Use 1 network card for 2 VMs?

ridergroov1 · Post by **ridergroov1** » 6. Oct 2008, 02:45

Hi folks. I'm trying to find out if I need to have 1 physical network card to set to bridge with a virtual interface per virtual machine. When I try to attach 2 VMs to one, I get an error when starting the next VM. Any help appreciated. Thanks!

Post by **Dest** » 6. Oct 2008, 16:06

you need to create 1 virtual interface PER running virtual machine.

Post by **Sasquatch** » 6. Oct 2008, 21:58

You need a separate HIF if you run Guest systems simultaneous. Only if you run one at a time, you can share the interface.

ridergroov1 · Post by **ridergroov1** » 7. Oct 2008, 18:29

Well I know that you have to add a seperate host interface for each virtual machine but you can only bridge one real nic with one host interface correct?

Post by **dmcgraw** » 7. Oct 2008, 19:01

It would help if we knew some more details.

VB Version
Host O/S
Guest O/S
NIC

Post by **Dest** » 7. Oct 2008, 19:07

No.. you can add as many interfaces to your bridge as you want. I currently have 5 in mine - 1 legit, 4 HIF

After you add more HIF's, just right click on them and select "Add to bridge"

ridergroov1 · Post by **ridergroov1** » 8. Oct 2008, 18:32

Is there a reason that bridging would be grayed out? Having that problem now on a different machine. thanks!

Post by **Dest** » 8. Oct 2008, 18:47

bridging is gray'd out if you only have 1 network card selected... you have to select 2 or more to create a bridge.

But once you have created the bridge you should be able to right click on a given nic and say "Add to Bridge"

ridergroov1 · Post by **ridergroov1** » 9. Oct 2008, 00:05

Right and I do have 2 network cards select but they will not bridge. It's still grayed out.

Post by **Sasquatch** » 9. Oct 2008, 00:20

ridergroov1 wrote:Right and I do have 2 network cards select but they will not bridge. It's still grayed out.

Vista Host by any chance? If so, run the network center with Administrator privileges, or disable UAC, reboot and bridge them. You can re-enable UAC afterwards.

ridergroov1 · Post by **ridergroov1** » 9. Oct 2008, 02:34

Nope. I have Vista working fine as host with bridging. Another XP box I have will not bridge.

Post by **Sasquatch** » 9. Oct 2008, 22:05

ridergroov1 wrote:Nope. I have Vista working fine as host with bridging. Another XP box I have will not bridge.

Any policies set by chance? You might not know about it, but you can always check in the registry editor to see if there are any policies set (there are 4 locations where they can be, in HKCU/HKLM\Software\policies and \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies).

Is XP home actually able to create a bridge? I can't find it with a quick google search. I do know that Home has a lot of additional network support stripped/removed/left out compared to XP Pro.

ridergroov1 · Post by **ridergroov1** » 10. Oct 2008, 22:56

No XP home. XP Pro for both.

Post by **mpack** » 11. Oct 2008, 11:25

Sasquatch wrote: Is XP home actually able to create a bridge?

Yes, bridging is possible on XP Home - I've done it on my home PC (WinXP Home Edition SP2).

Post by **Sasquatch** » 11. Oct 2008, 13:25

mpack wrote:
Sasquatch wrote: Is XP home actually able to create a bridge?
Yes, bridging is possible on XP Home - I've done it on my home PC (WinXP Home Edition SP2).

Thanks for the info. As I don't have and use XP Home, I didn't know if they kept that function or not.