VMWare Fusion 13.6: No internet connection after upgrade to macOS Sequoia

[Michael Parkin]

Hi all,

I’m at a total loss here and hoping someone has insight. Ever since updating to macOS Sequoia, none of my VMs in VMware Fusion 13.6.3 (Apple Silicon) have network access. This includes both existing VMs (like Windows 11 ARM) and brand new ones created after the update.

What I’ve Tried:

• ✅ Installed VMware Fusion from scratch using the official documentation

• ✅ Removed all prefs and system files: /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion, ~/Library/Preferences, etc.

• ✅ Reinstalled and rebooted multiple times

• ✅ Created new VMs (clean Windows ARM install from ISO)

• ✅ Tried both NAT and Bridged network settings

• ✅ Tried different virtual NIC types (vmxnet3, e1000e)

• ✅ Gave Fusion Full Disk Access

• ✅ Checked for any blocked system extensions in Privacy & Security (none appear)

• ✅ Tried different macOS user accounts

• ✅ Ran vmnet-cli --start (returns "Failed to initialize")

What I'm Seeing:

• Windows shows no network connectivity ("No internet access")

• Device Manager in Windows shows no usable network adapter unless I manually install VMware Tools and load vmxnet3 — but even then, no connection

• macOS does not list VMware Fusion under Settings → Privacy & Security → Network

It really seems like macOS Sequoia is silently blocking vmnet or related extensions, but not providing any approval prompts like in previous macOS versions.

Has anyone gotten VMware networking working under Sequoia? Is this a known issue, or is there a way to manually reauthorize vmnet system/network extensions under Sequoia?

Any help would be appreciated — I’ve run out of ideas and would love any insight and would be more than happy to send any logs if someone could tell me how to do that!

Thanks :)

Attached is a problem report and the vmware.log file for reference!

Generated Quick Problem Report

vmware.log

[Michael Parkin]

Thanks for the detail response! Sorry about posting the screenshot on Bridged, I was moving between things and must have mixed things up. I have subsequently moved it back to NAT and left it there.

Just an update from my side and some things I have tried based on your advice and input:

If that works, try manually configure the VM's DNS resolver to your ISP-provided DNS resolvers - or to your network router's DNS server?

Initially this did not work, but then your comment on bridge0 and everything being behind it intrigued me. I went and attempted to disable and destroy bridge0 on my Mac with:

sudo ifconfig bridge0 down
sudo ifconfig bridge0 destroy

Once I did this, and had the DNS set to my router on the VM the internet came back - after long last the first step of progress I have seen!

I am not sure why it got stuck behind bridge0 but it did. I can also report that changing the DNS to cloud flare (1.1.1.1) and google (8.8.8.8) also gave me internet access, regardless of whether the bridge0 was destroyed or not - so that is extremely positive. So you were absolutely right about the DNS being the issue.

I am not sure how en0 (my primary network) got placed behind there but that was clearly the culprit. I have checked and I have nothing that should require that and I have attempted to use my VPN subsequently and it still works as expected.

So, I went ahead and reset my network config using this command in the terminal (for any future readers who this may help):

sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist
sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

Then after restarting my computer and using NAT connection type, with auto-assigned DNS, it seems to be working as expected!

Thank you so much for all of your help in diagnosing and troubleshooting the issue!

[Technogeezer]

Networking has been working fine for me on both Windows 11 ARM, Fusion 13.6.3 and Linux with Sequoia (all releases through 15.0 through 15.5). Theres something different between your setup and mine. 

• ✅ Gave Fusion Full Disk Access

Fusion doesn't need full disk access. 

• Device Manager in Windows shows no usable network adapter unless I manually install VMware Tools and load vmxnet3 — but even then, no connection

This is to be expected unless you've installed Windows 11 ARM using the media obtained by Fusion's "Get Windows from Microsoft" feature. Fusion injects the vmxnet3 driver into the created ISO media when using this feature. ISOs downloaded from Microsoft's web site or built from UUPdump don't have the VMware network driver. You will need to install the driver in the OOBE process when Windows complains that it doesn't have a network connection (starting with 24H2 there's an option to locate and install a network driver -- the unofficial guide and posts here in the form will tell you how to do that). . 

• macOS does not list VMware Fusion under Settings → Privacy & Security → Network

There's no such setting. The setting is called "Local Network", not "Network", and it's normal for Fusion not to be included (nor is it necessary).

• ✅ Ran vmnet-cli --start (returns "Failed to initialize")

Normal. The background processes aren't started in that manner any more. 

Have you checked these things:

• Do the Fusion virtual network settings look correct (from the Fusion menu bar, VMware Fusion > Settings... > Network)?
• When the Fusion GUI is started, are the background processes for Fusion active? In a standard virtual network configuration, you should see one vmnet-natd process, two vmnet-dhcpd processes and one vmnet-bridge process. Example:

% ps -ef | grep -i vmnet
    0 13094     1   0 10:56AM ??         0:00.02 /Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion/Services/Contents/Library/vmnet-bridge
    0 13101     1   0 10:56AM ??         0:00.03 /Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion/Services/Contents/Library/vmnet-dhcpd -s 6 -cf /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet1/dhcpd.conf -lf /var/db/vmware/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet1.leases -pf /var/run/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet1.pid vmnet1
    0 13107     1   0 10:56AM ??         0:00.16 /Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion/Services/Contents/Library/vmnet-natd -s 6 -m /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/nat.mac -c /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/nat.conf
    0 13109     1   0 10:56AM ??         0:00.02 /Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion/Services/Contents/Library/vmnet-dhcpd -s 6 -cf /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/dhcpd.conf -lf /var/db/vmware/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet8.leases -pf /var/run/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet8.pid vmnet8

. 

• Have the VMs actually received an IP address and DNS address from either Fusion (when running in NAT mode) or your network (when running in bridged mode)?
• Is what you're seeing a network connectivity problem or a DNS resolution problem? Try getting IP addresses and pinging them instead of trying to use hostnames.
• As a related note, can you ping the host via IP address? The host should be reachable via its primary IP address, and if using NAT networking the Mac host has an xxx.xxx.xxx.1 address on the NAT subnet.  
• Are you running any third party firewall products (example Little Snitch) or VPN software (such as Cisco AnyConnect)? If so, can you disable them and try again.

You may want to collect a quick support bundle (Help > Collect Support Information > Quick) and post it so folks here can take a look at it. 

[Michael Parkin]

Thanks for the response!

As you noted, I know a lot of the troubleshooting steps were unnecessary but I have been trying to fix this issue for months (since Sequoias original release) so I was trying anything and everything to get it working, but have only now decided to post on the forum.

Also, I did attach the quick report and vmware.log file in my original post but have re-attached them here too.

To answer your questions:

Do the Fusion virtual network settings look correct (from the Fusion menu bar, VMware Fusion > Settings... > Network)?

Yes, virtual network settings look correct and are identical to before the upgrade.

When the Fusion GUI is started, are the background processes for Fusion active? In a standard virtual network configuration, you should see one vmnet-natd process, two vmnet-dhcpd processes and one vmnet-bridge process. Example:

I think the background processes for Fusion are all active. See below:

% ps -ef | grep -i vmnet
    0  1762     1   0 12:03PM ??         0:00.04 /Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion/Services/Contents/Library/vmnet-bridge
    0  1765     1   0 12:03PM ??         0:00.01 /Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion/Services/Contents/Library/vmnet-dhcpd -s 6 -cf /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet1/dhcpd.conf -lf /var/db/vmware/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet1.leases -pf /var/run/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet1.pid vmnet1
    0  1769     1   0 12:03PM ??         0:00.74 /Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion/Services/Contents/Library/vmnet-natd -s 6 -m /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/nat.mac -c /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/nat.conf
    0  1771     1   0 12:03PM ??         0:00.02 /Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion/Services/Contents/Library/vmnet-dhcpd -s 6 -cf /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/dhcpd.conf -lf /var/db/vmware/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet8.leases -pf /var/run/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet8.pid vmnet8
  501  1927  1915   0 12:23PM ttys000    0:00.00 grep -i vmnet

Have the VMs actually received an IP address and DNS address from either Fusion (when running in NAT mode) or your network (when running in bridged mode)?

Previously yes. I will be honest and say since it was months since it worked properly I can't remember which it received, but I had used it in full working order before the update.

Is what you're seeing a network connectivity problem or a DNS resolution problem? Try getting IP addresses and pinging them instead of trying to use hostnames.

I believe a network connection issue, as it shows no network connected (and doesn't say it's connected to ethernet but has no network). It tried to connect to ethernet briefly and then fails on the guest OS. Can you give me more guidance on how I can double check this?

As a related note, can you ping the host via IP address? The host should be reachable via its primary IP address, and if using NAT networking the Mac host has an xxx.xxx.xxx.1 address on the NAT subnet.  

Using NAT I tried to ping the host and it doesn't time out, showing 4 packets sent and received so that's something.

Are you running any third party firewall products (example Little Snitch) or VPN software (such as Cisco AnyConnect)? If so, can you disable them and try again.

I am not using any firewall software (and macOS's built in one is disabled) and have my VPN softwares off and quite, so they shouldn't be affecting anything.

Thanks again!

[Technogeezer]

>   ... as it shows no network connected (and doesn't say it's connected to ethernet but has no network). It tried to connect to ethernet briefly
>  and then fails on the guest OS. Can you give me more guidance on how I can double check this?

In the Windows guest, open a command prompt and run:  ipconfig /all

> Using NAT I tried to ping the host and it doesn't time out, showing 4 packets sent and received so that's something

That says to me that the basic network connectivity is working. It may be that DNS resolution isn't working properly.

Thanks for the logs, I'll take a look and see if there's anything there.

One thing, we've had reports in the forum of some VPN software causing issues with Fusion's DNS resolution (especially NAT). Could you uninstall the VPN software (not simply disable it) and see if it makes any difference. Or check to see if your VPN vendor has an update?

[Michael Parkin]

One thing, we've had reports in the forum of some VPN software causing issues with Fusion's DNS resolution (especially NAT). Could you uninstall the VPN software (not simply disable it) and see if it makes any difference. Or check to see if your VPN vendor has an update?

Okay so I have gone ahead and uninstalled my VPN app (Surfshark) and so far it has made no difference, both in Bridge mode and NAT. So it doesn't seem to have been that.

In the Windows guest, open a command prompt and run:  ipconfig /all

I went ahead and did this, and then pinged some of the ip addresses and it seems to be responding (see screenshot below):

Let me know if there is anything else I can do while you look at the logs!

[Technogeezer]

Initial views of the logs indicate that the virtual network interfaces are set up properly and look to be connecting to the VM.

Since you are able to ping the host, can you try to ping your router as well by its IP address?

If that works, try manually configure the VM's DNS resolver to your ISP-provided DNS resolvers - or to your network router's DNS server?

It's interesting that all of your physical network adapters are configured behind a bridge (bridge0 in the netstat output) . And that the bridge is inactive. In my setup, macOS is reporting the existence of bridge0, but my primary network connection (wi-fi) is not a member of that bridge. Only inactive physical devices are members of bridge0.

[Technogeezer]

I saw your latest post after my last response. 

It looks like now you're connected via a bridged connection (the IP address shown in the screen shot doesn't match the NAT network or the host-only virtual network configurations). It looks like you got an IP address for the VM, a gateway, and a DNS server. My assumption is that the gateway and DNS server are for your router (and should be the same as you find from the Mac).

Your ping output in the screen shot shows that you can ping the virtual machine from itself. Let's try the following to see what's working and what isn't:

• Verify that the Mac's IP network and its gateway/router are the same as the VMs. (If you run a System Report on the Mac, and then check the "Network" section, you should find this information.)
• Ping the gateway/router from both the Mac and the VM.
• Ping the host Mac from the VM (the Mac's IP address should be found in the system report as well),
• Clear the resolver cache in the VM by running the following in a command prompt in the VM: ipconfig /flushdns
• Try to resolve an IP address (such as google.com) in both the Mac and the VM using nslookup.
• If you don't get a IPv4 address by running nslookup in the VM, then ping the IPv4 address you got from nslookup in the Mac.

[Peter Haslebacher]

Hi all

I had similar problems after copying a VM from one MacBook to another. When starting the VM on the new machine I got the "Could not connect 'Ethernet0' to virtual network '/dev/vmnet8'" error and no internet connection.

What helped in my case was trashing the VMware Fusion app and all VMware related files in /Library/Preferences, /Library/Application Support,  ~/Library/Application Support, ~/Library/Caches and ~/Library/Preferences (see https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/307074/how-to-uninstall-vmware-fusion-manually.html) and reinstalling Fusion. After that I got NAT working but not Bridge.