Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT vmware] Networking Gentoo as guest on vista

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

On Tuesday 22 April 2008, 17:48, reader@×××××××.com wrote:

> I'm hoping some of you here have run gentoo on a windows host and will
> know something about the various networking possibilities.
>
> My setup:
>
> Wireless connected laptop running windows vista premium home
> Local lan network connected to internet via cable.

Which version of vmware? Workstation of server? I assume server in the 
following.

> Home router has the internet connection and wireless laptop is joined
> into lan by a WAP (Wireless access point).  With static ip addressing
> (not dhcp).
>
> When setting up gentoo in the virtual machine you have two main
> approaches to networking.  Bridged and Nat.
>
> Can anyone tell me which is best suited for my setup.  I'd prefer not
> to have to setup wireless networking and just use the host connection.
>
> Starting the 2008.0 minimal iso file in vmware... I end up with a
> working network immediately without doing a thing.
>
> Maybe I can just transfer those settings somehow but there are no
> setting in /etc/conf.d/net on the install disk.
>
> It appears to have gotten an address from a dhcp server built into
> vmware.  [[added by HP -ed] However it offers addresses on the wrong
> subnet for my local lan and I see no way to edit or change the subnet
> it defaults too.]

What setting did you choose for guest networking when creating the 
virtual machine? bridged or NAT?

> I don't want to jerk around with wireless settings for the gentoo
> install and would prefer to connect thru the hosts ip and nameserver,
> letting the hosts wireless capabilities handle the wireless
> connection.
>
> Should I use `Bridged' or `Nat'.  And how to set it up after making
> that decision?  I suspect NAT is the answer since that works right out
> of the box with 2008.1 minimal install *.iso.
>
> However as mentioned above, that method ends up using a subnet that
> does not match my local lan.  The host can connect via ssh to the
> livecd but no other part of the lan can (using NAT).

Basically, NAT creates a "private" network between the host's vmnet8 and 
the guest's eth0. The host automatically performs NAT and IP forwarding 
on behalf of the guest(s) connected to vmnet8. Only the host's IP 
address is visible to the outside world. So, the private NAT network 
between the host and the guest must NOT match the wireless network. In 
any case, you can configure the DHCP pool used by NAT using vmware's 
virtual network configuration utility.
As with every NAT setup, if you want external hosts to be able to reach 
services behind the NAT, you have to configure port forwarding. With 
vmware server for windows, you find these settings in "Manage virtual 
networks" -> "NAT" tab -> "edit..." -> "Port forwarding...".

Bridged networking, otoh, puts the guest on the very same network of the 
host (actually, virtual device vmnet0, which is a virtual switch bridged 
to the host's physical adapter); this means that the guest must be 
assigned an IP address in the same network of the host, and is seen by 
other hosts on the network just as another regular computer.
Yes, with windows hosts only (alas) you can bridge the guest's eth0 with 
a wireless adapter in the host, so you can use bridged networking if you 
want.

Also, reading the "networking" chapter in the vmware server virtual 
machine guide may be useful.

Hope this helps.
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