NAT Network

[dukenukem]

Hi newbie here,

I was just wondering how to do something regarding NAT Network. I am running Windows 7 service pack 1 Virtualbox 4.3.38.

I have created network adapter for my Windows Server 2012 R2 in preferences for NAT Network and I've called it Windows_Intranet and I disabled DHCP. How do I change the network address and subnet mask of this adapter?

[BillG]

It might be better if you told us exactly what you want to do with this vm. There is not much point in setting up a NAT network without DHCP unless you are doing something unusual.

[dukenukem]

It might be better if you told us exactly what you want to do with this vm. There is not much point in setting up a NAT network without DHCP unless you are doing something unusual.

I'm doing an assignment so that's what it says to do. Then later I configure the network adapter inside the VM with an IP of 172.16.60.25, subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, default gateway of 172.16.60.1, preferred DNS: 8.8.8.8, alternate DNS 8.8.4.4 which I can do with no problem. It's just the first part I am having trouble with: setting a network address and subnet mask for the network adapter in Virtualbox.

[BillG]

You set it just as you would in a physical machine. There is no step in between. Just configure it from within the vm with the values you have been given.

[dukenukem]

I already did that part. Please have a look at the original question. Here's the instructions straight from the assignment:

Configure a network adapter for Windows Server 2012.

Configure the network adapter to use NAT Network. The network adapter must be called Windows_Intranet. The network adapter must have the network address of 172.16.60.0 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The DHCP must be disabled for the network adapter.

[socratis]

I already did that part.

Adding a NATNetwork is done through the VirtualBox preferences. In that step you can configure the NATNetwokr's name, CIDR address/range, and its DHCP options. What's the question? Where is your problem? Maybe the use of the word "adapter"? If you delete the word "adapter" from the description, it make it clearer.

Configure a network adapter for Windows Server 2012.

Configure the network adapter to use NAT Network. The network adapter must be called Windows_Intranet. The network adapter must have the network address of 172.16.60.0 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The DHCP must be disabled for the network adapter.

[dukenukem]

In that step, how do I make the NAT Network have an IP of 172.16.60.0 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0?

[socratis]

1. There is no adapter address that ends in .0, by definition.
2. What the assignment is trying to tell you (perhaps incorrectly), is to set the IP range of your NATNetwork.
3. The preferences dialog accepts the range in a CIDR format. Please read the related article in Wikipedia: Classless Inter-Domain Routing, mainly the "CIDR notation" part.

[BillG]

How much have you covered in this course on IP networking? Have you got to the bit where you learn about netmasks? Do you know how many bits a 255.255.255.0 netmask represents? You might need to know that to set the mask.

Once you work that out you should able to go back to where you created the network, select "Edit" and insert the network details into the box. You can then go to the vm and configure the adapter with its IP address, netmask and default gateway. And please ask you instructor to alter the assignment as socratis suggested. It is very misleading to confuse networks and adapters.

[dukenukem]

Yeah I'll ask my instructor do that. I'm pretty far into it I was just a little confused. Thanks for the help everyone. This topic's solved.