4IVM Lab 4

Requirements

 PC with VMware Workstation installed

 Windows 10 VM
 Solid State Drive
 Workstation Pro User Guide

You will learn the following skills in Lab 4:

 VMware Networking
 Virtual Network Editor

Networking in VMware is a vital component to understand and configure properly. When you create a
VM in a business environment you normally are using it to replace a physical machine that would have
had a connection to the LAN. The VM will also need access to the network or other VM’s on the local
host. To understand networking in a virtual environment you need to understand the difference
between a virtual network adaptor and a physical network adaptor and how each of these adaptors are
addressed.

As we know the physical PC that VMware Workstation is installed on is called the Host, the VM’s you
create are called Guests. If a host PC has a network adaptor, this is called the Physical NIC (Network
Interface Card). Each VM you create will get its own virtual NIC. Each NIC, be it virtual or Physical, will
have both a MAC address and IP address. Typically the physical NIC will have an IP address given to it
that makes up part of the addressing scheme of the LAN and a MAC address assigned by the
manufacturer of the NIC. The virtual NIC will have an IP address and MAC assigned by VMware’s Virtual
Network Editor and will become part of a virtual switch called a VMnet.

VMware create 3 default VMnets when it is installed. VMnet0, VMnet1 and VMnet8.

Two of these virtual networks are replicated as virtual adaptors in the host’s network settings.
Listed in the host’s network devices is the physical NIC

The adaptor associated with VMnet1

The NIC associated with VMnet8

Document the addresses assigned to each NIC. Open the hosts PC’s network settings by opening Control
Panel and selecting Network and Sharing Centre__Change Adaptor Settings. Right click on Local
AreaConnection and choose Status.

Select Details.

Record the IPv4 address. Repeat for the virtual adaptors.

Local Area Connection IP address ____________________________________

VMnet1 IP address ________________________________________________

VMnet8 IP address ________________________________________________

There are three scenarios where networking is needed. We will look at each one in turn. First is Bridged
Networking where the VM you are running needs an IP address that is on the same network as the host
running the VM.

For example, you have a physical PC on the network that handles DNS requests (DNS server) and you
decide to virtualize that PC. The physical server needed an IP address that belonged to the LAN, the VM
you create will also need an IP address from the same LAN. Choosing Bridged Networking will give a
virtual NIC an IP address from the physical LAN.

The graphic below shows the LAN prior to converting the DNS server to a VM.
The graphic below now shows the same LAN but with the DNS server as a VM and the host PC now
having one IP address for its Physical NIC (192.168.1.2) and another IP address for the virtual NIC
(192.168.1.4)

Lab 4.1 Bridged Networking

See Configuring Bridged Networking, on page 210 of the Workstation Pro User Guide.

“When you configure bridged networking, the virtual machine uses physical network adapters on the
host system to connect a network. If the host system is on a network, bridged networking is often the
easiest way to give a virtual machine access to that network”

Open VMware and select the Windows 10 VM created in lab 1. Right click the VM and choose Settings.
Select the Network Adaptor and change the connection to Bridged.
Start the VM. Once booted open the network settings on the VM and record the IP address.

IPv4 Address_________________________. If all worked well the IP address will be in the same network
as the Local Area Connection NIC above.

This now means that the VM is connected and contactable on the physical LAN and any services running
on the VM can be seen on the LAN.

Lab 4.2 NAT networking.

NAT or Network Address Translation is a method of sharing a single IP address with many clients. It is
most often used to allow multiple PC’s on a LAN Internet access by just using one public IP address.
VMware NAT works on the same principal, a VM is given access to the physical LAN through the IP
address of the host. The advantage to this is the VM can access network resources and the Internet but
physical machines on the LAN cannot access the VM.

VMware will generate a private network addressing scheme to assign to the VM’s virtual adapter and if
the VM wants to send data out to the LAN the addresses in the data packet are translated into the hosts
IP address.

We can see which IP address has been given to the NAT network created by VMware. In VMware select
Edit__Virtual Network Editor.
This will open the Editor. Highlight the NAT network (VMnet8)

Take note of the Subnet IP address assigned to the NAT network ______________________________
Also note that the addresses given to clients will be handed out by the internal DHCP server.

Change the network type on the Windows 10 VM to NAT by accessing settings and changing from
Bridged to NAT.

Start the VM. Once booted open the network settings on the VM and record the IP address.

IPv4 Address_________________________. If all worked well the IP address will be in the same network
as the one recorded above.
Even though the VM’s virtual adapter has a different IP address as the physical networks addressing
scheme it should still be able to access services on the LAN, including the Internet. To test Internet
connectivity at TAFE you may (will depend on which campus you are at and whether transparent proxy
has been configured by ICT) need to add the proxy server address to your browser. Open IE on your host
and locate the Proxy Address by selecting the settings icon__Internet Options. Then the Connections
tab and LAN settings.

Record the Proxy address and port used and apply this information to your VM’s browser.

Your VM should now be able to access the Internet.

Lab 4.3 Host only networking.

Host only networking is primarily used when you want to isolate a VM from the physical network. The
VM is given an IP address outside of the range of the host PC’s and there is no translation. A VM
attached to a host only VMnet can only communicate with the host and other VM’s on the same host
only network.

Change the Windows 10 VM to Host Only. Discover what IP is being used by the VMnet that is set to
Host Only (VMnet1).

Now check the IP address of the VM’s virtual adapter. Result of an ipconfig /all command on the VM is
shown below.

Attempt to access the Internet, as we have set this VM to host only it will not get internet access. You
can however contact the Host via its IP address which you recorded earlier in the Lab (VMnet1’s IP
address) but not beyond that. Once again the IP address given to the VM’s virtual adapter was allocated
via the built-in DHCP server.
Lab 4.4 Explore the Virtual Network Editor.

The Virtual Network Editor allows users of VMware to modify and add additional VMnets. As discussed
earlier VMware adds three default VMnets..VMnet1, 8 and 0. Additional VMnets can be added and the
default VMnets can be modified if needed.

To add additional VMnets open the editor.

Select Add Network.

Select a VMnet from the drop down box

Select OK to Add.

The editor should add the new VMnet to the list of available VMnets and it should add another virtual
adapter on your Host PC.

Highlight the new VMnet in the editor and document what network addressing scheme it has assigned
to use. Subnet IP __________________________________

Note that it has created a host only VMnet. If you wish to use a NAT or Bridged VMnet on VMnet10 you
will need to delete or modify VMnet0 and/or VMnet8 as there can only be one NAT VMnet and only one
Bridged VMnet if you only have one physical NIC in the host.

If you want to change the IP subnet used by the new VMnet you can enter in new values prior to
pressing OK. If you do not want to use the built-in DHCP server then untick the following.
If you choose to continue to use DHCP you can modify the settings used by the server by selecting DHCP
Settings.

This opens up the Settings box.

You can set the range of addresses to hand out and the length of time a client should hold that IP
address.

Test it out..change the Subnet IP to 10.0.0.0 255.0.0.0. Hit Apply. Now modify the DHCP settings to
match below.
 OK to finish.

Record the IP address of the new virtual adapter on the host PC _____________________

Modify the Windows 10 VM’s settings to use VMnet10 as its VMnet.

Boot up the VM and record what IP its virtual adapter has been given..If all went well it will be 10.0.0.11.