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Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 215
Chapter 11 Configuring a Virtual Network
OnaWindowshost,thesoftwarethatcreatesthehostvirtualadapterisinstalledwhen
youinstallVMwareServer.OnaLinuxhost,youmustselecthostonlynetworking
whenyourunvmware-config.pltoinstallthehostvirtualadapter.
Common Networking Configurations
Thefollowingsectionsillustratethenetworkingconfigurationsthataresetupwhen
youselectoneofthestandardnetworkingoptionsintheNewVirtualMachinewizard
orwhenyouaddoreditavirtualnetworkadapter.
Bridged Networking
Bridgednetworkingconnectsavirtualmachinetoanetworkbyusingthehost
computersnetworkadapter.IfyourhostcomputerisonanEthernetnetwork,thisis
oftentheeasiestwaytogiveyourvirtualmachineaccesstothatnetwork.Thevirtual
networkadapterinthevirtualmachineconnectstothe
physicalnetworkadapterin
yourhostcomputer,allowingittoconnecttotheLANusedbythehostcomputer.
Bridgednetworkingmakesthevirtualmachinevisibletoothercomputersonthe
network,andtheycancommunicatedirectlywiththevirtualmachine.
Figure 11-1. Bridged Networking Setup
How to Set Up Bridged Networking
BridgednetworkingissetupautomaticallyifyouselectBridgedintheNewVirtual
Machinewizard.OnLinuxhosts,thisselectionisavailableonlyifyouenablethe
bridgednetworkingoptionwhenyourunvmware-config.pl.Youcansetup
additionalvirtualbridgesforcustomconfigurationsthatrequireconnectionstomore
thanonephysicalnetworkadapteronthehostcomputer.LinuxandWindowshosts
canusebridgednetworkingtoconnecttobothwiredandwirelessnetworks.
host
network
adapter
virtual
network
adapter
virtual network switch
(VMnet0)
virtual machine
virtual bridge