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VirtualBox: How to set up networking so both host and guest can access internet and talk to
129
each other
networking virtualbox

I was wondering if someone could give me a simple guide on how to set up virtual networking in VirtualBox
(4.0.2) so that the following scenarios work:

Both Host and Guest can access Internet

Host can ping Guest and vice versa
Host can access for example an apache web server running on Guest and vice versa

I've been fiddling around with the various Network Adapters available in the settings for my Guest, but I'm
just not able to figure it out. Anyone that can help me out here?

The host is running Windows 7 32-bit and the guest is running Ubuntu 10.10 32-bit.

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Svish asked
5,027 ● 13 ● 32 ● 41 Jan 21 '11 at 13:56

I have the same setup set up with bridged networking. I had problems using the paravirtualsed network adaptor virtio-net,
it was very flaky. The emulated nics were fine though. – ollybee Apr 6 '11 at 20:34

I was tearing my hair out on this, I was already using Bridge Mode. What I needed to change was the name of the bridged
adapter - it was my Wifi network. When I changed it to my LAN it magically started working. No restart of the VM
necessary. – Sridhar Sarnobat Nov 15 '18 at 22:15

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5 Answers order by votes

Try this:
123
1. Setup the virtualbox to use 2 adapters:
The first adapter is set to NAT (that will give you the internet connection).
The second adapter is set to host only.
2. Start the virtual machine and assign a static IP for the second adapter in Ubuntu (for instance
192.168.56.56). The host Windows will have 192.168.56.1 as IP for the internal network
(VirtualBox Host-Only Network is the name in network connections in Windows). What this will
give you is being able to access the apache server on ubuntu, from windows, by going to
192.168.56.56. Also, Ubuntu will have internet access, since the first adapter (set to NAT) will
take care of that.
3. Now, to make the connection available both ways (accessing the windows host from the
ubuntu
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you acknowledge thatstill one more
you have step
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understand our CookieWindows will Policy,
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and our add the
virtualbox host-only network to the list of public networks and that cannot be changed. This
Terms of Service.
entails that the firewall will prevent proper access.
 4. To overcome this and not make any security breaches in your setup:
go to the windows firewall section, in control panel,
click on advanced settings. In the page that pops up,
click on inbound rules (left column), then on new rule (right column). Chose custom rule,
set the rule to allow all programs, and any protocol. For the scope, add in the first box
(local IP addresses) 192.168.56.1, and in the second box (remote IP) 192.168.56.56. Click
next, select allow the connection, next, check all profiles, next, give it a name and save.

That's it, now you have 2 way communication, with apache/any other service available as well as
internet. The final step is to setup a share. Do not use the shared folders feature in virtualbox, it's
quite buggy especially with windows 7 (and 64 bit). Instead use samba shares - fast and efficient.
Follow this link for how to set that up: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MountWindowsSharesPermanently

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Bogdan Nicolau answered

1,346 ● 1 ● 9 ● 3 Nov 22 '11 at 11:23

Ragnarokkr edited
103 ● 1 ● 4 Apr 15 '13 at 1:39

2 This worked perfectly. Thanks. Did not have to touch firewall etc. Still having problem with bridge. – FractalSpace Oct 12
'13 at 2:17

1 This also works for VirtualBox 5.0 / Windows 10 – Jess Aug 26 '15 at 4:48

I had to connect to a WIndows Server 2012 VM, and had to set inbound rules on both firewalls. Now it all works perfectly :)
– Alan Fluka Oct 6 '15 at 9:39

doesn't work with mac os guest – fire in the hole Jun 5 '17 at 7:24

But I am not able to connect to internet on guest machine(Mac OS X El Capitan) – Mansuu.... Jun 21 '17 at 7:24

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The best way to do this is to use a Bridge Adapter in virtualbox. In virtual box go to the settings for
37 your machine->Network->Adapter 1 and select Bridged Adapter. This will make you virtual machine
part of your main network.

If you have a dhcp server it should supply an address etc. to the virtual machine which will allow it
to communicate with the rest of your systems and vice versa.

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community wiki
user9517

answered
Jan 21 '11 at 14:19

When I did this I was not able to ping the Host from the Guest. Should I be able to do this? Is it something in my Host
By using our site, you
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the ping perhaps? – that youJan
Svish have
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14:44
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1 You may have to allow ping through your windows firewall have a look here for how to do that. – user9517 Jan 21 '11 at
15:27

If you still have problems pinging the machines from one another make sure that the Bridged adapter is connected to the
correct NIC card of the Host machine. For some reason sometimes VirtualBox attaches the Bridged Adapter to the wrong,
or to a non-existent Network Card on the Host. – isapir Aug 21 '16 at 22:54

@Hanginoninquietdesperation the link you provided on how to pass the firewall is dead – Francesco Dondi Nov 23 '16 at
14:35

1 worked for me (mac os guest) – fire in the hole Jun 5 '17 at 7:24

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Given the requirements, I would choose a "bridged" adapter.

13

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skoivisto answered
159 ● 4 Jan 21 '11 at 14:18

masegaloeh edited
16.8k ● 7 ● 45 ● 91 Oct 10 '14 at 1:02

1 But if I choose Bridged Adapter it disables OK button. – Gopal00005 Feb 2 '18 at 11:02
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Brecause you have to choose the network adapter as well prior to selecting OK. – 71GA Jan 23 at 8:42
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Setup host-only network and allow sharing of internet connection for that network. In this way you
1 will have virtual interface on host that will be connected to guest.

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gelraen answered
2,131 ● 16 ● 19 Jan 21 '11 at 14:00

How would I do this? I tried to use host-only network for the guest, but then it seems to use ipv6 and I couldn't ping in
either direction as far as I could understand... –  Svish Jan 21 '11 at 14:03

You can manually setup IPv4 addresses on both ends. – gelraen Jan 21 '11 at 14:13

Static IP you mean? There's no way of having the guests get their IP from DHCP? Or will they be like behind a NAT? Also,
what do you mean by "allow sharing of internet connection for that network"? How can I do that? –  Svish Jan 21 '11 at
14:17

Yes, static IP. It is better to have IP statically assigned if you want communicate with guest. With host-only guest will be
directly visible from host. Internet connection sharing in windows® configured on last tab in properties of your internet
connection. – gelraen Jan 21 '11 at 17:48

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ON virtualbox 5.2, it's real easy: Set up a bridged adapter for the guest.
0
When you start the guest, it will use the same network as the host, using DHCP to get its own IP
address.

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O. Jones answered
151 ● 1 ● 5 Apr 9 '19 at 0:12

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