▷ How to manage networks in hyper

In this article we will see in detail how to manage networks in Hyper-V, the Windows Hypervisor. One of the priorities in any Hypervisor, be it VMware, VirtualBox or Hyper-V, is knowing how to manage the networks for the interconnection of computers through a LAN network, in which each of the virtual machines is physically connected to the access point. This will allow us to create small networks to test with servers, or even create connections with remote access to them.

Index of contents

For this reason, we will learn in more detail how to manage network bridges and virtual cards in our native Hypervisor system. This will allow us to extend the functionality of virtual machines much more.

Hyper-V network adapters

As with other virtualization tools such as VirtualBox, in Hyper-V it is also possible to create bridge type network adapters for connections, although they will not be created automatically as it happens with others. In this case we must create them manually, although the process is extremely easy to carry out.

Before doing so, let's see how we would configure a virtual machine during the creation process using the connection available by default in Hyper-V.

Default Switch on Hyper-V

Default Switch is the network card that has Hyper-V by default. It is a network adapter that will allow us to connect basically to the host or physical equipment. That is, we will not be able to physically connect to another machine located on a local network outside the host and internal virtual machines, much less externally.

When we carry out the process of creating a virtual machine without having touched anything from Hyper-V, we will only have this option available in the network selection panel. Through this connection it will be the host itself that gives us the IP address to be able to access the internet through it, that is, it will be a NAT configuration.

How to create a bridge mode network adapter in Hyper-V

The interesting thing for us will be to be able to interconnect a virtual machine as if they were real machines, and to do so we will have to create a new network connection. To configure a virtual machine with the bridge mode and that directly obtain the IP address of the router, we will have to create a new network adapter. Let's see what we should do:

We must go to the main Hyper-V window, and go to the list of options on the right side of the window. We choose the option “ Switch Manager ”. Option located in the toolbar in the upper area.

Now we click on " New virtual network switch " and here we will have three different options:

• External: It will allow us to connect externally to the physical equipment. Internal: We can only connect to the host computer or virtual machines available on the host. It would be a NAT type connection. Private: we can only use the adapter in the virtual machines that are running, so we will not be connected to a physical network either.

We choose " External " in our case and click on " Create virtual switch"

On the next screen, we must first choose the name of the adapter . Next, the network card that will provide the bridge to the router. In this case, if we have several network cards, we can choose the one that we have active or the one that we consider convenient.

By default, the option that we are currently using to connect to the network will be shown as active. In our case, it is the network card with cable connection.

We must also pay attention to the option that is marked under the network card selection. If we deactivate this option, the network adapter that we have chosen at the top, will be assigned exclusively to the virtual machine that we make.

This implies that we will not have a physical network connection on the host computer, and we will not be able to access it through this network adapter. So, if we only have a network card in our team, this option should be left activated.

If, on the other hand, we have, for example, a server on a LAN or whatever, and we do not want to have direct access to it (keep it isolated), we could activate this option.

The VLAN option is only aimed at host computers that are connected to virtual networks. In our case, this option does not apply.

Well, the only thing we will have to do now is click on the " Apply " button and then accept to carry out the creation of the new network adapter.

If we now went to the network adapters configuration window, we would see how a new network adapter has been created with the name that we have specified. In addition, we can also see the existence of " Default Switch"

Configure network adapter in Hyper-V virtual machine

To choose the new adapter created in the hardware of our virtual machine, we will have to go to the configuration of the virtual machine, whose option is located in the list of options on the right. We must locate the " Configuration " section

Next, a window will open in which we must place ourselves on the " Network adapter " option.

Once inside, we display the “ Virtual Switch ” list and choose the one we have created in the previous section. The only thing we have left is to click on " Apply and" Accept"

Now, when we start the virtual machine, we will verify that we are obtaining the IP address directly from the router. To do this, depending on the operating system we have, we will write the corresponding command in the terminal.

• In case of Windows it will be " ipconfig " In case of Linux it will be " ifconfig " or " ip a "

Let's verify this:

As we see, we have obtained an IP from our router and the new connection works perfectly.

Well, in this simple way we can make the network bridges that we create suitable for our virtual machines, and, in addition, we can even assign dedicated network cards to each machine.

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Do you use Hyper-V as Hypervisor? If not, which one do you prefer? Leave us comments about it.