IP-address and DHCP reservation with Fusion on macOS Big Sur

[Faim-Media]

Hi,

I've had this problem on three machines already that I've upgraded from Catalina to Big Sur in combination with Fusion 12.

I've added (at the bottom of the file) a DHCP reservation to the /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/dhcpd.conf file, with the following lines:

 

host fusion.test {
    hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:db:27:63;
    fixed-address 192.168.121.100;
}

 

This was working perfectly in Catalina, but since the upgrade I just get an IP-address in the same range, but ending with .2
The mac address hasn't changed since the upgrade. I've tried releasing and renewing the IP address on the guest, even tried setting a static address on the guest, removing the network adapter and re-add, but that all doesn't work. It seems  not honor the DHCP reservation, or even the range for that matter, because it should be between .128 - .254, but it assigns .2.

How can I fix this, or how can I set a static address for my client? The adapter is shared with my Mac.

With kind regards,

Tim

[snobis]

I have kind of the same problem. Even without a fixed address, my Windows guest always gets a 192.168.xxx.2 address via vmnet8. The config in /Library/Preferences/VMware\ Fusion/vmnet8/dhcpd.conf explicitly defines a range between .128 and .254 (of my manually choosen subnet). Additionally, in /var/db/vmware/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet8.leases the MAC of my guest is explicitly mentioned and associated with an address like 192.168.xxx.134. But still, no luck getting any valid address via DHCP for my guest. The guest always gets the .2 address. What's worse: This is the address DHCP assigns for DNS (but the NAT host/gateway that also provides DNS is on .1). Thus network in the guest is quite broken (using plain IP works, but no name resolution is possible).

I tried to manually override some of the configuration files, like assign a different IP for the DNS server. But that does not work. When I shutdown Fusion, edit e.g. /Library/Preferences/VMware\ Fusion/vmnet8/dhcpd.conf and the restart Fusion, my changes are gone and the config file has been overwritten (I have no clue where the data is saved that is used to overwrite the config files).

It seems Fusion on Big Sur is currently in a rather shaky state (at least NAT/DHCP). My current workaround is to configure IP statically inside the guest and not use DHCP.

I hope this will get fixed soon. And any hints where Fusion currently stores its master settings for vmnet8 nat.conf and dhcpd.conf are also welcome!

[dmpm]

The reason seems to be explained here: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Fusion-Discussions/Big-Sur-hosts-with-Fusion-Is-vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet8-leases-file/m-p/2298927/highlight/true#M140003,

 

TL;DR: Big Sur does not allow Fusion to run its own DHCP server and forces it to use Apple's implementation.

[simonanthony]

Yep, same problem. Thereby removing at a stroke one of the principal points for Fusion Professional (i.e. multiple subnet support). I have vmnet1, vmnet2, and vmnet3 in addition to the NAT vmnet8 to demonstrate and test various networking configurations. I do not believe that using Apple DHCP is a viable workaround.

[dmpm]

Agreed, multiple host-only subnets without DHCP is the only reason I went for Pro.

[nancyz]

Hi  ,

The IP range for VMs has been changed on Big Sur. You may need to reset the IP range. Here's a link for your references:https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/80793. Hope it could help.

 

[dmpm]

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately it still seems to start a DHCP server. Setting a static IP in every VM every time is very annoying, and also creates a security risk (there is an active internet gateway in the private network that can route traffic outside of my dedicated firewall VM).

[jaearick1]

I found a solution to this mess at the bottom of 

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Fusion-Discussions/Big-Sur-hosts-with-Fusion-Is-vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet8-leases-file/m-p/2298927/highlight/true#M140003

but I will post it here too.  Create the file /etc/bootptab on your Mac via a terminal sudo/root login.  Also, read the manpage for bootptab first.  The file /etc/bootptab does not exist in "Bug" Sur and its creation will not affect your Mac's ability to boot up.  

In my case, for a Centos 8 vmware host named "blorg", I created the following file:

# bootptab file for Big Sur and VMWare Fusion 12.1 to get fixed IPs working

%%

# hostname hwtype hwaddr ipaddr bootfile

blorg.local 1 00:0c:29:28:25:f7 172.16.20.251 boot

After installing this file and rebooting my Centos vmware host, I properly got the 172.16.20.251 IP number I wanted for host "blorg".  This IP number is in the upper half of the class C 172.16.20.x, as specified in the /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8 file.  The vmnet8 file was what I previously used in Catalina to specify fixed IP numbers, with "host" declarations therein.  Note: I did not know what to use for the hwtype and bootfile args, so I just followed the example from the manpage and it worked.

[TJF_DENVER]

been trying a couple ideas here on getting my VMWARE FUSION GUEST OS to stick to a static IP.

still not working ... yet, parallels has no problem handling this situation in their GUI interface ... it would be nice if VMware fusion developers show their product some love and incorporate static IP assignment to a guest OS within their GUI ... if parallels can do it, VMWARE should be able to as well

 

my 2 cents

[Technogeezer]

What version of Fusion and what version of macOS are you using.  If you're running Big Sur, you won't be able to easily hard-wire the DHCP provided IP address. With Monterey and later, VMware returned to using its own DHCP service for its NAT and host-only subnets with Monterey - that made it possible to return to using the same method of hard-wiring the addresses used in Catalina and earlier. 

How are you attempting to set the static IP?

For bridged networking, you have to set the fixed address using the configuration of whatever is providing the DHCP services to that network. Nothing Fusion related there. 

For NAT (vmnet8) or host-only (vmnet1) shut down Fusion and then edit the file dhcpd.conf found in the folder /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet1 or vmnet8 (you may need administrative access to edit this)

Look for the marker line (usually on the last line of the file in its default configuration):. 

####### VMNET DHCP Configuration. End of "DO NOT MODIFY SECTION" #######

Add an entry after that line for each host you want to fix the IP address for similar to the following

 

host debian13 {
hardware ethernet 00:0C:29:88:CE:A3;
        fixed-address 172.16.101.75;
}

The host name can be the short host name of your VM.

The hardware ethernet address is the MAC address of the virtual network adapter (you can find this within the VM by examining its networking configuration).

The fixed-address is the IP address you want to hard-wire to the VM. The address needs to be on the subnet that the VM is configured for (see the "subnet" entry earlier in the dhcpd.conf file). The address should be outside the range that the DHCP server is automatically providing (see the "range" item earlier in the file).

Yes, it would be nice if VMware added the ability to "stick the static IP" to the GUI. You can suggest that VMware consider that by posting in https://communities.vmware.com/t5/Fusion-Feature-Requests/idb-p/fusion-ideas

 

[TJF_DENVER]

Thank you for the reply.

I've tried using NAT (vmnet8) ... sudo modified the dhcpd.conf file adding to the bottom:

host mtcrhel9 {

    hardware ethernet 00:0C:29:9E:C8:41;

    fixed-address  192.168.1.25;

}

 

... verified the MAC ID is proper ... I changed the Network Adapter to "Share with my Mac" (which should force/use NAT when assigning an IP) ... 

 

recycled VMware (on the host machine) ... kicked up the guest VM ... I can never get the guest (ubuntu 20.04) to pickup the 192.168.1.25 ... it still wants to assign the 192.168.135.x IP address 

any further suggestions troubleshooting wise?

[Technogeezer]

What macOS version are you running.? This won’t work on Big Sur.

It looks to me like that the vmnet8 dhcpd is configured to hand out addresses on the 192.168.135.0/24 (netmask 255.255.255.0) network. (If you post the dhcpd.conf file we can check that out). You are trying to configure dhcpd to hand out an address (192.168.1.25) that isn’t on the subnet. You can’t do that. Change the address you are trying to hand out to 192.168.135.25 and see if that works. 

[TJF_DENVER]

thank you.  that was it.   I adjusted my range, recycled VMware Fusion ... and the guest then came up with the newly assigned IP ...

 

appreciate the assistance 

[bauern]

A big disappointment. Just upgraded Fusion and Mac OS. 
Hope there will be a fix to this. 
Working with lab "copy of customers real environment" on the go.
Need it's own DHCP setup integrated with AD. 

Anyone have a workaround other than downgrade ?

 

With kind regards

Knut Erik 

 

[nancyz]

Hi  ,

The IP range for VMs has been changed on Big Sur, this could be get in /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/nat.conf,  Could you try to  reassign the IP in your AD server and check if that could resolve your issue? Here's a link for your reference:

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/80793 Hope that could help.