NAT is not working on Windows 8.1

[BeerGarden]

Hello everyone!

One of my laptops is pretty old (Macbook 2012 or 2013) and was running Windows 2003 Server absolutely flawlessly until I decided to put Windows 8.1 on it. Virtualbox worked like charm for 5 or 6 years. No problem.

I had had all branches of Virtualbox, starting from the earliest 4.x builds.... so I know quite a little about it.

But it's my second day trying to make NAT working on Vbox on Windows 8.1. It just does not.

The host is Windows 8.1
The guests are various oses - XP, Linux, Win7, Win8, Whonix.
VBox versions - 5.1.6, 5.1.30, up to the latest 6.x

In any guest, with NAT chosen, I start something like "ping 1.1.1.1"
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Then I go to VM settings, change to "Bridged" - now the pings are coming through.
Switching back to NAT - it stops. It can ping the 10.0.2.2 gateway however.

I've searched the forum already, found 5-10 topics describing this situation, but the replies are too vague or irrelevant and without any sitution. Some say "It was broken in version 5.1.8, rollback to 5.1.6, or upgrade to X.X.X" etc etc. No real solution so far.

I'm pretty sure that thousands of people have the same setup (Win 8.1), is it broken for everyone? No idea.
I don't know where to look or what to fix.
There's no firewall on my system, no IDS. It works in the bridge mode, but completely fails in NAT mode.

Is there any chance to make it work? If no, I give up and will try VMWare...

[scottgus1]

I give up and will try VMWare

Don't nuke it yet There's something wrong on your laptop, let's try to figure it out.

First, be sure your laptop is connected to your network, then run the command 'ipconfig /all' on your laptop. Post the output as text using the forum's

Code: Select all

 tags.

Then, pick one Windows guest where Bridged works and NAT doesn't. Shut this guest down from within the guest OS so it is not save-stated.

Set this guest's network to Bridged. Start the guest and get logged in. Confirm you have network access. Run 'ipconfig /all' and post the output as text with [code] tags. Shut the guest down again from within the guest OS so it is not save-stated.

Set this guest's network to NAT. Start the guest and get logged in. Confirm you [i]don't[/i] have network access. Run 'ipconfig /all' and post the output as text with [code] tags. Shut the guest down again from within the guest OS so it is not save-stated.

When you get the info posted we'll try to see what's happening.

[BeerGarden]

Thanks for your reply!

My network, cables, all working fine.

It's even more strange. The last working VB version for me is 4.3.12. It's easy to reproduce.
Steps:

4.3.13 - NAT working.
I shutdown all VM's.
Uninstall VB 4.3.13
Install 5.1.x
Start the VMs.
NAT is not working.

All settings are the same.
Uninstall 5.1.x
Install 6.0.14
Start the VMs.
NAT is not working.

Finally, uninstall 6.0.14
Put back 4.3.13
NAT is working.

There can be reboots between stages, with or without them, it's the same.

I even enabled the Comodo Firewall *learning mode* and deleted all previous Vbox rules.
On 4.x, the FW asks me "Outbound connection, Allow?" when I do some network activities in a guest.
On 5.x, 6.x it's not asking anything.

I can stay on 4.3.13, no big deal, but it's quite old now....

I suppose there might be some trouble with vbox network adapters binding to the host ethernet NIC?
Or I'm out of ideas...

[socratis]

Time to dig into the evidence. Please read my signature first, it's gonna save us lots of trouble...

I want to see the recipe of the VM, the ".vbox" file. Right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager, select "Show in Explorer". ZIP the selected ".vbox" file and attach it to your response.

Also, the file "C:\Users\<you>\.VirtualBox\VirtualBox.xml", note the period before "VirtualBox". Same ZIPPING and attaching procedure.

And finally, we need to see a complete VBox.log, from a complete VM run, where the problem occurs:

• Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe or recreate the problem / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
• With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
• Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.

[BeerGarden]

Thanks, I have the logs ready, but for a quickie, can this be related to the "hardening" which was introduced in 4.3.14 ?
And can look it up myself for specific keywords in the log?

Its crazy that nobody else has ever reported such problem yet... :\

[socratis]

Here's how this whole thing works... You come here for help. We ask questions. You provide the answers. Simple, no?

So, please answer the questions that 'scottgus1' asked you. Then provide the logs that I asked for.

And no, hardening has nothing to do with NAT.

[BeerGarden]

Sure, here it is. Sorry if I was sounding redundant.
You're a knowledgeable person and I'm not questioning your level of expertise.
I just tried to fix it myself by asking for a hint from you

[scottgus1]

Logs are posted, good. How about the ipconfigs?

BeerGarden, you have got to start reading answers to your post more carefully. These piecemeal responses will get really old, really fast.

[socratis]

Logs are posted, good.

No, not really... There are two sets of logs, both of which are unsupported, one of them is way unsupported:

$ unzip -l /Users/Shared/Downloads/vbox.zip
Archive:  /Users/Shared/Downloads/vbox.zip
  Length     Date   Time    Name
 --------    ----   ----    ----
        0  11-02-19 00:11   vbox/4.3.12/                <-- Not supported
    90500  11-02-19 00:11   vbox/4.3.12/VBox.log
     3119  11-01-19 23:56   vbox/4.3.12/VirtualBox.xml
    35080  11-01-19 23:30   vbox/4.3.12/Windows 7.vbox
        0  11-02-19 00:12   vbox/5.1.30/                <-- Not supported
   107617  11-02-19 00:12   vbox/5.1.30/VBox.log
     1306  11-01-19 23:55   vbox/5.1.30/VirtualBox.xml
    22824  11-01-19 23:59   vbox/5.1.30/Windows 7.vbox
 --------                   -------
   260446                   8 files

@BeerGarden,
Please update your VirtualBox installation to something recent/supported and then we can talk about it. The current VirtualBox version is 6.0.14. Download it and install it, then grab the data as instructed, primarily the logs.

From the VM definition/recipe, the "Windows 7.vbox", I can see that you have "NAT" selected, so we're good on that front:

<Network>
  <Adapter slot="0" enabled="true" MACAddress="08002750F6DD" type="82540EM">
	<DisabledModes>
	  <InternalNetwork name="intnet"/>
	  <NATNetwork name="NatNetwork"/>
	</DisabledModes>
	<NAT/>
  </Adapter>
</Network>

Now, all that remains is the "ipconfig /all" info that 'scottgus1' asked for, and a VBox.log with a recent VirtualBox version.

[BeerGarden]

Ah, my bad, I thought you would want to look and compare with older (working) versions too.
Here's the logs from 6.0.14

Thanks!

[scottgus1]

OK, so when I set a guest to NAT, my guest's single DNS is the router on the host's LAN. BeerGarden, you see your NAT guest has three DNS's, and they're all the same as the NAT gateway. I think this setup is wrong.

However, I'm thinking that I might not want to try to figure out why, because your capability to follow instructions is woefully inadequate.

I asked for three 'ipconfig /all's in specific circumstances. You have only provided one. I asked for the ipconfg's in text, in

Code: Select all

 blocks[/b], you posted a [b]picture[/b].

See the problem? I hate to have to resort to firm speech, I'm a really calm and peaceful person, but I'm at the end of wanting to bother...

One more chance?

[BeerGarden]

Pardon for being dumb
Here's the output:

HOST:

Code: Select all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : mainframe
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-28-DF-C3-A9-7E
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.9(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, November 4, 2019 20:16:19
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, November 5, 2019 1:14:07
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
                                       8.8.4.4
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Ethernet adapter VirtualBox Host-Only Network:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 0A-00-27-00-00-14
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.56.1(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

GUEST WITH NAT

Code: Select all

C:\>ipconfig.exe /all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : woo-PC
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Desktop Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 08-00-27-4A-5C-AF
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.2.15(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, November 04, 2019 9:08:59 AM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, November 05, 2019 12:14:11 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.2.2
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.2.2
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
                                       8.8.4.4
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{2EBEBC2D-D2FA-4E19-8249-C806A2231A18}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\>ping 1.1.1.1 -t

Pinging 1.1.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 1.1.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 5, Received = 0, Lost = 5 (100% loss),

GUEST WITH BRIDGED

Code: Select all

C:\>ipconfig.exe /all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : woo-PC
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Desktop Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 08-00-27-4A-5C-AF
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.11(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, November 04, 2019 12:21:31 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, November 04, 2019 2:21:32 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
                                       0.0.0.0
                                       8.8.8.8
                                       192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{2EBEBC2D-D2FA-4E19-8249-C806A2231A18}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\>ping 1.1.1.1 -t

Pinging 1.1.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=56
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=56
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=56
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=56
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=56
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=56
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=56

Ping statistics for 1.1.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 8, Received = 8, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 14ms, Maximum = 20ms, Average = 17ms

[fth0]

Possibly unrelated to your problem: You have configured the CPU Execution Cap to 80%. I cannot assess the consequences of this setting, therefore I'd suggest setting it back to the default value of 100%, at least while searching for a solution to your problem.

@socratis: There are some VirtualBox log file messages regarding hardening problems ...

[scottgus1]

Thanks! that's the info I was looking for. Interestingly, your setup has some really weird DNS issues. Your host has specific DNS servers instead of the router-based DNS that's normal. This may not be the source of the issue, though it shows someone's been setting the DNS manually.

But the picture post shows the woo-pc guest with 3 DNS servers all set to the same IP address, its own DHCP server. Unusual. The woo-pc guest when Bridged has 3 DNS servers, too, one 0.0.0.0. More unusual. When on NAT this guest changes from the settings in the picture post to using the same DNS servers as the host.

I am not sure that the DNS oddities would stop a ping, but there's something very unusual going on. This is not common as I have seen on working-NAT hosts.

Can you please zip and post the 'woo-pc's .vbox file?

[BeerGarden]

Its really crazy. guys. I have Mac Mini as a media server, sitting at the same desk, connected to the same router.
I have installed VBOX 6.0.14, copied one of the VMs from the one with faulty NAT. And it worked.

So in the zipfile there's two - a working (mac mini) and not working (macboook).

To summarize and exclude any misjudgement:

Mac Mini - WORKING - Windows 8.1, Vbox 6.0.14, firewall off, guest WinXP

Code: Select all

C:\>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : _
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : AMD PCNET Family PCI Ethernet Adapter #3
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 08-00-27-6C-46-17
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.3.15
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.3.2
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.3.2
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
                                            8.8.8.8
                                            192.168.1.1
        NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, November 05, 2019 8:37:20 AM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, November 06, 2019 8:37:20 AM



C:\>ping 1.1.1.1 -t

Pinging 1.1.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=55
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=55
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=55
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=55
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=55
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=55
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=55

Ping statistics for 1.1.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 7, Received = 7, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 16ms, Maximum = 21ms, Average = 18ms

Macbook - NOT WORKING - Windows 8.1, Vbox 6.0.14, firewall off, guest WinXP

Code: Select all

C:\>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : _
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : AMD PCNET Family PCI Ethernet Adapter #3
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 08-00-27-6C-46-17
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.3.15
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.3.2
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.3.2
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.3.2
                                            10.0.3.2
                                            10.0.3.2
        NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, November 05, 2019 8:34:08 AM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, November 06, 2019 8:34:08 AM

C:\>ping 1.1.1.1 -t

Pinging 1.1.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 1.1.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 3, Received = 0, Lost = 3 (100% loss),
Control-C

I have removed the CPU execution cap, and DNS 0.0.0.0 is probably a leftover from my VPN profile somewhere or pushed by the router, I don't think its relevant because I'm pinging by IP.
And mind you, on the faulty system, if I to remove 6.0.14 and install 4.3.12 - everything will start to work again.
Thats the most weird situation I've ever seen.

Thank you for your time and sorry to taking it so long, but I'm trying my best.