In this post we’ll be looking at networking the virtual machines we made in the last post

Prerequisites

Software Needed

• Hypervisor Software: in this guide i used Oracle VirtualBox but there are other software such as VMwareWorkstation or Proxmox
• ISO Files: all can be found on their respective sites 1
  • EndeavourOS
  • Fedora Desktop
  • Ubuntu Desktop
  • Ubuntu Live Server
• Hardware Requirements:
• At least 8 GB of RAM
• 20 GB of disk sapce per virtual machine
• Processor with virtualisation support

Network Configuration

Host-Only Adapter

• Name: Example Adapter
• IPv4 Address: 192.168.32.1
• Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

NAT Adapter (for Internet Access)

• This adapter will be used to provide internet access to the virtual machines.

Step 1: Configure the Host-Only Adapter

In VirtualBox:

1. Open VirtualBox and go to File > Host Network Manager.
2. Click Create to add a new host-only adapter.
3. Set the adapter’s details:
   • IPv4 Address: 192.168.32.1
   • Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
4. Ensure DHCP Server is disabled to manually assign IP addresses.
5. Save the settings.

Step 2: Attach Virtual Machines to the Internal Network

1. Open the settings for each virtual machine
2. Go to the Network section.
3. Set Adapter 1 to:
   • Attached to: Host-Only Adapter
   • Name: Example Adapter
4. Add Adapter 2 : Attached to : NAT
5. Save the settings

Step 3: Assign Static IP Addresses

General Network Details

• Gateway: 192.168.32.1
• Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
• IP Ranges:
  • Fedora: 192.168.32.10
  • EndeavourOS: 192.168.32.20
  • Ubuntu Desktop: 192.168.32.30
  • Ubuntu Live Server: 192.168.32.40

Fedora

1. Open the terminal and edit the network configuration file:

   bash
   
   sudo nano /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens33
   

2. Add or modify the following lines:

   bash
   
   BOOTPROTO=none
   IPADDR=192.168.32.10
   NETMASK=255.255.255.0
   GATEWAY=192.168.32.1
   DNS1=8.8.8.8
   

3. Restart the network service:

   sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager
   

EndeavourOS

1. Edit the network configuration:

   bash 
   
   sudo nano /etc/systemd/network/20-wired.network
   

2. Add the following:

   bash
   
   [Match]
   Name=ens33
   
   [Network]
   Address=192.168.32.20/24
   Gateway=192.168.32.1
   DNS=8.8.8.8
   

3. Restart the network service:

   bash
   
   sudo systemctl restart systemd-networkd
   

Ubuntu Desktop

1. Edit the Netplan configuration file:

   bash
   
   sudo nano /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml
   

2. Add the following configuration:

   network:
     version: 2
     renderer: networkd
     ethernets:
       ens33:
         dhcp4: no
         addresses:
           - 192.168.32.30/24
         gateway4: 192.168.32.1
         nameservers:
           addresses: [8.8.8.8]
   

3. Apply the configuration:

   bash
   
   sudo netplan apply
   

Ubuntu Live Server

1. Edit the Netplan configuration file:

   bash
   
   sudo nano /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml
   

2. Add the following:

   network:
     version: 2
     renderer: networkd
     ethernets:
       ens33:
         dhcp4: no
         addresses:
           - 192.168.32.40/24
         gateway4: 192.168.32.1
         nameservers:
           addresses: [8.8.8.8]
   

3. Apply the configuration:

   bash
   
   sudo netplan apply
   

Step 4: Test Connectivity

1. Ping the Gateway: From each VM, test the connection to the gateway:

   bash
   
   ping 192.168.32.1
   

2. Ping Between VMs: Test communication between the VMs:

   bash
   
   ping 192.168.32.20  # From Fedora to EndeavourOS
   ping 192.168.32.30  # From EndeavourOS to Ubuntu Desktop
   
   

3. Test Internet Access: From each VM, check internet connectivity:

   bash
   
   ping google.com
   

Step 5: Troubleshooting Common Issues

1. VMs cannot communicate with each other on the internal network

• Ensure all VMs are connected to the same Host-Only Adapter and the adapter name matches across the configurations.

2. VMs cannot reach the internet through the NAT adapter

• Check that the NAT adapter is correctly added as a second adapter in the VM settings. Verify that the NAT network is active in VirtualBox.

3. IP conflicts between VMs on the internal network

• Double-check the static IP configurations and ensure each VM has a unique IP address.