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farroarFlag for United States of America

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Ruckus Wireless - VMWare client not getting IP address

I have a ruckus wireless system with a ZoneDirector managing the APs. All is well in the world except for clients using VMWare. I have a Mac with a Windows 7 VM. The Mac gets an IP just fine but the VM doesn't for some reason. If I set the IP manually, then I can get on the network without trouble. It just doesn't seem to either be requesting an IP or one isn't being offered. I haven't had this problem anywhere else. I've tried to restart the host machine as well as the VM and the network hasn't come up. The router is acting as the DHCP server and is a Cisco 881. Could it have something todo with MAC addresses? Does the VM advertise a MAC address that isn't compatible? I can't imagine that would be the case but I can't think of anything else.

Oh, and if I connect the host machine via Ethernet then I have no trouble getting an IP on the host and the VM. Only on wireless.

Thanks!
Avatar of IanTh
IanTh
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is you wifi locked down by mac addresses

Is the a firewall enabled on the mac or vm

what ip do you get on the vm 196.254.x.x when it fails ?
Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
Are you using VMware Workstation?

What network interface settings Bridged Mode or NAT?
Avatar of farroar

ASKER

The wifi does not have any restrictions based on MAC address.

The firewall isn't enabled on the MAC or VM.

Eventually the VM times out and gets a link local address (169.254.x.x)

I am using VMWare Fusion for MAC.

The VM is set in bridged mode for the interface.

I think it is something to do with wireless since I can get an DHCP assignment on VM when connected directly via an Ethernet cable. In my mind that rules out issues with VMWare but I could be wrong.
In bridged mode, the IPs come from the LAN DHCP.
You may use NAT if you are not serving anything from the VM or just a fixed address.

It is hard to troubleshoot DHCP built in devices on EE.
You need to check your network config in Fusion, which isn't as easy to do as the config for Workstation. Basically, the Bridged setting is always slaved to the wired adapter, which is why you're getting addresses quickly when wired. When you manually set the address, you get on because the host is routing the traffic from the wired interface to the wireless.

That routing function precludes the Dhcp broadcasts, which is why you're not getting addresses.

Update the bridge to connect to the wireless adapter, and all should be fine.
Avatar of farroar

ASKER

I'll try to mess with the adapter settings in Fusion when I am on site again. Still, I am using a Mac with VMware Fusion on it now and have no trouble getting an IP wirelessly on my home network. In the adapter settings, the option for the interface is set to autodetect. I will set it to wireless and see if it connects.

It still just doesn't make sense that the Ruckus network is the only place I have trouble with the VM. And it isn't just me, anyone with at least VMFusion and a windows 7 VM (we are a Mac shop) have the same issue.

As far as changing the network mode, I cannot. We need the VM to be able to use multicast communication into the network it is connected to via the host. If I were to put it into NAT mode I would loose this ability as it would then be on a different broadcast domain.

I will also use wireshark and let you know what I find.

Thanks.
Avatar of farroar

ASKER

It doesn't matter if I try to manually choose the interface that VMWare uses to get it's network address from in settings. I don't think it is a matter with VMWare. When I hardwire in, it gets an IP address fine. If I connect to a different wireless network (not Ruckus) it works fine as well.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Intech_Guy

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