Odd DHCP assignment

[jtgd]

I am running Mandriva under VMware on a Windows host. Initially networking did not work, but I ran Kmenu/System/Configuration/Configure your computer/Network & Internet and set it to do DHCP. Then networking to the internet worked.

However I am not able to communicate to the host computer. The host, and the rest of the LAN, is set for 192.168.1.* with the gateway at 192.168.1.1. The Mandriva VMware guest OS got assigned 192.168.152.128. I assume that they cannot communicate because of the different subdomain. I am addressing the host with it's fixed IP address (not by name) 192.168.1.200.

I'm not sure what went wrong or how to fix it. Dunno why it got assigned the .152. or how to force it to provide .1. If I try to setup with ifconfig, things don't work, but maybe I am doing something wrong there too.

Any ideas?

[KenJackson]

Figure out which DHCP server supplied the address. I can think of two possibilities:
* Your gateway, or
* VMware on an (internal) NAT network.

The book I'm looking at is for Workstation 4, but I doubt if it's changed. VMware sets up four types of virtual networks: bridged, NAT, host-only, or custom. If it's a NAT network (or maybe custom) there is an internal DHCP server that probably assigned it. You can configure the range of addresses assigned in VMware Virtual Network Settings.

But if it was assigned by your gateway, log into the gateway and look at it's settings. It's network mask may be set differently than your computer's. Either change the gateway or change your Windows PC.


BTW, you run Mandriva in VMware on Windows--I sometimes run Windows in VMware on Mandriva. But I think I have an andvantage. I setup a TightVNC server under Linux, which gives me a virtual X display in which I start VMware. That way I can keep Windows running in VMware even when I log out of Linux. Then I can access either Linux or Windows remotely from work over my VPN.

Can you log out of Windows without shutting down Linux?

[jtgd]

Figure out which DHCP server supplied the address. I can think of two possibilities:
* Your gateway, or
* VMware on an (internal) NAT network.

The book I'm looking at is for Workstation 4, but I doubt if it's changed. VMware sets up four types of virtual networks: bridged, NAT, host-only, or custom. If it's a NAT network (or maybe custom) there is an internal DHCP server that probably assigned it. You can configure the range of addresses assigned in VMware Virtual Network Settings.

I've been running bridged, so probably it came from the router.

I could not find the place in VMware (I'm running 5.5) where you can set the range. Do you know where that is?

But if it was assigned by your gateway, log into the gateway and look at it's settings. It's network mask may be set differently than your computer's. Either change the gateway or change your Windows PC.

Unfortunately the router is unreachable.

BTW, you run Mandriva in VMware on Windows--I sometimes run Windows in VMware on Mandriva. But I think I have an andvantage. I setup a TightVNC server under Linux, which gives me a virtual X display in which I start VMware. That way I can keep Windows running in VMware even when I log out of Linux. Then I can access either Linux or Windows remotely from work over my VPN.

Can you log out of Windows without shutting down Linux?

That sounds like a nice feature but not something I need. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

[KenJackson]

If you are running bridged, VMware is unlikely to be the problem or solution.

On Mandriva, run "/sbin/ifconfig eth0" and see what the mask is.
On Windows, run "ipconfig" to see what its mask is.

The two masks should match. But I wonder if the DHCP-assigned mask is something like 255.255.192.0 or even 255.255.0.0. If it is, and if the Windows mask is not the same, then that's the problem. Just change the Windows mask (control panel -> network -> something) to match.

But if they are both 255.255.255.0 then you do have an odd situation. It probably is caused by the router (DHCP server), so if you can't access it maybe you shouldn't use DHCP.

[jtgd]

If you are running bridged, VMware is unlikely to be the problem or solution.

On Mandriva, run "/sbin/ifconfig eth0" and see what the mask is.
On Windows, run "ipconfig" to see what its mask is.

The two masks should match. But I wonder if the DHCP-assigned mask is something like 255.255.192.0 or even 255.255.0.0. If it is, and if the Windows mask is not the same, then that's the problem. Just change the Windows mask (control panel -> network -> something) to match.

But if they are both 255.255.255.0 then you do have an odd situation. It probably is caused by the router (DHCP server), so if you can't access it maybe you shouldn't use DHCP.

Here is the output:

Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet8:

* *Connection-specific DNS Suffix *. :
* *IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.152.1
* *Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
* *Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet1:

* *Connection-specific DNS Suffix *. :
* *IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.52.1
* *Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
* *Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

* *Connection-specific DNS Suffix *. :
* *IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.200
* *Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
* *Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

As you can see the LAN is 192.168.1.* and the VMware is 192.168.152.* is the culprit.
So, is there a way to force the VMware (workstation 5.5) to use 192.168.1 ?

[KenJackson]

As you can see the LAN is 192.168.1.* and the VMware is 192.168.152.* is the culprit.
So, is there a way to force the VMware (workstation 5.5) to use 192.168.1 ?

That output came from Windows. It would be good to also see what Mandriva reports, since they both have to be configured correctly. I don't think it's VMware that has to change, but Mandriva running inside VMware.

If you prefer graphical menu methods, you should be able to click (in Linux):
Start -> System -> Configuration -> Configure My Computer -> (root password) ->
Network & Internet -> Reconfigure a network interface
and then click and type until it's right. Change the protocol from DHCP to static.

Alternately, you can edit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 to look something like this:

DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
IPADDR=192.168.1.201
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
BROADCAST=192.168.1.255
ONBOOT=yes
METRIC=10

One thing though: I'm a little unsure that you are actually running bridged, and since I use the Linux version of VMware, what I see may be different that what you see. But if you go to the "Virtual Machine Settings" page and click Ethernet1, does it say "Bridged"? If you are running bridged, I would expect the VMware Network adapters to have "Bridged" in the name. If you are in "Host-only" mode then you have to have Windows do the routing for you (or switch VMware to bridged).

[jtgd]

Thank you very much Ken for all your advice. Yes, it is bridged.

In the vmnetdhcp.conf file in "Document and Settings/.../VMware" I found the config for vmnet8. In it was the culprit, 192.168.152.0. We changed all occurrances of "152" with "1". Now I can access the host as well as the internet.