Access host's mac address from within a virtual machine?

[jorgwel]

Hi,

Is it possible to get the host's mac address from within a Windows XP virtual machine?? My host is a Debian.

I truly belive not, I mean, it goes against everything I understand about virtual machines (wich is not that much xD).

Any help will be appreciated.

[mpack]

There is no direct way to get the MAC address of a host NIC, because host NICs are not visible to the guest. The guest only sees its own (virtual) NICs, if you provided any, and these have their own MAC addresses.

[jorgwel]

mpack,

Thanks for your answer,

I belive what you say, that's what I thought. But what do you mean with "direct way"? Is there another chance to get the host's mac adress from within a virtual machine?

Please kindly respond.

Thanks again.

[BillG]

Here is a hint. How would you get the MAC address of another physical machine?

[jorgwel]

Ok BillG, thanks for the hint.

I have to deny the access from my VM to the NIC of my host. Maybe selecting the "Not connected" mode for the VM will work.

That's what I was looking from the beginning.

The thing is that I'd really like to permit web navigation in my VM...but that belongs to another post.

Thanks mpack and Billg for your time.

[smartysmart34]

How about using bridged network-mode, pinging the host and reading the arp-cache?

[mpack]

How about using bridged network-mode, pinging the host and reading the arp-cache?

Requires cooperation from the VBox user (by selecting bridged mode), and (assuming "ping" is shorthand for network discovery in general) you need the host network name, else all you discover is the MAC addresses of other PCs on the same network. I believe the OP is asking if the licensed software he wants to rip off could find out the hosts MAC address without his cooperation.