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webworm
Asked: 2011-02-02 13:47:09 +0800 CST

VMWare networking mode (NAT or Bridged)?

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I am running Windows 7 within a virtual Machine from my Mac. I use Windows 7 for Visual Studio primarily and also to host a dev install of IIS. There are two things I need and I am not sure what networking mode is needed ...

  1. I need to be able to reach the IIS server (running on the VM) via HTTP from the Mac.

  2. The web browsers on the virtual machine need to be able to access the internet.

    Any suggestions? Thanks.

networking nat bridge vmware-fusion

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    For your requirements the NAT mode should work for you, just as a reminder.

    • NAT Mode : Your host computer (the Mac) will act as a gateway to the network for your virtual machines, nobody on your network (apart from the Mac) will be able to see them since they're sitting in a separate network

    • Bridged Mode : Your host computer (the Mac) will share its network connection with the virtual machines, they'll be sitting as if they were another computer on your network, everyone on the network will see them and be able to interact with them.

    Both options will give you internet access if your host computer has Internet access.

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  2. You want bridged. Bridged will give it an IP from your network. So it will give you are 192.168.1.whatever number.

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  3. Not VMWare, I use Virtualbox and I just setup the guest with two NICs. One for NAT, for accessing the internet. The other with Host-Only network, allowing me to access the IIS Server on the guest.

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