virtualbox.org

hi

i want to do something, but i couldn't find the way to do it, so maybe it's impossible with virtualbox

i want a virtual network that work like this (all):

- guests can see (ping) each other like if they were connected physically with a switch

- guest can access internet, so they need to access to the host network adapter


and...

- do not want the guest virtual interfaces to be on the same network segment of host physical interface

- do not want to discuss the previous point (i prefer virtualbox over vmware, but this...)

so...

NAT: gives me only one ip adress to every guest so they can access to internet but not between guests

Bridged network: it allows guest to communicate between them and access to the physical interface (for internet access) but they need their self ip address on the physical network.

internal network: it allows guest to communicate between them (not tried, but i suppose it) but they can't access to the physical interface (for internet access)

host only: it allows guest to communicate between them but they can't access to the physical interface (for internet access). simply i cant' understand why the virtualbox DHCP does not give a default gateway address to guests


it is possible to set the config i want with virtualbox? thanks!

The only way that this is possible is to use Internal between the guests.
You will then need to setup another guest to handle the routing and this Guest will have (2) interfaces. One set to the internal net and the other to the Internet. Nat or Bridged whichever suites your fancy. I prefer pFsense for the routing but you can even strip down and Xp to do this using ICS.

The situation is really no different with virtual machines than it is with physical machines. If you want the guests to be be in a different network from the host (and any other physical machines) but also want Internet access, you need some form of NAT or proxy. With physical machines you would have the "local" machines on a switch with a NAT router linking them to the Internet (or another network with Internet access).

The corresponding setup for a group of virtual machines is pretty much as Perry described. You put the guests on an internal network and link that network to the physical network through a multihomed vm. (I personally do not like trying to route through the host). What software you run as the router/firewall is up to you. You can use a simple Windows or Linux NAT router or any of the third party firewall products. It depends on what you waht to do.