USB wifi adapter shows under bridge adapter not in USB settings

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
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Sapper
Posts: 5
Joined: 4. May 2019, 15:04

USB wifi adapter shows under bridge adapter not in USB settings

Post by Sapper »

I'm going to start this off with some background information on my situation.

I recently got Kali Linux on the virtualbox and I've been trying to use my Asus USB-AC56 802.11ac wireless USB adapter to be able to learn things like pen testing. However, when I follow any tutorial, i'm told to select the wifi adapter in the USB settings. I however only see my mouse, keyboard and a Realtek 802.11 NIC (which i assumed represented the WIFI adapter?). However that only seems to disconnect the wifi adapter from my host and the wifi adapter doesnt seem to be on after that.

I have the USB extensions installed. I have tried using Bridged/Nat network settings. I'd appreciate any help. Thank you!
andyp73
Volunteer
Posts: 1631
Joined: 25. May 2010, 23:48
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Assorted Linux, Windows Server 2012, DOS, Windows 10, BIOS/UEFI emulation

Re: USB wifi adapter shows under bridge adapter not in USB settings

Post by andyp73 »

There are two things that have somehow been merged together in your thinking...

If you use NAT or bridged for the networking in the guest configuration then the physical network hardware continue to belong and be owned by the host. A virtual wired Ethernet adapter is presented to the guest - typically the Intel 82540EM for modern guests.

If you want your Kali guest to have control of the Wi-Fi adapter and be able to manage its own connections to wireless networks then it needs to be a USB WiFi adapter and you need to setup a USB filter to capture it accordingly. If you only have one USB WiFi adapter in the system and you capture it for the guest then it will be removed from the host.

As a result... if you want your host to connect to a wireless network and also want your guest to be able to independently be able to connect to wireless networks then you will need two different adapters at least one of which needs to be USB.

-Andy.
My crystal ball is currently broken. If you want assistance you are going to have to give me all of the necessary information.
Please don't ask me to do your homework for you, I have more than enough of my own things to do.
Sapper
Posts: 5
Joined: 4. May 2019, 15:04

Re: USB wifi adapter shows under bridge adapter not in USB settings

Post by Sapper »

andyp73 wrote:There are two things that have somehow been merged together in your thinking...
Thank you for your response andyp73!

I do understand that the USB wireless adapter would be disconnected from the host computer. I've been trying to have it switch to the guest computer when using Kali Linux. And I do understand that you need to create a USB filter for the USB device. In my case however, when I go into the USB settings to create the filter, the USB device is not there. It simply doesnt show.

I'm sorry if I have gotten confused in anything. I've been trying to learn about Kali Linux and the things in it. I do appreciate your help in clarifying things for me.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: USB wifi adapter shows under bridge adapter not in USB settings

Post by mpack »

Please provide a VM log file. With the VM fully shut down, right click it in the GUI. Select "Show Log" and save "VBox.log" (no other file) to a zip file. Attach the zip here.
Sapper
Posts: 5
Joined: 4. May 2019, 15:04

Re: USB wifi adapter shows under bridge adapter not in USB settings

Post by Sapper »

Thanks for your response mpack!

I have attached the zip file.
Attachments
Kali-Linux-2019.1-vbox-amd64-2019-05-07-18-04-56.log.7z
(23.54 KiB) Downloaded 58 times
Sapper
Posts: 5
Joined: 4. May 2019, 15:04

Re: USB wifi adapter shows under bridge adapter not in USB settings

Post by Sapper »

I figured out what was wrong.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: USB wifi adapter shows under bridge adapter not in USB settings

Post by mpack »

And?
Sapper
Posts: 5
Joined: 4. May 2019, 15:04

Re: USB wifi adapter shows under bridge adapter not in USB settings

Post by Sapper »

Okay so!

What I did was
apt-update
apt-get install realtek-rtl88xxau-dkms

However. Now that my adapter is actually being recognized within kali linux. It still is not receiving any sort of internet what so ever. So it still doesnt work. I've gotten closer to figuring it out but its still not working. Its a bit of a different problem now.
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