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Common networking configurations
VMware Workstation provides virtual
networking components that let you create a wide range of configurations. The
following types of networking are the most common for virtual machines:
- No networking. The
virtual machine is run in isolation, and cannot communicate with the host
operating system or any other virtual machine running on the host. This option
is useful if you desire complete isolation for testing or security purposes. To
set up your virtual machine in this way, simply do not install a virtual Ethernet adapter when
configuring the virtual machine.
- Network Address
Translation (NAT). If you
want to connect to the Internet or other TCP/IP network using the host
computer's dial-up networking connection and you are not able to give your
virtual machine an IP address on the external network, this is often the
easiest way to give your virtual machine access to that network. The virtual
machine does not have its own IP address on the external network. Instead, a
separate private network is set up on the host computer. The virtual machine
obtains an address on that network from the VMware virtual DHCP server. >>More information
- Bridged networking. If
your host computer is on an Ethernet network, this is often the easiest
way to give your virtual machine access to that network. With bridged networking, the virtual
machine appears as an additional computer on the same physical Ethernet
network as the host. A virtual machine with bridged networking may
transparently use any of the services available on the network to which it
is bridged, including: file servers, printers, gateways, and so on.
Likewise, any physical host or other virtual machine configured with
bridged networking can use resources of that virtual machine.
>>More
information
- Host-only networking. A type of network
connection where the virtual machine is connected to the host operating system
on a virtual private network, which normally is not visible outside the host.
Multiple virtual machines configured with host-only networking on the same host
are on the same network. >>More information
On Linux, you also have the option to select both Bridged and Host-only Networking.
If you chose to install Samba when you installed
Workstation or if you already had Samba configured appropriately on your
host the guest operating system can share files with the host using the
facilities of the host-only network.
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