How to configure Private Network in VMware Workstation

It is crucial to know your IP address, as most of the people want to check for security reasons, while others want to build backlinks. Even some of them look for their IP address to keep them in their records.
You can visit https://smallseotools.com/what-is-my-ip/ to check your IP address.

Scenario:

We have 3 machines each with different IP range as shown below

Machine 1 (Windows Host) - Connected to Internet
IP Address - 192.168.1.xx
Gateway - 192.168.1.1
Netmask - 255.255.255.0

Machine 2 (Linux 1)
LAN 1 - 172.168.0.0/24
LAN 2 - 10.10.10.0/24
LAN 3 - Connected to Internet - 192.168.1.0/24

Machine 3 (Linux 2)
LAN 1 - 172.168.0.0/24
LAN 2 - 10.10.10.0/24
LAN 3 - Connected to Internet - 192.168.1.0/24

By the end of this article you should be able to do the following

Linux 1 and Linux 2 should be inter connected to private network for 172.168.0.0/24 and 10.10.10.0/24
Linux 1 and Linux 2 should be connected to Internet
10.10.10.0/24 and 172.168.0.0/24 would be able to transmit/receive packets to each other

I am going to demonstrate you above using VMware Workstation 10. In my case I have created two virtual machines (Linux) to do the same.

To start with you need to add 3 NIC card to both your vm as shown below.

1. Add Network Adapter

Open the settings windows for the vm. (Make sure the vm is powered off)

Click on Add

Select Network Adapter from all the available option

You can choose any of the Network Connection as it does not matters. You will have to change those in steps ahead. Just make sure you check the box with "Connect at power on"

Click on Finish once done.

Follow the same step to add 1 more NIC to the VM.

2. Create LAN Segments

Once done it is time to create LAN Segments and add it to your virtual machines.

Select any of the Network Adapter as shown below. You should see a Network Connection Type as "LAN Segments". Once you click on it a different window will pop up

In this window you will have to create 2 LAN Segments namely LAN 1 and LAN 2 as shown below. Click on Add to create the same and once done click on OK to save the changes.

Now you need to select Network Connection Type for all the 3 Network Adapter you created.

3. Assign Network Connection Type

For Network Adapter select LAN 1 as shown below.

NOTE: Next click on Advanced and view the MAC Address of this NIC and save it in a notepad as you would need it in steps ahead

MAC Address: 00:0C:29:A3:F5:E6

For Network Adapter 2 select LAN 2 as shown below.
MAC Address: 00:0C:29:A3:F5:F0

For Network Adapter 3 select LAN 3 as shown below.
MAC Address: 00:0C:29:A3:F5:FA

Repeat the same above steps for Machine 2 as shown below

For Network Adapter select LAN 1 as shown below.

MAC Address: 00:0C:29:51:AA:CD

For Network Adapter 2 select LAN 2 as shown below.

MAC Address: 00:0C:29:51:AA:D7

For Network Adapter 3 select LAN 3 as shown below.

MAC Address: 00:0C:29:51:AA:E1

So we are set now to move to next step.

4. Assign IP Address

Check the IP of your Windows Machine which is connected to Internet. As you see our IP Address details are
IP Address: 192.168.1.xx
Netmask=255.255.255.0
Gateway = 192.168.1.1

Linux 1
Login to your Linux 1 box and verify if it contains 3 NIC as we had added

[root@test ~]# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0C:29:A3:F5:E6
          inet6 addr: fe80::20c:29ff:fea3:f5e6/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:756 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:831 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:71519 (69.8 KiB)  TX bytes:63525 (62.0 KiB)
          Interrupt:19 Base address:0x2024
eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0C:29:A3:F5:F0
          inet6 addr: fe80::20c:29ff:fea3:f5f0/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:33 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:74 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:5981 (5.8 KiB)  TX bytes:11003 (10.7 KiB)
          Interrupt:16 Base address:0x20a4
eth2      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0C:29:A3:F5:FA
          inet6 addr: fe80::20c:29ff:fea3:f5fa/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:964 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1205 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:80476 (78.5 KiB)  TX bytes:61790 (60.3 KiB)
          Interrupt:17 Base address:0x2424
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:649 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:649 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:56376 (55.0 KiB)  TX bytes:56376 (55.0 KiB)

So as you see all the 3 NIC are visible. Now you can match each Network Adapter you added with the MAC Address before you start assigning IP Address to each NIC

For Network Adapter -- LAN 1 (172.168.0.0/24)
MAC Address: 00:0C:29:A3:F5:E6

NOTE: Do not provide any GATEWAY or DNS details for private network
[root@test ~]# vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
DEVICE="eth0"
NM_CONTROLLED=no
ONBOOT=yes
HWADDR=00:0C:29:A3:F5:E6
TYPE=Ethernet
BOOTPROTO=none
IPADDR=172.168.0.2
PREFIX=24
DEFROUTE=yes
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=yes
IPV6INIT=no
NAME="System eth0"
USERCTL=no
PEERDNS=yes
[root@test network-scripts]# cp ifcfg-eth0 ifcfg-eth1
[root@test network-scripts]# cp ifcfg-eth0 ifcfg-eth2
For Network Adapter 2 -- LAN 2 (10.10.10.0.0/24)
MAC Address: 00:0C:29:A3:F5:F0

NOTE: Do not provide any GATEWAY or DNS details for private network
[root@test network-scripts]# vi ifcfg-eth1
DEVICE="eth1"
NM_CONTROLLED=no
ONBOOT=yes
HWADDR=00:0C:29:A3:F5:F0
TYPE=Ethernet
BOOTPROTO=none
IPADDR=10.10.10.2
PREFIX=24
DEFROUTE=yes
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=yes
IPV6INIT=no
NAME="System eth1"
USERCTL=no
PEERDNS=yes
For Network Adapter 3 -- LAN 3 (192.168.1.0/24) (Connected to Internet)
MAC Address: 00:0C:29:A3:F5:FA
[root@test network-scripts]# vi ifcfg-eth2
DEVICE="eth2"
NM_CONTROLLED=no
ONBOOT=yes
HWADDR=00:0C:29:A3:F5:FA
TYPE=Ethernet
BOOTPROTO=none
IPADDR=192.168.1.10
PREFIX=24
GATEWAY=192.168.1.1
DNS1=8.8.8.8
DEFROUTE=yes
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=yes
IPV6INIT=no
NAME="System eth2"
USERCTL=no
PEERDNS=yes
[root@test network-scripts]# service network restart
Shutting down interface eth0: [ OK ]
Shutting down interface eth1: [ OK ]
Shutting down interface eth2: [ OK ]
Shutting down loopback interface: [ OK ]
Bringing up loopback interface: [ OK ]
Bringing up interface eth0: [ OK ]
Bringing up interface eth1: [ OK ]
Bringing up interface eth2: [ OK ]

On Linux 2

[root@test1 ~]# ifconfig
eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0C:29:51:AA:CD
          inet6 addr: fe80::20c:29ff:fe51:aacd/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:801 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:789 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:64811 (63.2 KiB)  TX bytes:72377 (70.6 KiB)
          Interrupt:19 Base address:0x2024
eth2      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0C:29:51:AA:D7
          inet6 addr: fe80::20c:29ff:fe51:aad7/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:21 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:48 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:2470 (2.4 KiB)  TX bytes:7223 (7.0 KiB)
          Interrupt:16 Base address:0x20a4
eth3      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0C:29:51:AA:E1
          inet6 addr: fe80::20c:29ff:fe51:aae1/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:3461 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:158 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:244030 (238.3 KiB)  TX bytes:23210 (22.6 KiB)
          Interrupt:17 Base address:0x2424
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:90 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:90 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:7200 (7.0 KiB)  TX bytes:7200 (7.0 KiB)

For Network Adapter -- LAN 1 (172.168.0.0/24)
MAC Address: 00:0C:29:51:AA:CD

NOTE: Do not provide any GATEWAY or DNS details for private network
[root@test1 network-scripts]# vi ifcfg-eth1
DEVICE=eth1
NM_CONTROLLED=no
ONBOOT=yes
HWADDR=00:0c:29:51:aa:cd
TYPE=Ethernet
BOOTPROTO=none
IPADDR=172.168.0.3
PREFIX=24
DEFROUTE=yes
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=yes
IPV6INIT=no
NAME="System eth1"
USERCTL=no
PEERDNS=yes
[root@test1 network-scripts]# cp ifcfg-eth1 ifcfg-eth2
[root@test1 network-scripts]# cp ifcfg-eth1 ifcfg-eth3
For Network Adapter 2 -- LAN 2 (10.10.10.0.0/24)
MAC Address: 00:0C:29:51:AA:D7

NOTE: Do not provide any GATEWAY or DNS details for private network
[root@test1 network-scripts]# vi ifcfg-eth2
DEVICE=eth2
NM_CONTROLLED=no
ONBOOT=yes
HWADDR=00:0c:29:51:aa:d7
TYPE=Ethernet
BOOTPROTO=none
IPADDR=10.10.10.3
PREFIX=24
DEFROUTE=yes
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=yes
IPV6INIT=no
NAME="System eth2"
USERCTL=no
PEERDNS=yes
For Network Adapter 3 -- LAN 3 (192.168.1.0/24) (Connected to Internet)
MAC Address: 00:0C:29:51:AA:E1
[root@test1 network-scripts]# vi ifcfg-eth3
DEVICE=eth3
NM_CONTROLLED=no
ONBOOT=yes
HWADDR=00:0c:29:51:aa:e1
TYPE=Ethernet
BOOTPROTO=none
IPADDR=192.168.1.11
PREFIX=24
GATEWAY=192.168.1.1
DNS1=8.8.8.8
DEFROUTE=yes
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=yes
IPV6INIT=no
NAME="System eth3"
USERCTL=no
PEERDNS=yes
[root@test1 network-scripts]# service network restart
Shutting down interface eth1: [ OK ]
Shutting down interface eth2: [ OK ]
Shutting down interface eth3: [ OK ]
Shutting down loopback interface: [ OK ]
Bringing up loopback interface: [ OK ]
Bringing up interface eth1: [ OK ]
Bringing up interface eth2: [ OK ]
Bringing up interface eth3: [ OK ]

Verify the configuration

From Linux 1
[root@test ~]# ping 172.168.0.3
PING 172.168.0.3 (172.168.0.3) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 172.168.0.3: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.513 ms
64 bytes from 172.168.0.3: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.639 ms
^C
--- 172.168.0.3 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1520ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.513/0.576/0.639/0.063 ms

[root@test ~]# ping 10.10.10.3
PING 10.10.10.3 (10.10.10.3) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 10.10.10.3: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=2.39 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.3: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.515 ms
^C
--- 10.10.10.3 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1551ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.515/1.453/2.392/0.939 ms

[root@test ~]# ping google.com
PING google.com (74.125.236.167) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from maa03s16-in-f7.1e100.net (74.125.236.167): icmp_seq=1 ttl=56 time=14.0 ms
64 bytes from maa03s16-in-f7.1e100.net (74.125.236.167): icmp_seq=2 ttl=56 time=10.5 ms
^C
--- google.com ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1049ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 10.584/12.334/14.085/1.754 ms

From Linux 2
[root@test1 ~]# ping 172.168.0.2
PING 172.168.0.2 (172.168.0.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 172.168.0.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.261 ms
64 bytes from 172.168.0.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.460 ms
^C
--- 172.168.0.2 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1127ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.261/0.360/0.460/0.101 ms

[root@test1 ~]# ping 10.10.10.2
PING 10.10.10.2 (10.10.10.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.12 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.628 ms
^C
--- 10.10.10.2 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1074ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.628/0.875/1.123/0.249 ms

[root@test1 ~]# ping google.com
PING google.com (74.125.236.163) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from maa03s16-in-f3.1e100.net (74.125.236.163): icmp_seq=1 ttl=56 time=9.69 ms
64 bytes from maa03s16-in-f3.1e100.net (74.125.236.163): icmp_seq=2 ttl=56 time=10.3 ms
^C
--- google.com ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1520ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 9.699/10.006/10.314/0.323 ms

So I think everything is working as expected. Let me know your success and failures