Network Bridge interfaces disappear on Windows 7 64-bit host

[Aaron44126]

Running VMware Workstation on a laptop.  There are network adapters (wired and wireless), but I only care about using one of them in VMware (the wired one).

I want to use network bridging to bridge a VM's network connection to my physical wired ethernet adapter.  The problem is, VMware keeps forgetting about it.

If I go to the Virtual Network Editor and click on the "Restore Default" button, everything is good.  As you can see in the first attached screen shot, it sees both of my adapters and works fine.

If I hibernate the laptop and then resume, the wired ethernet adapter has disappeared, as you can see in the second screen shot.  I've checked an the "VMware Bridge Protocol" is still enabled for said adapter.

I have to always remember to open the network editor and click "Restore Defaults" again to get my wired adapter back.  If I boot a machine without doing this, it gives me an error that the bridged interface is down because all of the host interfaces are down (since I am not connected to any wireless network).

This has been happening for a while (at least since Workstation 7.1) but I haven't bothered to look into it too deeply until now because I could get by using the NAT interface.  However, I now have a need to have a VM directly attached to my LAN.

My question for you is: why is my wired ethernet adapter becoming unavailable for VMware network bridging and how do I fix it?

Thanks!

[continuum]

you MUST disable "automatic bridging" - that feature is a bluff and only works on hosts with only one network card.

[Aaron44126]

Thanks for the response, but even if I do that, my wired interface is not a choice in the drop-down menu for which interface to bridge to (until I "Restore Default") after I resume from hibernate.  VMnet0 becomes a plain old "custom" interface bridged to nothing.

[continuum]

hibernating the host is a bad idea with Win7 + WS 7

try
net stop vmnetbridge
net start vmnetbridge

as admin to re-activate the bridged network

[Aaron44126]

Hi,

Thanks for your response, that works for getting the wired ethernet interface back on the "bridge list" without having to reset everything.  A little cumbersome but an improvement nonetheless.  I actually went looking for a service to restart before I posted this but I didn't notice it since it doesn't show up in the regular "services.msc" list.

Unfortunately, I pretty much have to use hibernate.  I move the laptop from place to place, a full reboot takes too long and the "sleep" feature is not reliable.  I do however take care to power off or suspend any VMs before I hibernate the host.

Hopefully this issue will be addressed sooner or later, by either MS or VMware.

Still holding out for a "complete" fix if anyone else has any additional information!  Thanks!

[continuum]

if you want a complete fix use WS 6.5.5 - WS 7 is work in progress

[Aaron44126]

If Workstation 7 was truly still a work in progress, it should still be in testing and not at the general availability phase.  Workstation 7 has received a number of minor updates and is pretty solid in my experience, aside from this I don't really have any complaints.

Anyway, I have come up with a full solution (meaning it doesn't require any action from me when I resume my machine).  I created a batch file that restarts the vmnetbridge service.  I then added a scheduled task to launch said batch file on an event that occurs when the system resumes (System log, Power-Troubleshooter source, event ID 1).  This should automatically restart the vmnetbridge service when the computer wakes up and solve my problem.

I haven't tested this yet so I will post back if it does not work as expected.  I don't anticipate any trouble, though.

[continuum]

hey - thats a nice workaround - would you mind post some details ?

This would be useful for many users

[Aaron44126]

Unfortunately, I am having trouble getting the task to fire when the system event is logged like it's supposed to.  I will continue to mess with it today and if/when I get it working I will make a detailed post.

[Aaron44126]

The Scheduled Task method didn't work out (simply wouldn't fire my task) so I took another route.  I wrote a Windows service that waits for the system to resume from hibernate and executes the batch file then.  (Sounds extreme but actually pretty simple since I've written WIndows services before.)

I'm attaching the source code (a Visual Studio 2010 project) for those who know what they're doing.  As I have time over the next few days I'll tidy it up, write some documentation and a proper installer, and remove the dependency on an external batch file.  Anyways, this is tested and fixed the issue for me.

[Aaron44126]

I've packaged up my solution and released it here:

http://aaron-kelley.net/projects/vmnetbridgefix/

Hopefully this will help out other people who are experiencing this particular issue.