Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

VirtualBox: How to share a guest's (XP) internet with the host (OS X)

I have an internet connection that can only be used on Windows operating systems (our school requires that we install an .exe login client to connect to the dorm internet). As I am currently using a Mac, my goal is to get the internet running in XP in a virtual machine, and then share the virtual machine's internet with the host. Here's what I've done so far (I'm pretty new to all this, so sorry if I leave out anything important!):


1) Install VirtualBox, create a new XP virtual machine
2) Add a Bridged Adaptor NIC to the guest allowing it access to the ethernet port


With this, I can use the internet fine in the guest, but have no internet in the host. (Note: Making the NIC NAT does not work. When set to NAT, the login client in XP can't find the school's server and I can't use the internet). The next step is getting the guest to share it's internet with the host. Here's what I've tried:


3) Add a second Host-only Adaptor NIC to the guest specifying the following:


IP: 192.168.22.2
Network Mask: 225.225.225.0
DHCP Server unclicked (disabled)




4) In the guest, enable Internet Connection Sharing for the internet connection.


At this point, LAN 2 in the guest (the connection to the host, I think) gets automatically configured with an IP of 192.168.22.1 and the same mask as above. Back in the host, I can ping 192.168.22.1 and get a response. But no internet.


I feel like I'm missing a step, namely how do I instruct the OS X host to use the Host-only connection as its internet connection? I can see the connection ("vboxnet0") when I use ifconfig in the terminal but I have no idea how to use the connection for internet. Anyone know how I can do this?


Thanks for your help!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 8, 2013 9:34 AM

Reply
1 reply

Jul 9, 2013 5:31 AM in response to mchangstein

OS X is passing the Internet connection to the guest OS, it doesn't work the other way around.


You will have to install Windows into Bootcamp and I don't think XP is supported any longer, however Win 7 Pro+ will run most XP programs.


Windows in BootCamp or Virtual Machine?


You'll of course be booting the Mac directly into Windows and thus OS X won't be running, thus you can't share the Internet connection to OS X.


Another alternative is to use a Windows 7 Pro+ machine to connect to the network and then sharing it's Internet connection to the Mac via Ethernet cable or wirelessly.

VirtualBox: How to share a guest's (XP) internet with the host (OS X)

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.