virtualbox.org

From what I have been able to determine Virtualbox since bout 4.2.0 has increased the number of NICs per guest to 36.

I have been unable to configure any NIC adapter above number 8 using the CLI.

The way I have been attempting to do this is:

vboxmanager modifyvm vmguest --nic9 hostonly

The response is: VmobManage: error: Invalid NIC number 9

So the question remains, how can I get more than 8 network adapters configured on a VirtualBox guest?

BTW,I am using VirualBox 5.2.2....

Take a look at ch. 8.8.2 Networking settings. Here you have a list of all your available options. You cannot simply tell the CLI "Give me a new NIC" and have a new NIC. You haven't even specified the NIC type to begin with, you haven't specified which HostOnly network it should use. You are assuming that it's going to be a simple command. It's not.

The GUI does a lot of things behind the scenes, like selecting the default NIC type based on your template. If you want to go to the CLI-land, you're on your own. Provide as many switches and parameters as possible. Do not assume anything about the defaults. There aren't any in the CLI-land.

Problem: In my experience the GUI only supports 4 NIC adapters you MUST use the CLI to do the others.
However, your answer still does not answer my question of specifically how do I configure more than 8 NIC adapters on one VB guest. Can you help me out with a specific answer?
Thanks.

mdpc wrote:how do I configure more than 8 NIC adapters on one VB guest. Can you help me out with a specific answer?

Why don't you go and help yourself...

Ch. [url=https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch03.html#settings-motherboard]3.5.1 “Motherboard” tab[/url] of the User Manual wrote:Chipset

• ... Using the ICH9 chipset it is also possible to configure up to 36 network cards (up to 8 network adapters with PIIX3). Note that the ICH9 support is experimental and not recommended for guest operating systems which do not require it.

Mind you if you use ICH9 other things might stop working in your VM. Audio is usually the one that goes down first, with networking (the thing that you try to fix) following immediately afterwards.

Why in the seven kingdoms do you need 9 (nine) network cards in your guest? What exactly are you doing that requires 9 NICs?

Thank you that was exactly what I was missing.

As for the reason, is to allow testing of a closed VM guest that already uses 8 NIC adapters internally.....I needed the other two to configure a NAT to the outside world and a hostonly network to allow me to get into the guest from my host system. That console interface is not the best way to work on things. I did not want to change the other NIC adapters to be host only as they were configured as internal so as to minimize the changes I needed to do to test the VM guest.

Hi,

I would like to give an answer to the question why someone would need more than 8 interfaces in a VM:

I like to setup virtual test labs with VMs acting as routers for training and other purposes.
Recently I became involved in routers from the brand Mikrotik. They are easily available as VMs for all virtualisation plattforms.

If I want to import the config of a real hardware router into a VM router I need the same amount of
network interfaces. If not the config gets messed up or can't be loaded at all.

As real routers likely have more than 8 ethernet interfaces I need VMs with more than 8 NICs.
Same if you want to have virtual firewalls. You can easily have the need for more than 8 NICs per VM.

I am very happy that with the help of this thread I found out I can have 32 interfaces if I change to ICH9. Luxury!
Now I can have a real copy of my hardware router.
I haven't found any problems using ICH9 so far.

Thanks!
Stefan

After change the chipset to ICH9, the only thing that we need to do is:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm "name of your vm" --nic5=intnet
or
$ VBoxManage modifyvm "name of you vm" --nic6=bridged

And if you need more than 8 network cards, continue incrementing the command above.