osx - Turn off Internet access for Windows XP VMware Fusion guest

07
2014-04
  • John Topley

    I am using a VMware Fusion 6 Windows XP guest to run some legacy Windows software on my Mac. I would like to turn off Internet access for the VM so Windows XP can't pick up any nastyware online. However, I would like to retain the ability to transfer files between the Mac and the VM.

    What's the best way to achieve this? Thanks in advance.

  • Answers
  • davidbaumann

    You can use shared folders VMWare KB Article. This doesn't need a network connection. You can just disable the network adaptor for the VM.
    Also you can use a host only network, which will use a virtual network between host and guest, with no connection to your ethernet or internet.
    An alternative way is to disable the default gateway in the vm, but that's not secure.

  • Sopalajo de Arrierez

    If your problem is just internet, and your VM is Windows XP, the solution should be as simple as this:
    Fastest way to disable internet (keeping LAN) from command line?
    The trick is simple: just removing the gateway. On that thread you have the short solution as a simple line, like:

    route delete 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 10.0.2.1
    

    (assuming 10.0.2.1 as your gateway, that you can find entering "ipconfig").
    or a solution more generic, as a (not much more longer) script.

    -EDIT: as suggested by someone, it could be made:

    route delete 0.0.0.0
    

    so you don't even need to know what IP your gateway has.


  • Related Question

    osx - Going Fullscreen with VMware Fusion VM in a different Space
  • Alan Storm

    Is it possible to have a VMware Fusion desktop go full screen in a Space (as in Spaces Space, the virtual desktop thing) other than the space the application was open in?

    When I'm using a VM I prefer that it stay off screen in the second Space. I also prefer that it operate in full screen mode, since mouse interactions are less wonky, and I'll less likely to accidentally pop out of the machine.

    However, occasionally when I'm using two monitors at home (this is with a laptop), I'll mindlessly open VMWare in the main Space and then work for a while with the VM full screen on the second monitor, but still in the first space. Then when I leave home with the laptop, my VM is stuck in Space 1.

    Is there anyway to get the VM to go full screen in another space other than restarting VMware? I've tried moving the windowed VM to another space and going full screen, but the OS will return the main space and the full screen VM will come up there, not in the Space I dragged it to.


  • Related Answers
  • romant

    What you can do - is before disconnecting your monitor is:

    • Active spaces and simply "drag+drop" the full screen VMware App onto your 'main/laptop' space equivalent.

    Once you disconnect the screen - VMware will be on the remaining monitor - and you won't have this issue.

    That's what I do when going between Office + Home.

    Let me know if you want more details.

  • Area 51

    You can't generally get an app to go from a window on one space to fullscreen on another space (there aren't really public APIs in Leopard/Snow Leopard to control that type of behaviour).

    If the VM seems be 'jumping back' to some other space when it goes to fullscreen it's probably because the Fusion Library window is on that space. Put the Fusion 'VM Library' window on the space where you want your VM to be fullscreen (it will get obscured by the fullscreen VM - but you probably don't need to interact with it much anyway ?).

    If you have a dual-monitor system then you can have a fullscreen VM occupy on a single (or both - it's a preference) monitor when fullscreen. So you could put the Library window on one monitor in Space N and the VM window on the other monitor in Space N and then have the VM go fullscreen - it will occupy all of the monitor it started on and should stay in Space N (because that's where the library window is).

    You can also use the spaces preferences to associate the Fusion app with a given space. So it always starts up there. That's generally how I work (fullscreen or windowed) - I have Fusion on space 3 and email/browsing etc on Space 1.