VirtualBox Networking – Using NAT and Host-Only Interfaces in Debian Guest on Ubuntu

debiannetworkingUbuntuvirtual machinevirtualbox

I created a Debian VM on VirtualBox with two interfaces: a NAT one (for accessing internet) and a host-only one. However, I do not know how to make both interfaces work at the same time. If I the define the host-only as the adapter 1, I can access my VM from the host but not the internet; if I define the NAT one as adapter 1, I can access the internet but cannot reach my guest Debian.

So, how could I make both interfaces work together?

Note: I am still trying to map some port from my host to the SSH port from my guest SO, so there is no need to suggest me to do it 🙂

EDIT: This is the output of ifconfig when the first adapter is the host-only one:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 08:00:27:f6:b2:45  
          inet addr:192.168.56.101  Bcast:192.168.56.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::a00:27ff:fef6:b245/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:495 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:206 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:48187 (47.0 KiB)  TX bytes:38222 (37.3 KiB)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:560 (560.0 B)  TX bytes:560 (560.0 B)

This is the output of netstat -nr when the first adapter is the host-only one:

Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags   MSS Window  irtt Iface
192.168.56.0    0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U         0 0          0 eth0

This is the output of ifconfig when the first adapter is the NAT one:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 08:00:27:f6:b2:45  
          inet addr:10.0.2.15  Bcast:10.0.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::a00:27ff:fef6:b245/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:53 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:59 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:6076 (5.9 KiB)  TX bytes:5526 (5.3 KiB)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:16 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:16 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:1664 (1.6 KiB)  TX bytes:1664 (1.6 KiB)

This is the output of netstat -nr when the first adapter is the NAT one:

Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags   MSS Window  irtt Iface
10.0.2.0        0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U         0 0          0 eth0
0.0.0.0         10.0.2.2        0.0.0.0         UG        0 0          0 eth0

Best Answer

The solution was pretty simple: I just had to add the following lines in Debian virtual machine's /etc/network/interfaces file:

allow-hotplug eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp

The second line instructs the interface to obtain an IP via DHCP. The first line loads the interface at boot time.

To apply the changes to a running system, invoke:

ifup eth1

The name for the eth1 interface may vary, use ifconfig -a to list all available interfaces.

EDIT: full /etc/network/interfaces:

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

allow-hotplug eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
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