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DTWConsulting
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Contributor

Connecting MRD to VMware Fusion running Windows 11

Hi All,

I am hoping that someone can help me with an issue I am currently having.  I have a Mac with the M1 chipset.  I have VMware Fusion running windows 11 and for the most part it's working.  The problem is that the VMware Tools are not available.  A google search has suggested using the Microsoft Remote Desktop (MRD) application to connect to the VM and that at least will allow for the graphics to be scalable and better.

Right now my VM network is configured as "Share with my Mac", which gives me an IP address of 172.16.3.128.  My Mac has an IP address of 192.168.0.X.  From my Mac I cannot ping the VM and cannot connect the MRD to it 😞 However, in this mode the VM works great, networking works and when I am connected to a VPN on my Mac the VM recognises that also and I can connect to VPN related servers on the VM.

If I change the network configuration to Bridged Networking the VM then gets an IP address in the 192.168.0.X range, I can ping it and connect to it via the MRD, and the graphics are much better.  However, the VM no longer recognizes the VPN on the Mac.  I've downloaded the VPN software on the VM but that just won't connect.  No idea why.

So, when configuring the VM network as "Share with my Mac", how can I actually connect the MRD to it when my Mac won't even ping the IP address 172.16.3.128.  Do I need to change something in the VM?  The "Share with my Mac" seems to be the best option since it recognizes the VPN connection.

Any help on this would be much appreciated.

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Technogeezer
Immortal
Immortal

I'm surprised you can ping unless you've turned off the Windows Firewall in the guest - its default settings won't allow it to respond to an ICMP ping request.

Very strange indeed. I'm working on a Win 11 VM with NAT ("Share with my Mac") configuration. My IP address in the VM is coming up as 192.168.33.136. Not using the 172.16.2.x network.

Have you changed/edited something that would change the NAT networking IP subnet? And (stupid question, I know) have you verified IP addresses on both the Mac host and the VM....

My Mac for example has a bridge101 adapter plumbed to the 192.168.33.0/24 network (the NAT network) with address 192.168.33.1.. My VM is on 192.168.33.136 and I am able to ping the Mac's IP on that network and the guest IP (when Windows Firewall is disabled of course). And Microsoft Remote Desktop works to it.

- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides
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Technogeezer
Immortal
Immortal

Ok, I just tried manually editing the /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/networking file to force the NAT network to come up on the 172.16.3.0/24 network (subnet 255.255.255.0) and I was going to see if I could reproduce your issue.

VERSION=1,0
answer VNET_1_DHCP yes
answer VNET_1_DHCP_CFG_HASH B7D5C3D9621AB7B2CA200F5D2CC770713CE22592
answer VNET_1_HOSTONLY_NETMASK 255.255.255.0
answer VNET_1_HOSTONLY_SUBNET 192.168.49.0
answer VNET_1_HOSTONLY_UUID 0BB02B35-67A2-42CC-B908-80BD7FD5A32D
answer VNET_1_VIRTUAL_ADAPTER yes
answer VNET_8_DHCP yes
answer VNET_8_DHCP_CFG_HASH 264DB7F873A26F2CF768BEAB5711FAC707816A15
answer VNET_8_HOSTONLY_NETMASK 255.255.255.0
answer VNET_8_HOSTONLY_SUBNET 172.16.3.0
answer VNET_8_HOSTONLY_UUID D7BFF40C-6CF5-461D-B3EF-0C68B425441E
answer VNET_8_NAT yes
answer VNET_8_VIRTUAL_ADAPTER yes

Good news (or bad news depending on your point of view) - the VM comes up with IP address of 172.16.3.128 and Remote Desktop connects to the VM.

You mentioned a VPN is in play in your original post. Could some configuration there be preventing a connection to the NAT subnet IP address?

- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides
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DTWConsulting
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your help.  I actually had this working although it seems that the VPN I had running on my Mac would stop MRD connecting, so I had to ensure I started the VM, started MRD and then the VPN.  This was getting tedious though so I wanted to try and see if I could get the VM to use the 192.168.0.x ip range, which is what my router provides.  Long story short, I am botched up my internet connectivity now on the VM and it simply won't connect 😞 Not sure what I have done.

Really hoping that someone can help me to resolve this issue as I'd rather not have to go through deleting the VM and going through the whole install process again.

Here is what I can tell you.  When I boot into the VM I notice that the Ethernet (Kernel Debugger) network connection is disabled.  I cannot enable it.  If I run network troubleshooting it states the following:

"There might be a problem with the driver for the Ethernet (Kernel Debugger) adapter.". The problem cannot be fixed.

I have tried setting the network config to "Share with my Mac" and "Bridged Networking" but all to no avail 😞

I am at a loss and could really do with some suggestions on how to fix this issue.  I have also removed and re-added the network device under the VM Settings, but same issue persists.

If I need to provide any additional information to help troubleshoot this issue then please let me know.

Any help would be much appreciated.

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