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kevindd992002
Contributor
Contributor

NAT port forward not working after vmware workstation 12 update

My VMWare workstation 12 just detected an update (12.1.0) and I went ahead and installed it. The version is now 12.1.0 build-3272444. After this update, NAT port forwarding does not work anymore. The port forward rules are still intact but I don't see vmnat.exe running in the list of processes. Netstat doesn't show the forwarded ports as listening ports on the host machine also. Is this a known bug or what?

Please help. Thanks.

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16 Replies
kevindd992002
Contributor
Contributor

I dug in deeper to the problem and used TPCVIEW to monitor listening instances of vmnat.exe. Initially, I don't see any of my forwarded ports there and vmnat.exe isn't even running. And then I decided to add a test port forward rule in virtual network editor of vmware workstation and immediately after applying the settings, all expected listening ports started appearing. After a few seconds (maybe 10 seconds or so), vmnat.exe just terminates by itself (red highlight in tcpview meaning the connection was cut).

With that observation, I don't know what to think of it but it does seem like a bug with the most recent update to workstation. Any thoughts please?

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nice10150
Contributor
Contributor

Just another reason why should we buy VMware Workstation? I have tested it, and NAT port forwarding works perfectly with the latest version of the FREE Oracle VirtualBox software... We have 50 licenses of Vmware Workstation and we serious want our money back... If anybody want the same we can join and make a group legal effort...

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xindayu
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

I am very sorry for you encounter this issue!

We are able to reproduce this issue and an internal bug has been filed against it.

For a workaround, would you please revert to Workstation 12.0.1 to use the "Port Forwarding" feature?

Thanks!

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kevindd992002
Contributor
Contributor

nice10150

Your comment should be posted elsewhere. These kinds of messages do not help this community at all. I'm sure there are a lot of VirtualBox haters also. To each his own, man!

xindayu

That's good to know. How do I revert to 12.0.1? And when is the ETA of the fixed version for this issue?

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xindayu
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thanks for your kindly understanding.

To revert to 12.0.1, please uninstall Workstation 12.1.0 first, then launch the Workstation 12.0.1 installer.

If you can't find Workstation 12.0.1 installer on local machine, you can download it:

@ https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/info/slug/desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_pro/12_0

Click "Go to Downloads", then choose version 12.0.1 to download.

Or just download it from our softwareupdate server:

http://softwareupdate.vmware.com/cds/vmw-desktop/ws/12.0.1/3160714/windows/core/VMware-workstation-1...

Hope it helps!

Thanks!

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kevindd992002
Contributor
Contributor

Ok. Can you give me an ETA for the fix for this issue please?

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driveU
Contributor
Contributor

I face a similar Situation

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kevindd992002
Contributor
Contributor

ETA please?

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kevindd992002
Contributor
Contributor

xindayu

Any updates please?

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xindayu
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Sorry for late response.

We do have an internal bug to track this issue, however, currently I got no ETA update yet...

So before the bug is fixed, please kindly use Workstation version 12.0.1 instead.

I will keep you updated once I got any ETA update.

Very very sorry for the inconvenience!

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kevindd992002
Contributor
Contributor

I went here: https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/info?slug=desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_pro/12_0#... but I don't see 12.0.1 there. I see that latest version, 12.1.0, only. Where can I download the older build?

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dariusd
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

On that page, choose Go to Downloads, then the next page (the "Download Product" page) provides a selection box at the top, which looks just like the one on the prior page, but allows you to select the point releases.  I don't know why it's arranged in this way...

--

Darius

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kevindd992002
Contributor
Contributor

Please disregard my previous post, I got the download now.

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kevindd992002
Contributor
Contributor

I tried installing 12.0.1 but it errors out saying that it doesn't support downgrades. Should I manually uninstall it then and reinstall the old build?

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NoelC1
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Please read post 5 again carefully.

-Noel

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vmFMG
Contributor
Contributor

I had to revert as well my VMWare Workstation 12.1.0 on Linux to 12.0.1 for the same reason. It looks like NAT forwarding works again.

I don't know, if this is still actual for you, if the problem is solved, then may I suggest to mark your question as answered, as the solution to this problem (at least a workaround to it) has been given in this thread.

As stated in Post #5 you have to first uninstall workstation 12.1.0 before reinstalling it.

How to do this is described in the VMware Workstation Documentation Center

here: Uninstall Workstation from a Windows Host

resp. here if you are on Linux: Uninstall Workstation from a Linux Host

hth

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