The default connection type is called Bridged. A bridged virtual machine appears on a network just like any other node; you cannot distinguish a bridged virtual machine from a physical machine. A bridged virtual machine is a potential network resource like any other.

Because a bridged VM is a network entity like any other, it requires a valid network address. You obtain and assign this address just as you would if you were adding a new computer to the network. For example, you might request a new address from a network administrator, or you might use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to get an address.

For intra-machine communications (between the host operating system and a currently running bridged VM) the VMware application uses virtual network vmnet0.

A bridged VM appears on the same Ethernet segment as its host machine. The VM can use any network transport protocol that is supported by the guest OS, for example, SPX, Novell, NetBEUI, and so on.

Bridged networking means a virtual machine appears just like any other host on the physical network.This section describes implementing a bridged VM.

Some setup is required on both the host OS and guest OS. VMware automatically does all set-up on the host OS. You must perform some setup on the guest, as described below.

To set up bridged networking on the guest O/S:

1. Configure the VM as bridged.

Using either the VM configuration editor or the VM configuration wizard, set the VM ethernet adapter to connection type Bridged and press Install.

2. Power on the bridged VM.
3. Assign the VM a fixed network address or enable use of DHCP for dynamic address assignment.

Follow the conventions at your site to assign a network address. If your site runs DHCP then you may choose to enable DHCP use. Otherwise you can request a network address from your network administrator.

Be aware that if the host machine is set up to boot multiple operating systems and you run one or more of them in virtual machines then you will need to configure each operating system with a unique network address. However, if you know that only one of several VMs will ever be active at the one time, it is possible (though perhaps not without some risk) to use the same name and network address for all the VMs.