When you install Workstation Pro on a Windows or Linux host system, a host-only network (VMnet1) is set up for you. You might want to configure multiple host-only networks to manage network traffic between virtual machines in specific ways.

For example, you can set up multiple host-only networks on the same host system to test routing between two virtual networks or test a virtual machine that has multiple network interface cards without using any physical network adapters. You might also want to have two virtual machines connected to one host-only network and other virtual machines connected to another host-only network to isolate the network traffic on each network.

Prerequisites

  • On a Windows host, log in as an Administrator user. Only an Administrator user can change network settings in the virtual network editor.

  • On a Linux host, log in as root. You must enter the root password to use the virtual network editor.

Procedure

  1. Select Edit > Virtual Network Editor.
  2. Click Add Network and select a network to add, for example, VMnet2.

    You can create a custom host-only network on VMnet2 to VMnet7. On Windows hosts, you can also use VMnet9 to VMnet19. On Linux hosts, you can also use vmnet10 through vmnet255.

    The new network is configured as a host-only network by default.

  3. Click OK to save your changes.

Results

After the host-only networks are set up on a Linux host system, at least four network interfaces appear: eth0, lo, vmnet1, and vmnet2. These four interfaces should have different IP addresses on separate subnets.

What to do next

If you want to rename the new network to a name that is meaningful to you, see Rename a Virtual Network.