[Invalid] Vrtualbox guest can't connect to Internet in a domain network

[cyy]

Hello guys,

I'am trying to get Internet connection in Virtualbox Ubuntu 18.04 guest on a Windows 10 host.

The host has internet access via wifi in a company domain network but in the guest I can't access websites in a web browser(Firefox).

I've tried several things to understand why is it

Firstly, I've tried both NAT and Bridge network adapter and in my Ubuntu guest with NAT adapter, I can successfully ping the default 10.0.3.2 virtual gateway with an adresse 10.0.3.15 obtained by DHCP, so I think the guest network configuration is fine between the virtual NIC and the Virtualbox router.

Secondly, when I tap an fix ip adresse(to exclude problems associated to DNS etc) in Firefox, say 31.13.90.36(facebook) and try to see if the packets are actually send out in WireShark on host Windows 10 with filter ip.dest == 31.13.90.36, I can't see anything. But when I just Ping the address, I can actually see ICMP packet coming out with the source address of my host.

This lead me to believe this has to be something with the firewall of Windows or of the domain?

If it's the case, how is this achieved and how can I removed the restriction in windows? I can't understand if it's coming from the domain because as the Virtualbox manual explain, the NAT behaves just as if it was the host who communicate avec the rest of the network, why I can connect to Internet with Chrome in my Windows but can't from my Firefox guest?

I would like to have some clarification in the subject because I'm not vert involved in the network staff.

Thanks

[scottgus1]

Bridged may not always work with a Wifi adapter, due to to-the-letter implementation of the Wifi protocols by either the wifi adapter driver or the access point firmware. Technically Wifi cannot Bridge, but some combinations of wifi adapter drivers and access point firmware implement these protocols in a lax fashion so Bridged can squeeze through. If it works where you are, good. If you can't get a good network trying to Bridge with a wifi adapter, NAT should always work on Wifi.

That said, if your corporation has locked down your internet access, you may need to go to IT to unlock your guest. There may be a corp-forced proxy involved.

[cyy]

Hi scottgus1,

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate your explanation about the Bridged connexion, but to give another detail, both the NAT and Bridged work fine in my guest if connected to my telephone's wifi hotspot.

For the moment, i don't really need internet connexion in my virtual machine for work, I'm just trying to set my environnement up for future use. So I don't think the IT will grant me access for now. I just wound like to understand why I don't get Internet in this particular case and how it is done. I also think it may be related to the proxy, but in my Chrome setting on the host, I don't see any proxy set up. Am I missing something?

Kind regards

[scottgus1]

Bridged work fine in my guest if connected to my telephone's wifi hotspot

This fits with the works-here-wont-work-there nature of the Bridged/Wi-fi team. Your cellphone hotspot is lax in implementing Wi-fi standards, and is able to let Bridged through.

In a properly-working computer, NAT always works with Wi-fi. NAT has a different way of transmitting the information that Wi-fi is compatible with.

If each "PC", physical or virtual, has to be authenticated or authorized by your corporation to access their internet, then you'll have to ask them. We wouldn't be able to guess accurately at how they're doing this. A proxy is one way I've heard of. There's probably a gazillion and three other ways.

In fact, the fact that your guest has internet when using your hotspot but not when attached to the corp network is a good indicator the corp network is the block, not anything with Virtualbox.

[socratis]

Just like 'scottgus1' said, this "walks like and quacks like" a company domain policy problem...

First of all stick to the "NAT" mode, so that we can eliminate the potential Bridged-over-WiFi issues.

Then, try the following "commands" from a Terminal on your guest. I've included a sample output, with only the parameters that you should be focusing on:

$ nmcli d show
GENERAL.DEVICE:   enp0s3
GENERAL.HWADDR:   08:00:27:40:51:1a   <-- all VirtualBox NICs start with that number
IP4.ADDRESS[1]:   10.0.2.15/24
IP4.GATEWAY:      10.0.2.2
IP4.DNS[1]:       1.1.1.1

Then, once you have the key values, try the following commands:

> ping <DefaultGateway>             <-- tests your connectivity
> ping <DNSserver>                  <-- tests your DNS server
> ping 1.1.1.1                      <-- tests outgoing connectivity
> ping download.virtualbox.org      <-- tests name resolution

If you can "ping <DefaultGateway>", if you can "ping <DNSserver>", if you can "ping 1.1.1.1", if you can "ping download.virtualbox.org", VirtualBox is working as it should. You should look elsewhere for your networking connectivity. Look in your host for firewalls, proxies, antivirus filters, web-cleaning applications, redirectors, etc.

[cyy]

Hi, guys

Yes, as you say, I'm pretty convinced that it's due to the domain network block. My curiosity just won't let me stop here:)

As socratis suggested, I've been sticking to the NAT case then and I can ping the default Virtualbox NAT adresse 10.0.2.2.

I can even ping the default gateway of my host (shown with ipconfig in windows) from within my guest, which means at least Virtualbox does its work. But I can't ping an external address from my guest (I can actually see the ping coming out of my guest in Wireshark, but no response), the same thing happens with a http connection.

So my question now is is there any way I can check what is actually blocking my Virtualbox internet connection while Chrome is not get blocked? Note that I can see in Wireshark that Virtualbox is actually sending out http packets (repeat transmitting SEQ0 without response until timeout).

[scottgus1]

is there any way I can check what is actually blocking my Virtualbox internet connection while Chrome is not get blocked?

Yep. Talk to IT. They've implemented the block. They'd have to open it. I believe this is no longer a Virtualbox problem.

You can get a USB wifi adapter and pass that into your guest, then use your cellphone hotspot as your guest's internet connection. If you want to try this, follow the instructions in USB basics and troubleshooting, and post questions in a new topic.

[socratis]

Based on the analysis and the evidence, I'm going to mark this as [Invalid], this doesn't seem to be a VirtualBox issue.

[cyy]

Yes, I may post another question something like "how domain network application filter works" in other forums

Thanks for your replies.