Windows – How to access the local server on the VirtualBox virtual machine

macmacosvirtual machinevirtualboxwindows

Here's my setup:

  • I have a local server running on my machine (Mac OS, Snow Leopard). I can access it via my browser by doing

    localhost:3000

  • I have a virtual machine using Virtual Box running a windows XP. If I try to access using localhost:3000, it fails. Same thing if I use the ip of the Mac machine.

  • The virtual machine has access to the internet.

How can I access my local server in my virtual machine?

Best Answer

How do you have your network setup in the Virtual Machine?

It sounds like you might have it setup using NAT. In this situation, if your host machine(Mac) has a non-routable(private) IP address such as 192.168.x.x, you will not be able to reach the host from within the virtual machine. The reason you cannot reach the host from the guest is that you are essentially setting up 2 separate private networks. Your Mac computer is on one (192.168.x.x) and your VM on another (perhaps 10.x.x.x) and you essentially have a router between them. Since routers will not route private IPs, the two networks can never communicate with each directly.

If you want your host and guest machines to be able to communicate, you will probably want to setup your VirtualBox network adapter to be attached to the "Bridged Adapter." This will share your internet connection with the virtual machine and allow your guest machine to talk to the host. In this situation you are essentially adding your VM as an additional node to the local network your Mac is already on.

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