apple mac virtual machine vmware

[UPDATED] VMWare Fusion: No Virtual Network Support

Virtual Machines are a big part of my life and is increasingly the case in the IT industry. In IT if you’re not willing to learn or embrace VM in some sense, you will be left behind. When it comes to VMs on the desktop, my favourite piece of software is VMWare Workstation. But since getting my Mac I have changed to VMware fusion. You’d think these would have the same feature-set. WRONG!

An important feature for me when testing an operating system and even at times a whole network, is the ability to isolate the network connection between two or more VMs using Virtual Networks. By standard you have three main options, Bridged, NAT, Host-only. To quickly explain:

  • Bridged – Connected directly to the host network. Act like another computer on a real network.
  • NAT – Route through the host computer to access the outer network
  • Host-Only – Direct and restricted connection between the VM and the host computer
Network Settings window from VMWare Fusion 4
One thing that is missing on the VMWare Fusion that is available on the Windows version is the ability to specify a virtual network. An isolated network that is separate to the host and real-world network. Completed disconnected.
While that doesn’t sound right or even beneficial, when testing and learning, isolating systems from existing networks is very handy.
So why not include it with the Mac version? I have not freaking idea. I am still looking for answer for this or even a workaround. When and if I find a solution, I will post it up.
Such a simple feature, but completely missing.

UPDATE: So I have found today that VMware have release Fusion 5 Professional which no incorperates a Network editor and the advanced options that I have been wanting for a while now.

To check out the new release and its features, check out http://www.vmware.com/products/desktop_virtualization/fusion/professional.html

2 thoughts on “[UPDATED] VMWare Fusion: No Virtual Network Support

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Daniel Bs Tech Blog

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading