Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Linux hosts.
vm_guy
Posts: 49
Joined: 16. Apr 2017, 18:42

Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by vm_guy »

I am having a very strange problem and i don't know where to look

I am using virtualbox 5.2.6r120293 and on a linux mint host

On my virtualbox application i have 4 linux guests and 1 windows guests

I have enabled a nat network under preferences, supports dhcp ipv4 but not ipv6, i have all virtual machines attached to the NAT Network that i have named, my nat network, 10.0.2.0/24

Everything is working fine for about 1 day, i can surf the internet, i can ping google, etc,

but then suddenly the next day all my guests virtual machines can't access the internet anymore, can't ping google, etc, the connection in the corner doesn't shown any problem, still shows its connected and its shows a normal ip address

the actual linux hosts which has the virtualbox application works fine, i can access the internet

In order to get them to start working again, i have to shut down all the vm guests and restart the virtualbox application,
restarting the vm guest only, does nothing, i have to restart the actual physical vm application
It happens everyday, it's really annoying,

what could be the problem, im not sure where to start looking

http://tinypic.com/r/6iqwrn/9
vm_guy
Posts: 49
Joined: 16. Apr 2017, 18:42

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by vm_guy »

Here is some more screen shots of the problem

https://imgur.com/a/mmKqg


it keeps happening every day, around every 27 hours,

if i try a normal nat network, this doesnt happen. i mean if i pick the adapter net network, the default net network, it works fine, not problems,

but the nat network, in the main application under preferences , this one keeps breaking every day,

any idea?
vm_guy
Posts: 49
Joined: 16. Apr 2017, 18:42

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by vm_guy »

no one has any ideas?

it seems it only happens with linux virtual machines!! my windows vm's work fine!!
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by mpack »

Sounds like it might be a lease expiry problem. Either on the host or the guest, I can't be sure with the info given.

Try doing something inside the VM that would force a renegotiation of the IP lease, you'll need to research how to do that since I'm not a Linux user. If the VM recovers then it's the lease from the VirtualBox NAT network which expired, and the problem is that your guest OS is not configured to automatically acquire a new lease.

If the trick has no effect then it could be the host's lease that expired. Does the host OS still have internet access to pages not already cached?
carver6
Posts: 2
Joined: 20. Feb 2018, 06:08

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by carver6 »

I so have the exact same problem except I'm only running one Mint guest. I am running OpenVpn client on the host though. Doesn't seem to make a difference with or without though. Also, I cannot get through a day without having to reboot the VM (including right now).

In guest:
- Enabled bridge network only.
- Enable NAT network only
In both cases I cannot ping the gateway/host. The host is having no connection problems.

In host VM settings:
- Enabled bridge network only.
- Enable NAT network only
In both cases I cannot ping the gateway/host. The host is having no connection problems.

I'm beginning to wonder if this has something to do specifically with Linux Mint and guest additions, but I have no idea.
vm_guy
Posts: 49
Joined: 16. Apr 2017, 18:42

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by vm_guy »

I don't have guest additions installed.

Also, i thought it was only a linux vm problem, but i installed several windows 7 vm machines, and they too stop working, so its not a linux virtual machine problem only, its a windows problems too, i could tried centos7 as a vm and same thing happend, i installed centos server as vm and same thing,, so its all guests that stop working with the NAT Network

this is a NAT network problem, because on my other computer, i am not running a NAT Network, but instead running a normal "attached to NAT" and it works fine, no problems for years,
i bet if i changed it to "NAT Network" i would start to have that problem,

i am running on all my computers linux mint(host), so it could be a linux(host) problem, we will know for sure soon, i am going to install windows 7 as my main operating system and install virtualbox just to test and see if it is a linux mint problem or not

is it possible that it could be a router problem?


i released/renewed the ip on the windows vm machine and still wont work, i diabled/enabled the adapter on the windows vm and still wont work

the host has internet, and is working fine, its just all the guests that use the NAT network that loose internet connection, guests with NAT , still work

i also found that, instead of rebooting, i can go into settings, change the drop down to, "Not attached" then back to "NAT Network" and it starts working again, but only for 24 hours
nat-network2.jpg
nat-network2.jpg (38.92 KiB) Viewed 28331 times

so, my plan is to:

1. test "NAT Network" on my other desktop(linux mint host)(to verify it's not just my other desktops problem)(this also test the router,considering my other desktop is on another router and ip)
2. Install windows7 on a new desktop and install virtualbox,and run NAT Network (this will verify that its not a linux problem) although you said you are running OpenVpn client , so im gonig to guess windows will have the same problem with the NAT Network


i will write back here in a couple of days, to see how it goes, i will do the testing tonight, i have a bunch of computers lying around, so it wont take me long,

i don't know what other testing i could do, we'll start with those 2 test first
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by mpack »

vm_guy wrote:I don't have guest additions installed.
Guest Additions are not relevant to networking.
vm_guy
Posts: 49
Joined: 16. Apr 2017, 18:42

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by vm_guy »

test #1 failed!!

1. test "NAT Network" on my other desktop(linux mint host)(to verify it's not just my other desktops problem)(this also test the router,considering my other desktop is on another router and ip)



test#2 is currently in testing mode(windows 7 as host) i will find out tomorrow or the day after if the same thing happens,
if the same thing happens it must be a virtualbox bug, or if it keeps working, it must be a linux as host problem, i will find out soon!
vm_guy
Posts: 49
Joined: 16. Apr 2017, 18:42

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by vm_guy »

it's been several days! and test number #2 passed!
i have not had any problems with nat network under windows

2. Install windows7 on a new desktop and install virtualbox,and run NAT Network (this will verify that its not a linux problem) although you said you are running OpenVpn client , so im gonig to guess windows will have the same problem with the NAT Network



so the problem does not happen on windows, i tried both windows 10 and windows 7, the nat network problem only happens on linux mint,

im going to do a 3rd test, im going to install another linux version as the host, which one should i try? im thinking of trying both centos7 and unbuntu, if problem exists, it must be problem between virtualbox & linux problem
keico
Posts: 1
Joined: 7. Apr 2018, 20:45

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by keico »

I have the same problem. My host is a Windows 10 machine and my virtualbox version is 5.2.8 r121009. It's really annoying...
ChipMcK
Volunteer
Posts: 1095
Joined: 20. May 2009, 02:17
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, OSX
Location: U S of A

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by ChipMcK »

vm_guy wrote:then suddenly the next day all my guests virtual machines can't . . .
Are the Guests permitted to sleep ?
Disable the ability to sleep via Power Management in the Guest.
jumpkick
Posts: 1
Joined: 11. Apr 2018, 18:01

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by jumpkick »

This is a big problem for us. Been running a website on a Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Beta VBox Server Guest and since upgrading from 5.1 to 5.2.8-121009~Ubuntu~xenial (16.04 server LTS host) last week, we have seen the NAT Network stack crash 3-times! (nothing like that happened in years running on 5.1)

Resetting the VMs does nothing, I can connect into them via RDP (vrde on) and verify they are operating as they should via connections to localhost.

However, we had to completely power off *all* VMs and then restart them before the NAT network would work again and they became accessible via TCP/IP from a non-localhost address.
gunnerone
Posts: 1
Joined: 25. May 2018, 20:39

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by gunnerone »

I have a very similar problem. My host machine is Windows 10, my VM guest is CentOs. Turning the network adapter off then back on inside CentOs doesn't fix the problem. Rebooting CentOs doesn't fix the problem. But powering off CentOs and then restarting CentOs does fix the problem. Mine cuts out way more often than every 24 hours.

I'm using VirtualBox V5.2.12 r122591
Michael37
Posts: 11
Joined: 2. Jan 2017, 18:28
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: MS 7, 8.x, 10, Server 2k8, 2k12, *nix

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by Michael37 »

Hi, I found this thread and it has a very recent entry of May 2018.

I have VB running on Windows 10 host and I am experiencing the very same issue as everyone else here.

I noticed this is for VB on Linux Hosts. Is there a thread I can reference to for VB on Windows Hosts where users are experiencing the same issue?
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Nat Network stops working after a couple days

Post by socratis »

Michael37 wrote: Is there a thread I can reference to for VB on Windows Hosts where users are experiencing the same issue?
I don't think that the host or the guest might be playing a difference in this situation, but rather the underlying NATnetwork (or NATservice as I prefer to call it) mechanism.

What could help is to enable tracing:
  • 
    VBoxManage modifyvm <uuid|vm> --nictrace<1-N> on --nictracefile<1-N> <filename>
For more information, see the user manual. You should have a searchable PDF in the "%VirtualBox_Install%/doc" directory. Also, consider installing Wireshark in the guest and see what it has to say...
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
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