how to connect a VM from one computer to a server on another computer

Hi guys, I'm new to this forum and am learning how to use virtual machines and windows server. So right now here's my situation.

On my desktop PC named "I5" I have windows server 2012 R2 running in VMware workstation player. Server 2012 has a domain set up and also on I5 I have a windows 7 Professional client VM successfully connected to it. My OS for I5 is windows 10 home.

I have another desktop called "oldcomp" connected to the same router as I5. I have a windows 7 Professional VM workstation running on oldcomp that I want to connect to the domain on windows server running in VMware on I5. The OS on oldcomp is also windows 10 home. Can someone here please explain how I should do this and if there's any info you need from me?

Maybe I am not fully understanding or the issue it out of my league (no substantive experience with any version of Windows Server), but I would assume that if the Server 2012 VM is actively running on the "I5" PC & setup properly and the VMs networking is setup properly (i.e. the server sees and can fully access the local network), then it should show up as a server on the network to both host OSs and the Win 7 guest OS (that is actively running with proper VM networking setup) on the "oldcomp" just as if it was a physical server on the network. In other words, I don't believe there is anything special that is needed...but again I could be not fully understanding and/or out of my league.

When looking at the network from the VM's on I5, neither oldcomp nor it's WINDOWS 7 VM show up. From the VM on oldcomp, I5 and its VMs don't show up. 

Each VM is set to NAT under network adapter, except for the server VM. It's set to a virtual network.

Edited by jrobe29131, 19 April 2017 - 04:02 PM.

When looking at the network from the VM's on I5, neither oldcomp nor it's WINDOWS 7 VM show up. From the VM on oldcomp, I5 and its VMs don't show up. 
Each VM is set to NAT under network adapter, except for the server VM. It's set to a virtual network.

When looking at the network from either computer using the HOST OS (i.e. Windows 10), does the other computer show up? Do the VM "computers" show up?

 

When looking at the network from the VM's on I5, neither oldcomp nor it's WINDOWS 7 VM show up. From the VM on oldcomp, I5 and its VMs don't show up. 
Each VM is set to NAT under network adapter, except for the server VM. It's set to a virtual network.

When looking at the network from either computer using the HOST OS (i.e. Windows 10), does the other computer show up? Do the VM "computers" show up?

 

 

From the HOST OS on both computers, the other computer shows up, but the VM's on the other computer don't. 

Both HOST OS's are part of a workgroup. The two VM's on I5 are part of a domain. 

We have exhausted the "low hanging fruit" that I can think of. Now, it is likely something related to running domains in Windows (which I have zero experience with) potentially in combination with quirks of networking through a VM (which I also likely cannot help with as I have no direct experience with VMWare Player...only Parallels Desktop on a Mac). So, I likely will not be any further help.

Best I can suggest is to maybe temporarily switch to just a workgroup on the "oldcomputer" VM and use the same workgroup as the host OSs on both computers and then see if the guest OS on the "oldcomputer" can "see" the two host OSs on the network. This would at least help determine if there is some VM networking related issue that might be to blame.

Edited by smax013, 22 April 2017 - 02:00 PM.

Because you are using NAT in VMware for the VMs, they are unable to communicate with the VMs located on the other machine. If you can't ping a VM by computer name or it's IP address, then NAT is preventing the connection.

 

You would likely need to set the VMs to all use a bridged connection, as this would directly connect them to the LAN. Then make sure the VMs and computers are all on the same IP address space.

Because you are using NAT in VMware for the VMs, they are unable to communicate with the VMs located on the other machine. If you can't ping a VM by computer name or it's IP address, then NAT is preventing the connection.

 

You would likely need to set the VMs to all use a bridged connection, as this would directly connect them to the LAN. Then make sure the VMs and computers are all on the same IP address space.

 

Thanks sflatechguy,  that may be the reason and I'm trying to get it to work right now. Should all of the VM's be using a bridged connection setting in VMware?  I just set them that way and now none of the VM's have internet access. 

 

Do I need to change anything in my router's configuration?

So you can ping a VM on one host from a VM running on another host? You've got all the VMs and hosts on the same subnet?

 

Also, are the hosts using an Ethernet connection or are they connecting wirelessly? There are known issues with bridged mode when the host is using a wireless connection and is sharing it with a VM or VMs.

 

You may also need to go into the VMs and configure the DNS server settings to point to your router. Also check to make sure the default gateway information on the VMs points to your router.

Hey again. Sorry it's been a while.  

 

So far I still haven't resolved it. I can't get bridged connection to work with the VM. Only NAT allows the server VM on I5 to have internet access.

 

Typing net view from the VM server it shows only I5, it's host PC/OS. 

From I5 it shows both, I5, server and oldcomp.

From oldcomp it only shows oldcomp and I5

 

I'm confused about how DHCP is supposed to work using a VM.

Is the server VM supposed to get its DHCP IP address from my router or is windows server supposed to assign its own IP address to itself and client VMs? 

Also is the server VM supposed to use the same DNS server as its host OS or not?

 

-Jason 

 

So you can ping a VM on one host from a VM running on another host? You've got all the VMs and hosts on the same subnet?

 

Also, are the hosts using an Ethernet connection or are they connecting wirelessly? There are known issues with bridged mode when the host is using a wireless connection and is sharing it with a VM or VMs.

 

You may also need to go into the VMs and configure the DNS server settings to point to your router. Also check to make sure the default gateway information on the VMs points to your router.

Hey again. Sorry it's been a while.  
 
So far I still haven't resolved it. I can't get bridged connection to work with the VM. Only NAT allows the server VM on I5 to have internet access.
 
Typing net view from the VM server it shows only I5, it's host PC/OS. 
From I5 it shows both, I5, server and oldcomp.
From oldcomp it only shows oldcomp and I5
 
I'm confused about how DHCP is supposed to work using a VM.
Is the server VM supposed to get its DHCP IP address from my router or is windows server supposed to assign its own IP address to itself and client VMs? 
Also is the server VM supposed to use the same DNS server as its host OS or not?
 
-Jason

While I have never setup Windows Server, I would assume the answer to your questions is a function of how you want Windows Server to operate and how you set it up. I would assume you could have it setup as just a "dumb" computer server that does not have a DHCP running or set it up with a DHCP running...it would depend on what you want the server to do.

Still, even if Windows Server is setup as a DHCP, it should still be getting an IP address from the router's DHCP since router is what should be sitting right "behind" the modem, while the Windows Server is technically sitting "behind" the router. So, your router's DHCP should be giving an IP address to your Windows Server...assuming that you have VMWare workstation player and your VM setup properly to allow the Windows Server VM access to your local network. If everything is setup correctly in VMWare and the VM, then both the host computer and the Windows Server VM should get IP addresses from your router. For the "oldcomp", it would then depend on how you have the Windows Server set up and how you have both the "oldcomp" itself setup as well as VMWare and the VM on the "oldcomp" as to how they behave. If you have Windows Server setup with a DHCP running a private network "inside" your router's private network, then you could have the "oldcomp" and/or its VM point to either the router as the gateway (and thus on the router's private network and thus see both the main computer and the Windows Server) or the Windows Server's private network (and thus only see the server).

So, to me, it seems like you have potentially have a settings issue somewhere...whether in VMWare, the VM(s), or maybe the Windows Server setup.

What IP range is your router's private network using (will have to go into the router settings)? For both computers and both VMs, what each OS network settings set to in terms of whether the IP is static or obtained from a DHCP? For each OS network settings on each computer/VM, what is the gateway address (i.e. does it point to the router)? And for each OS network settings on each computer/VM, what is the assigned IP address?

Beyond that, there is then still the Windows Networking side of things to figure out at least related to Workgroups and/or Domains. And you will lose me again in this area as I have never quite figured out even some basics of Windows Networking. I have dealt with computers on the same network using the same Workgroup and they still don't see each other and I typically never figure out why.

Manage computer.

System->Properties->Computer Name.  Add the domain there...

You may need to make a domain controller as a virtual too.

Edited by GoofProg, 24 May 2017 - 08:50 AM.

My router is set to use IP addresses from 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.9

All PC's and VM's currently have internet access

 

JasonI5 

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.6(Preferred)  ***Set as static IP address in router***

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

 

 

 

 

 

Hey again. Sorry it's been a while.  
 
So far I still haven't resolved it. I can't get bridged connection to work with the VM. Only NAT allows the server VM on I5 to have internet access.
 
Typing net view from the VM server it shows only I5, it's host PC/OS. 
From I5 it shows both, I5, server and oldcomp.
From oldcomp it only shows oldcomp and I5
 
I'm confused about how DHCP is supposed to work using a VM.
Is the server VM supposed to get its DHCP IP address from my router or is windows server supposed to assign its own IP address to itself and client VMs? 
Also is the server VM supposed to use the same DNS server as its host OS or not?
 
-Jason

While I have never setup Windows Server, I would assume the answer to your questions is a function of how you want Windows Server to operate and how you set it up. I would assume you could have it setup as just a "dumb" computer server that does not have a DHCP running or set it up with a DHCP running...it would depend on what you want the server to do.

Still, even if Windows Server is setup as a DHCP, it should still be getting an IP address from the router's DHCP since router is what should be sitting right "behind" the modem, while the Windows Server is technically sitting "behind" the router. So, your router's DHCP should be giving an IP address to your Windows Server...assuming that you have VMWare workstation player and your VM setup properly to allow the Windows Server VM access to your local network. If everything is setup correctly in VMWare and the VM, then both the host computer and the Windows Server VM should get IP addresses from your router. For the "oldcomp", it would then depend on how you have the Windows Server set up and how you have both the "oldcomp" itself setup as well as VMWare and the VM on the "oldcomp" as to how they behave. If you have Windows Server setup with a DHCP running a private network "inside" your router's private network, then you could have the "oldcomp" and/or its VM point to either the router as the gateway (and thus on the router's private network and thus see both the main computer and the Windows Server) or the Windows Server's private network (and thus only see the server).

So, to me, it seems like you have potentially have a settings issue somewhere...whether in VMWare, the VM(s), or maybe the Windows Server setup.

What IP range is your router's private network using (will have to go into the router settings)? For both computers and both VMs, what each OS network settings set to in terms of whether the IP is static or obtained from a DHCP? For each OS network settings on each computer/VM, what is the gateway address (i.e. does it point to the router)? And for each OS network settings on each computer/VM, what is the assigned IP address?

Beyond that, there is then still the Windows Networking side of things to figure out at least related to Workgroups and/or Domains. And you will lose me again in this area as I have never quite figured out even some basics of Windows Networking. I have dealt with computers on the same network using the same Workgroup and they still don't see each other and I typically never figure out why.

 

Edited by jrobe29131, 28 May 2017 - 09:59 PM.

I think part of the issue is using a VM for the Windows Server. That is going to limit how you are going to set it up.

While I am certainly no expert on setting up Windows Server, I can see two basic ways that you might set it up.

The first is that it is just what I would call a "dumb" server for local use. In this case, you would NOT be running any sort of DHCP on the Windows server itself. It is just another device sitting on the network to be a file server for the other computers and also potentially acting as an Exchange server, web server, etc. In this mode, it would be set to point to router as its gateway, but then not create its own private/sub network.

The second basic way is that the Windows Server is also acting as a DHCP that then creates its own private/sub network of devices that get IPs from it. This can range from the simplest approach of it either sitting right behind the router or maybe even directly to the Internet connection (with it running some darn good firewall software) to more complex options that I don't really have much of clue about.

The first overall approach would be easy with your setup using it in a VM. You just need everything set to use the same private IP address range (i.e. everything set to use 192.168.0.x IPs).

I can see ways to potentially do the second approach, but overall going that route is much more complex, especially when you throw in the mix running Windows Server in a VM. You would need to be dealing with networking related stuff that is over my head while also dealing with VM related stuff AND Windows Server related stuff. In other words, the second overall approach is dealing with a combination of serious networking knowledge, VM knowledge, and Windows Server knowledge. And it will heavily depend on what you are specifically trying to accomplish with the setup (i.e. what do you want Windows Server to do for you).

The problem is that I am then no sure if there is a good forum since your problem likely is part networking, part Windows Server, and part VM using VMWare Player. I know pretty close to zero about Windows Server (played a bit with one at a small company I worked at that had no in-house IT, so I learned to do some basic stuff so we did not have to pay the consultant for minor crap). I am moderately proficient in networking stuff, but will get lost when you start having multiple subnet type setups. I am also moderately proficient with VMs, but only really know Parallels on a Mac in terms of specific VM software.

I wondering if you might be better served in another forum such as either the Networking forum or maybe the Windows Server forum. It might help if you describe what you are specifically trying to set the Windows Server up to do.

Not sure what the Internal NIC is supposed to be pointing to. I see it has an IP address, but that address is on a network that no other computer is using,  the default gateway is essentially point to all possible IP addresses (0.0.0.0) and the DNS is set to point back to the VM itself. That means unless that server has a DNS entry for something, any attempt to communicate through the Internal NIC is going to fail because the server won't know how to route the traffic.

 

Based on that information, JasonI5 and the oldcomp's can communicate with each other; external NAT can communicate with client 2, and Internal's traffic doesn't go anywhere. I don't see how traffic on either network can get out onto the Internet; the 192.168.65.x network is using a default gateway at 192.168.65.2, but that computer or router doesn't seem to exist. Which machine is using that IP address?