I posted the following to the

a VirtualBox list similar to this SL list.  Interestingly, the post currently has 11 views but 0 responses.
At this point, I am beginning to assume that VirtualBox has a significant limitation -- the typical VirtualBox NAT network driver
that used to work with both an IEEE 802.3 and 802.11 ISP connection on the host no longer works with 802.11 on the host.

Evidently because of the large number of non-professional enthusiasts (typical end-users) who post to the VirtualBox lists, one uses an alias
handle; this does not seem to be necessary on the SL list.

Assuming that VirtualBox cannot "virtualize" a 802.11 connection, is there any other virtualization system that is licensed for free (no longer the case
with VMWare) that can use an existing virtual machine (e.g., vdi, vmdk files), that will support the guest and host sharing resources (network, shared folders,
etc.) and provides a reasonably user friendly interface (in a worst case, a script that can encapsulate all of the text commands to the virtualization system)?
Note the host is X86-64, but the guest is IA-32.

Any assistance (based on "real world" experience) will be appreciated.

Yasha Karant

no internet access MS Win 7 Pro guest

Postby opensys » 18. Oct 2015, 19:43

Base OS: X86-64 Scientific Linux 7.1 (SL -- RHEL 7 clone)
Virtualbox: VirtualBox-5.0-5.0.6_103037_el7-1.x86_64.rpm
Virtualbox extensions (Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-5.0.6-103037.vbox-extpack) installed
IA-32 MS Win 7 Pro, Virtualbox current guest additions installed

On the RHEL 6 IA-32 version of the above with an earlier Virtualbox and the same MS Win 7 Pro virtual machine (as well
as an earlier MS Win XP Pro virtual machine), "everything works", including when the Linux host is connected via IEEE 802.11 to
the Internet using DHCP configuration from the ISP. The stock Virtualbox networking configuration is:
Adapter 1, NAT, Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop (82540EM)
Note that SL uses Network Manager as an enduser controllable application that supplies "automagic" connections to IEEE 802.11 networks when I am in
the field -- similar in functionality to what is provided with MS Win and Mac OS X host environments. I have attempted to disable Network Manager for
Wired Connection 1 at MAC address 0A:00:27:00:00:00 (vboxnet0), but upon each activation of Virtualbox, this wired connection is created and Network Manager
takes over. I very much would like Virtualbox NAT to point to the 802.11 DHCP Internet connection that is "managed" by Network Manager and works on the SL host.
This setup in IA-32 SL 6 used to work. Does it work with the Oracle clone of X86-64 EL 7? Current Linux host desktop is MATE, although I can switch to others (e.g., KDE,
Gnome current) if forced to do so.

The MS Win 7 Pro guest reports that it cannot "see" the network, and the MS Win troubleshooter cannot find any specific problem.

My Virtualbox guests really do require Internet access, and I must use 802.11 connectivity. Any assistance would be appreciated.