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by Marc Logemann.
Original Post: The VMWare hell
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Every now and then it happens that some software configuration problem occurs, where i cant peg away to solve it or at least to find out the reason why it doesnt work. I assume every software developer knows VMWare, its most likely the most valuable software around. Let me get this straight, i love VMWare and it normally runs like a charm. No problems, easy configuraion, evertything perfect. BUT...
...it happens that i have two issues which are a little bit scary. First of all, i only have a wireless NIC in my desktop PC. But i learned very fast over the last days, that bridging over a wireless NIC somehow ... hmmm.. doesnt work. Not with my Netgear USB NIC, not with a replacement Realtek PCI NIC (later you will read that Centrino WiFi works). Of course, as an official customer, i contacted VMWare Support and after two days of communication (i am very skilled now when it comes to VMWare and Network sniffing), they ended up giving me a bug number. The good thing is, they noted it as a bug, the bad thing, this doesnt help me in any way.
Ok, even though bridging was my prefered way of communication, i stepped back to NAT, while VMWare tries to solve my bug. I reconfigured VMWare to use NAT (VMNet8) and it worked. Wow, fine. But i had to re-install my Checkpoint VPN Software in order to get on some customer machines. After VPN installation, i wasnt able to acticate the virtual VMWare NIC (VMNet8) anymore. Same for Host-only (VMNet1) Adapter. I again opened a support request, and after the first very unpleasant response, they are trying to solve this one. Perhaps i will get another bug id, who knows. But i also know that its not necessarily a VMWare problem, because the Checkpoint Software rejects the activation from VMWare as it seems, so i also contacted Checkpoint Support.
So where are am i right now... Bridging doesnt work at all and everything else will be blocked by my VPN Software. I get a tip from another customer of VMWare to buy a dedicated wireless NIC for bridged mode. I ve done it and we will see in a few days. After that trip i will sell some hundred wireless NICs.
But there is light. I also have a notebook and thanks god, its an IBM Thinkpad with Centrino chipset. And guess what? There bridging works with VMWare, my explanation for this is that IBM is most likely the biggest customer of VMWare, because all their consultants using VMWare and its better for EMC to service them. I can even install Checkpoint inside the Guest.
There are ways, but boy, i worked on that for about 15 hours now. If you guys have a wireless network and want to use a VPN with VMWare (on the host), you will have a terrible hard time. But after all, i am convinced that i will get a working solution soon. You are better of not using wireless at all with VMWare host, but i dont have any cabled stuff anymore, sadly for this issue.
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