HOWTO: Host Interface Networking under VISTA Host

jonaric · Post by **jonaric** » 7. Nov 2007, 17:37

It took me a bit to figure this out. Here it is for those who can't get it working.

Select "Host Interface"
Add a Host Interface if you haven't done so already
Select that interface (Mine is "VirtualBox Host 1")
Select "Cable Connected"
Press Okay
Open your "Manage Network Connections" window ("Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections")
Right click on your VirtualBox Host Interface X, and seleect "Bridge Connection"
Once the bridge is created, edit the bridge (right click->properties).
Make sure your internet connection is checked (Mine is an ethernet card--but it could be ethernet, wireless, etc)
Also make sure your VirtualBox Host Interface is checked.
Press Okay.

This bridges that interface to your internet connection, so VirtualBox can see the network just as if it were sitting on the network itself.

Cheers!

tiresias1 · Post by **tiresias1** » 8. Nov 2007, 12:22

Right click on your VirtualBox Host Interface X, and seleect "Bridge Connection"

When I right click on it and select Bridge Connection I just get an error box pop up which says:

"To create a Network Bridge, you must select at least two LAN or High-Speed Internet connections that are not being used by Internet Connection Sharing"

It seems you have to select BOTH the VirtualBox Host Interface AND the (in my case) Wireless Network Connection. Make sure both are highlighted and right-click and select Bridge Connection.

So far so good. After about 20 secs a bridge is created and my internet connection on my vista host drops and re-connects OK.

The VirtualBox Host interface still says "Network Cable Unplugged", but I assumed that this was because I didn't have a guest running. So I started up my Windows 2000 guest and went into its "Computers Near Me" which returned instantly with a list which contained only the guest (i.e. the guest itself).

Any idea what else I need to do to get the rest of the network working?

Strangely, Internet Explorer in the guest is able to browse the internet OK over my wireless network. It's just that guest can't seem to see the other computers on the wireless network.