Host Only Networking: basic issue

[mike004]

VBox 2.2.4
Host: SUSE 10.0
Guest: Win XP

I decided to look at the Host Only networking feature.
I selected the Host Only Networking option for the WinXP guest OS.

* A vboxnet0 interface is created on the host, with an IP address of 192.168.56.1.
* The guest is allocated an IP address of 192.168.56.3
* I am using the built-in VB DHCP server at 192.168.56.2

Issues:
* I can ping from guest to host, but cannot ping from host to guest

Any ideas on this?
Thanks
Mike

[vbox4me2]

Firewall? wrong gateway on Guest?

[mike004]

Firewall? wrong gateway on Guest?

Turning off firewalls does not seem to improve matters. Does ping use a specific port that needs to be enabled?

Gateway on the guest is set to 192.168.56.1 (the vboxnet0 interface on the host)

More ping details:
Host ping to host (192.168.56.1) OK
Host ping to guest (192.168.56.3) FAIL
Guest (192.168.56.3) ping to guest (192.168.56.3) FAIL
Guest (192.168.56.3) ping to host (192.168.56.1) OK

[vbox4me2]

If the Guest can't ping itself it has to be a firewall issue, what type of firewall is the Guest using? try a Guest ping to its localhost.

[mike004]

If the Guest can't ping itself it has to be a firewall issue, what type of firewall is the Guest using? try a Guest ping to its localhost.

The WinXP guest uses Symantec Client Firewall.
Pinging to localhost on the guest works OK.
Do I need to open a port, or enable a certain application to access my guest OS?

Thanks
Mike

[vbox4me2]

Firewalls such as that typically keep blocking stuff even when switched off, only NAT needs port forwarding. Remove it to see if this is the case.

[mike004]

Firewalls such as that typically keep blocking stuff even when switched off, only NAT needs port forwarding. Remove it to see if this is the case.

Turning off the WinXP firewall allows the WinXP guest to ping itself:
Guest (192.168.56.3) ping to guest (192.168.56.3) FAIL
But host to guest ping still fails:
Host ping to guest (192.168.56.3) FAIL

I don't understand your comment about NAT and port forwarding. Surely host only networking does not use these?
Thanks,
Mike

[vbox4me2]

The Symantec Client Firewall is sitting in the way, remove it to see if it solves the problem.

[mike004]

I turned off Symantec Firewall, but still cannot ping from host to guest.
Removing the firewall completely is not an option. The IT department at my company would not like the security implications.
Thanks
Mike

[vbox4me2]

Thats besides the point, this way you will never know whats blocking. The world ain't black and white, removing a security measure for test purposes does not mean you can't reinstall it.