Ethernet Adapter Settings Panel

Choose: VM > Settings > Hardware > Ethernet

In this panel, you can change your virtual Ethernet adapter and add additional virtual Ethernet adapters.

Make sure the virtual machine is powered off before you add or remove an Ethernet device.

You can set the following options in the Device status section:

•	Connected — Use this check box to connect or disconnect the virtual network adapter while the virtual machine is running.

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Connect at power on — Select this check box if you want the virtual network adapter to automatically connect to the virtual machine when it powers on. If you do not check this option, the network adapter is not available to the virtual machine when it first powers on. You can change this setting when the virtual machine is powered on or powered off.

You can make changes to the following options in the Network connection section when the virtual machine is powered on or powered off:

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Bridged — If the host computer is on an Ethernet network, bridged networking is often the easiest way to give your virtual machine access to that network. With bridged networking, the virtual machine appears as an additional computer on the same physical Ethernet network as the host. The virtual machine can then transparently use any of the services available on the network to which it is bridged, including file servers, printers, and gateways. Likewise, any physical host or other virtual machine configured with bridged networking can use resources of that virtual machine.

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NAT (Network Address Translation) — If you want to connect to the Internet or other TCP/IP network using the host computer’s dial-up networking connection and you are not able to give your virtual machine an IP address on the external network, this is often the easiest way to give the virtual machine access to that network. The virtual machine does not have its own IP address on the external network. Instead, a separate private network is set up on the host computer. The virtual machine obtains an address on that network from the VMware virtual DHCP server.

For Windows guests, you might want to use NAT until you finish installing and configuring antivirus software and firewall protection.

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Host-only — When you use this type of network connection, the virtual machine is connected to the host operating system on a virtual private network, which normally is not visible outside the host. Multiple virtual machines configured with host-only networking on the same host are on the same network.

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Custom — If you want to set up a more complex networking configuration, use a custom setup for one or more of the virtual network adapters. After selecting Custom, choose a virtual switch from the drop-down list. This connects your virtual machine’s adapter to that switch. All virtual machines running on the same host computer and connected to the same virtual switch are on the same virtual network. For more information, see the VMware Workstation User’s Manual.

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If the virtual machine is part of a team, you have the option of connecting the virtual network adapter, or NIC (network interface controller) to a team LAN segment, a virtual private network for the team. To connect to a team LAN segment, select Team: LAN segment. Use the drop-down menu to specify the team LAN segment to which you want to connect. For more information on configuring team LAN segments, see LAN Segments.

 

Note Take the following considerations into account when connecting to a LAN segment: NICs configured with connections through a DHCP server cannot connect to a team LAN segment. A virtual NIC can connect to only one LAN segment at a time. To connect a virtual machine to multiple LAN segments, the virtual machine must be configured with multiple NICs.