Unable to edit iptables NAT rules

Output of lsmod | grep ip
ip_vzredir             36612  2
ipip                   48004  2 vzrst,vzcpt
tunnel4                36488  1 ipip
ip_vznetstat           36864  2
vznetstat              70956  3 vzredir,vznet,ip_vznetstat
ipt_ttl                34816  0
ipt_TCPMSS             37376  0
iptable_mangle         37888  2
iptable_filter         37760  2
xt_multiport           36352  0
ipt_tos                34560  0
ipt_REJECT             39556  0
iptable_nat            43532  4
ip_nat                 53520  2 vzrst,iptable_nat
ip_conntrack          101012  6 vzrst,vzcpt,iptable_nat,ip_nat
nfnetlink              40392  2 ip_nat,ip_conntrack
ip_tables              57440  3 iptable_mangle,iptable_filter,iptable_nat
x_tables               52744  11 xt_tcpudp,xt_length,ipt_ttl,xt_tcpmss,ipt_TCPMSS,xt_multiport,xt_limit,ipt_tos,ipt_REJECT,iptable_nat,ip_tables
ipv6                  450588  43 vzrst,vzcpt,vzmon
xfrm_nalgo             43780  1 ipv6
dm_multipath           52880  0
dm_mod                 99416  3 dm_multipath,dm_crypt,dm_mirror

All but ipt_state are present. I'm not sure why a state module would preclude editing the nat table, is this a common problem? At any rate, it would seem to the uninitiated (i.e. me) that iptables NAT is enabled from the above output.

Try flushing out the iptables entirely and resetting the modules.

iptables -t nat -F
iptables -F

and then

/sbin/depmod -a
modprobe ip_tables
modprobe ip_conntrack
modprobe iptable_filter
modprobe iptable_nat
modprobe ip_nat
modprobe ipt_limit
modprobe ipt_state

Another possible fix...

Virtuozzo 4 nat problem
http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=80342

I tried to solution from the Virtuozzo forum, I also thought that it looked very similar to my problem but it didn't have any impact. For whatever reason I'm pretty sure that the nat tables just aren't there. This is the status output for iptables:

# service iptables status
Table: mangle
Chain PREROUTING (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination        

Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination        

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination        

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination        

Chain POSTROUTING (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination        

Table: filter
Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination        

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination        

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination        

The filter and mangle tables are there, but no nat. I'm still casting around trying to find solutions but I have hit the limit of my linux expertise so it is slow going.

What happens if you do 'iptables -L -t nat'?

I stumbled upon these knowledge base articles as well...

How do I enable firewall in a VE?
http://kb.parallels.com/en/746

Iptables NAT module does not work in container
http://kb.parallels.com/en/5228

When I try _any_ iptables operation for the nat table (iptables -t nat ***) it fails with the same error message that the table doesn't exist. And based on what I can see I agere that the table doesn't exist. And I am trying to get the NAT to work on the host OS (hardware node in Virtuozzo speak), I'm not trying to get it running within any containers. I've been researching this thing like crazy and still nothing. Thanks for the ideas though, I appreciate the help. It will probably end up being one of those things where I end up kicking myself when the solution comes up.