At least I have confirmed that Remote Desktop from Host to Guest is possible...so if anyone else checking into this community looking for this result will find it here.

NEXT, I am going back to the original bridged adapter configuration and working through my Host adapter properties to find anything which may remedy the original problem without having to resort to the NAT adapter option.

Does hearing that the Guest NAT adapter option worked give anyone ideas on where I should look next?