No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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ocj
Posts: 6
Joined: 1. Jul 2011, 16:55
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Ubuntu linux 10.04.2

No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by ocj »

I want to achieve internet connectivity from the guest operating system Ubuntu 10.04.2. on my pc using a wireless modem. I'm new and have read the user guide, but still can't quite achieve it.

The details are as follows:

Software
Host operating system: Windows 7 home premium
Guest operating system: Ubuntu 10.04.2
Virtualisation software: Oracle VM VirtualBox version r69518

Hardware:
Processor: Pentium (R) Dual-Core CPU E5400 @ 2.7 GHz
RAM: 4.00 Gb
Hard drive: 464.Gb

I have read and followed instructions on these pages
http://www.itwiredsolutions.com/blog/?p=49

and the instructions on this page
http://parithi.info/2011/02/how-to-inst ... alization/

I now have virtual box working.

I then followed these instructions to install Ubuntu 10.04.2 as the guest operating system using these instructions.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/13 ... albox.html

However these instructions don’t quite deal with the networking aspect in regard to my setup.

My internet setup.
I have a desktop computer, with network cards fitted, but there is no physical internet connection using the cables.

Internet access is achieved by using a wireless mobile broadband modem, that is configured in Windows 7 premium (the host operating system).

The modem details are as follows:
The modem uses a SIM card.
Make: Huawei
Model: E1762
Hardware vers: CD25TCPV
Firmware: 11.126.08.01.74
Application port: COM7

My internet service provider is called Optus.

When I connect through Windows 7 premium (the host operating system), the screen looks like this
Image

When I try to connect from within the guest operating system, I can’t connect to the internet. (When I try to launch the browser Firefox, I get the message
"Firefox can’t find the server http://www.google.com.au

“Problem loading page – Mozilla Firefox.”

(I can connect to google using the host system to that page without any problems.)

I then went back to the settings in Oracle VM VirtualBox.

Within VirtualBox I have checked
1) The network settings
2) The USB settings

NETWORK SETTINGS
The link below, contains a screen shot of the current network settings using virtualbox.
Image

I left NAT as the default option (because I want the guest operating system to have internet connectivity). The question I have with this screen is that, I have a wireless modem (using a USB port), which I do use, but this is not listed in the advanced features. When I click the advanced button I get.
Image

So how can I configure this correctly to show I use the wireless modem (Huawei E1762 )? I am not using any other adapters (and don't have the option to use them either)

USB SETTINGS
Image

Do I need to configure anything further under USB settings within VirtualBox? What are the troubleshooting steps for internet connectivity using wireless modems? Is there a link to a page with instructions?

Do I need to install the modem drivers and installation files for Windows 7 into the guest operating system? I have been trying to do that, but it has failed. The files are present, but when I select the “Autorun program”. I get the following message.

“Error Autrorunning software can not find the autorun program.”

This was the case even when the icon for Autorun.exe was selected/highlighted.

I think I have included all the details I can think of. Is there anything I have left out? Thank you for your time.
Last edited by ocj on 3. Jul 2011, 04:32, edited 3 times in total.
Sasquatch
Volunteer
Posts: 17798
Joined: 17. Mar 2008, 13:41
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Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by Sasquatch »

Since the download of the images have a timeout, I'm not even going to try to view them. You can host them on imageshack.us or tinypic.com without any restrictions, so use those. You can also attach images to your post and place them inline. Up to three (3) attachments are allowed per post.

For the network settings, sticking with the default NAT will be enough. If you have that, then do the basic network test that's noted in the VirtualBox FAQ and report back here.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

Retired from this Forum since OSSO introduction.
ocj
Posts: 6
Joined: 1. Jul 2011, 16:55
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Ubuntu linux 10.04.2

Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by ocj »

1) Thanks for the advice you gave me.
2) I can only get internet connectivity using the host. When I try to connect using the guest operating system (ubuntu). It says
“Firefox can’t establish a connection to the server on 66.102.9.99”

(66.102.9.99 was the recommended ip address to use in the FAQ (frequently asked questions) networking section)

From what I can understand from the FAQ, DNS queries are forwarded to the first configured DNS server (on my pc it is 192.88.99.1). I can see this won’t work on my pc because the internet connection has to be disconnected (on the host) before internet connectivity can be launched within the guest operating system. (If I don’t do that I can’t open an internet connection from within the guest.). Is this meant to be how it works?
3) The card networking hardware that is displayed by virtualbox, does not include the modem I use. I used the virtualbox USB setting to achieve this. Is this enough, or are further steps required?
Sasquatch
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Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by Sasquatch »

Now that we can see the images, I see your problem. You don't need to send the Huwai device to the VM. When you do that, the Host will loose internet connectivity (you essentially remove the device from the USB port). Your device is a UMTS/3G modem, so if you want to have internet on both machines, don't remove it from the Host. NAT is what you need, nothing else. The Host will provide internet for it.
As for why you can't select the device in the Advanced section of the VM network settings is because the dropdown you see is what is represented to the Guest. Those are all wired adapters, because VB cannot emulate wireless ones. Each adapter option is for a specific Guest OS type. Since your guest is Linux, it doesn't matter what you pick.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

Retired from this Forum since OSSO introduction.
ocj
Posts: 6
Joined: 1. Jul 2011, 16:55
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Ubuntu linux 10.04.2

Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by ocj »

Thank you Sasquatch
I have removed the modem from the USB section of VM.

I tried connecting to the internet in Ubuntu (Applications->Internet->Firefox web Browser). I still receive the message
"Firefox can't find the server http://www.google.com.au"

Which I was getting before.

I then went back and enabled the network adapter setting in VM. Since it doesn't matter which network adapter I choose, I left it at INTEL PRO/1000 MT Desktop (NAT).

I still get the same message that "Firefox can't find the server http://www.google.com.au".
The one thing which I can now do which I couldn't do before was to maintain the internet connection on the host, and attempt to launch internet connectivity from the guest.

This raises the question, what can I now do? From the host, internet connection is no problem, from the guest it is not working. What is the/are the next steps for me to follow? Do I need to install the drivers for the modem on the guest operating system? From what I now understand having NAT is enough and it should all work from there. (with no further configuration required). Is that right or way off the mark? Thank you.
Sasquatch
Volunteer
Posts: 17798
Joined: 17. Mar 2008, 13:41
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows XP, Windows 7, Linux
Location: /dev/random

Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by Sasquatch »

What you do now is grab the VirtualBox FAQ and check out the network section of it. There is a small guide for how to figure out what the exact problem is for your internet issues in the Guest. Take a good look at the DNS setting inside the Guest.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

Retired from this Forum since OSSO introduction.
ocj
Posts: 6
Joined: 1. Jul 2011, 16:55
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Ubuntu linux 10.04.2

Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by ocj »

I’m going through the networking faq

This has generated a lot of questions in my mind

In the section
Q: I set up a bridge with my wireless adapter, but it doesn't work. My Guest does not get an IP address or access the internet when I manually set one.

Since 2.1.0, you can select the NIC directly. Wireless will work with this. Though not all wireless adapters support the first option VB will use when accessing the network, and that is changing the source MAC address. VB will fall back and use the physical MAC address to get network access. Some DHCP servers keep track of these MAC addresses with their lease table and deny a new IP address if the MAC is already linked to an IP.


In the above answer I’m using version 4.06, so I can select the NIC directly. Not too sure why I should be even selecting an NIC, as I’m using a wireless modem, that is not included in the list in VirtualBox (VB) ?
How can I test to see what version of the NIC cards is VB using? The modem has a sim card. I checked the diagnostics program for the modem it says it has a serial number and an imei number. I didn’t see anything talking about a MAC address


Q: I have set up a VM with NAT networking, but it can't access internet while my Host system can.
This question matches my situation, but the answer left me puzzled. Reference was made of UDP and GRE protocols. My question is, isn’t NAT designed so that internet access can be achieved from the host without them?

I returned to the guest operating system and carried out the test of typing
http://66.102.9.99

I got this message
“Unable to connect.
Firefox can’t establish a connection to the server at 66.102.9.99

This doesn’t leave me any wiser knowing whether the first entry in the DNS list is being utilized or not, not to even talk about failing over the next entry in the list.

I’m not using any of the listed firewalls. No firewall is installed on the guest (at least for now)

Do I need to bother with Microsofts RDP as vRDP works out of the box?

I then went to another site,
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/serverguide/C/dns.html

This was talking about “bind”.

Reference was made to
sudo apt-get install dnsutils

This package" dnsutils", is meant to be useful for testing and troubleshooting DNS issues.

To be able to use this you have install it (which requires internet access, which I don’t have on the guest). I have internet access on the host, but I can’t share folders, because I can’t access the updates on the internet from the guest, which will allow me to set up file sharing.

I’m wondering how does one go about troubleshooting DNS in this situation?

I went to the /etc folder looking for bind, to be told that
“/etc/bind” no such file or directory”

If “bind” is the only way to solve this, how can I get bind, without internet access from the guest, and not being able to share drives/folders between the guest and the host? This stuff is all new to me, I didn’t realize all this work was required for a beginner.

I then tried to find out what information is on the system that might be of some help.
I went to System->Administration->Network Tools
IN the “Devices” tab
It has two network devices listed.
1) Loopback interface (lo)
Protocol_____IP Address_____Netmask/ Prefix_____Broadcast______Scope
Ipv6________::1___________128_______________________________Host
Ipv4________127.0.0.1_____255.0.0.0

Interface information
Hardware address: Loopback
Multicast: disabled
MTU: 16436
Link speed: not available
State: active

Interface statistics.
Transmitted bytes: 15.2KiB
Transmitted packets: 200
Transmission errors: 0
Received bytes:15.2KiB
Received packets: 200
Reception errors: 0
Collisions: 0

2) Ethenet interface (eth0)
Protocol_____IP Address_____Netmask/ Prefix_____ Broadcast______Scope
Ipv6 _______::_____________0 _______________________________ Unknown
Ipv4________0.0.0.0________0.0.0.0

Interface information
Hardware address: 08:00:XX:XX:XX:XX
Multicast: enabled
MTU: 1500
Link speed: not available
State: active

Interface statistics.
Transmitted bytes: 0.0 B
Transmitted packets: 0
Transmission errors: 0
Received bytes:0.0 B
Received packets: 0
Reception errors: 0
Collisions: 0

I mentioned before that the internet connection from the host had to be closed, before internet connection can be launched from the guest. Now the internet host connection remains open (after having removed the modem from the USB section in VB settings). However, I noticed that when Ubuntu opens within VM, when the mouse is over the network icon, it says.

"Adapter1 (NAT) : cable disconnected"

I went to the settings section of VB, the box "Enable network adapter check box" is selected ie there is a tick inside of it. So I'm left wondering why am I getting such a message?
Sasquatch
Volunteer
Posts: 17798
Joined: 17. Mar 2008, 13:41
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Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by Sasquatch »

That tooltip explains it all. You have disconnected the virtual cable of the interface. Open the network settings of the VM, then click on Advanced. You can enable the cable there. You can change this even when the VM is running, by right clicking on the network icon in the status bar.

As for your FAQ questions, the one about bridging does not apply for you, because you do not use your wifi or wireless router to connect to the internet. You use a wireless modem. Such devices cannot be used with bridged.
The other tests failed because of the above: you didn't have an actual network connection in the VM. When you restore it, things should go a lot smoother.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

Retired from this Forum since OSSO introduction.
ocj
Posts: 6
Joined: 1. Jul 2011, 16:55
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Ubuntu linux 10.04.2

Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by ocj »

Sasquatch
I went and followed your advice, went to Settings->Network->Advanced and clicked the box for Cable connected.

The network icon now says : Adapter1 (NAT) IP:10.X.X.XX cable connected.

I then launched Ubuntu and was able to successfully connect to the internet.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, for your patience and helping me. You were literally my lifeline here, my options were almost exhausted (the only other option was to pay some extremely high fees to a freelance consultant). Thank you, thank you and thank you again.
Sasquatch
Volunteer
Posts: 17798
Joined: 17. Mar 2008, 13:41
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows XP, Windows 7, Linux
Location: /dev/random

Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by Sasquatch »

That's why we are here :). Why pay someone who might know what is going on, or fixes it in two seconds and charges you a full hour, when there is a great community you can ask for help. That only costs a bit of time :). And you learn more too.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

Retired from this Forum since OSSO introduction.
ocj
Posts: 6
Joined: 1. Jul 2011, 16:55
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Ubuntu linux 10.04.2

Re: No internet connectivity from Ubuntu guest

Post by ocj »

What you said is perfectly true :!: But it is not always the case, when you are new (and know nothing) people care or even if they do care, the workload they have so much you are forgotten about, or worse ignored.
I'm grateful for your time and patience with this. It made a big difference, thanks.

Also this service is free, even when you pay, the service you get is not always what one would expect. So for me I'm doubly grateful.
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