How to network host to guest in Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2?
The official release of yet another discovery of server virtualization technologies is available for *FREE* download on Microsoft’s web site. Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 caught my eyes soon in a way that I am almost done with transferring all my virtual machines from VMWare to this great product. I have also installed it on my laptop and since my laptop has no physical net connection, I had quite a hard time to configure networking connection between guest and host operating systems. It is fairly easy to do so in VMWare by utilizing VPN connection (Host only –VMNet1), but in virtual server 2005 ,you must follow some steps to properly setup the connection.
1)Log in to the host computer using an administrator account
2)Install Microsoft Loopback adaptor on the host OS only.For more information on how to install Microsoft Loopback adaptor check this link
3)Make sure Virtual Machine Network Services is checked in Microsoft Loopback adaptor
4)Set Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the host to use an static IP address from a non-routable range like 192.168.x.y
Note: The tricky part is here. First of all x in host IP address must be exactly same as x in guest IP address (You should set the guest OS to use an static IP address too, you will see it later in this post). Leave the subnet mask to be 255.255.255.0 on the host and do not set a value for default gateway. The most important part is that if your primary Ethernet card or any other adaptor (in my case, my VMWare VPN) is using x ,then you won’t be able to connect host to guest. In that case you must choose a different value for x.
5)Set Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the guest to use an static IP address from a non-routable range like 192.168.x.z. As I mentioned above x must be same as the host ,and again no default gateway
6)file and printer sharing must be exempted from the guest’s firewall (if you are planning to remote desktop to the guest computer from the host ,do the same for remote desktop as well)
7) Go to virtual server administration console and change your virtual network to use Microsoft Loopback adaptor . If the option is not there uninstall/reinstall the Virtual Server 2005. restart the guest operating system and you should be good to go!
