Networking Problems with Debian Linux as a VMware Guest OS
I have a high-powered work laptop running Windows XP (with SP1).
I have VMware 4.5.2 build 8848 installed on it. This is the latest
available version which was released on June of this year.
I installed a jigdo'd Sarge image into a VMware Guest OS.
Debian is not officially supported, but they do have an 'Other Linux
2.4.x kernel' option.
VMware has two methods of providing network access for the Guest OS that
are typically used.
There is bridged, which means the Guest OS uses your physical adapter to
access the same network that your Host OS is on and it gets its own IP
address from that network.
There is also NAT, which means the Guest OS treats your physical adapter
like a gateway to another network and it gets its network info from a
DHCP server that is provided by VMware.
With Debian, bridged networking will acquire an IP address, but will be
unable to initiate any sort of network traffic. I can ping the Guest
OS. I can even SSH into the Guest OS. But I can not do anything *from*
the Guest OS.
If I use NAT networking, then the Debian Guest OS can initiate network
traffic for a little while. It will exhibit symptoms identical to the
bridged network problems if I do something that generates lots of
packets like run nmap.
VMware support has been completely worthless for the last two days since
I paid them $90 to help me. Debian isn't supported so they are suddenly
clueless about how to assist me. RedHat, SuSe, and Mandrake are all
fully supported, but that isn't what I want to run.
Anyway, I am sending this to the Debian list because their knowledge
base has a way to fix this for RedHat 9.0 Guest OS installations which I
have verified works. I downloaded the RedHat ISO images and installed
it as another Guest OS. It had the same networking problems, I applied
the changes listed in their KB, and the problems went away.
Can someone tell me how to apply the changes listed for RedHat in my
Debian installation?
The article from VMware is here:
http://www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=pt1JyYih&p_lv
a=&p_faqid=977
The crux is to modify the following files:
/etc/sysconfig/network-scriptsifcfg-eth0,
/etc/sysconfig/networking/devices/ifcfg-eth0, and
/etc/sysconfig/networking/profiles/default/ifcfg-eth0
by adding in the following:
check_link_down () {
return 1;
}
I can't figure out how to replicate this in Debian.
I installed the packages so that I can manage my ethernet adapter
through dpkg, but I still can't figure it out.
Thanks in advance.
-Jason
PS - I apologize in advance for the legal disclaimer at the bottom of my
email message. This is tacked on by our SMTP gateway and I have no
control over it.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Confidentiality notice:
This e-mail message, including any attachments, may contain legally privileged and/or confidential
information. If you are not the intended recipient(s), or the employee or agent responsible for delivery
of this message to the intended recipient(s), you are hereby notified that any dissemination,
distribution, or copying of this e-mail message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message
in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete this e-mail message from your computer.
==============================================================================
Reply to: