This article will illustrate the steps for connecting or disconnecting virtual machines operating on the Hyper-V virtualization platform, which is integrated into Windows 10 or Windows 11, from the local network to the Internet. By following this guide, you can effortlessly manage the connectivity of your virtual machines.
How to Connect the VM to the Internet on Hyper-V
After installing a virtual machine on Hyper-V, the initial step is to generate a Network Adapter utilizing the Virtual Switch Manager. Once the Network Adapter is created, you can add this network card to the virtual machine. Doing so lets you establish a network connection for your virtual machine.
Virtual Switch Manager can be used in different scenarios according to your network topology. However, you can apply two other virtual machine Internet connection methods. You can use the following two methods for the Internet connection.
- I am adding only one External Virtual Switch to the virtual machine.
- I am adding both Internal and External Virtual Switches to the virtual machine.
This article supports utilizing the 2nd method to connect the virtual computer to the Internet. By following this way, you can ensure that your virtual computer is correctly connected to the Internet.
How to Create Internal and External Virtual Switch on Hyper-V
Follow the steps below for the virtual machine’s Internet settings.
Step 1
Run the Hyper-V Manager virtualization program.
Step 2
Click the Virtual Switch Manager from the Actions panel.
Step 3
First, add the Internal Virtual Switch to the virtual machine.
Step 4
Name the Internal Virtual Key and then click the OK button.
Step 5
To enhance the Windows 7 virtual machine with a network adapter, click on it and select the Internal Virtual Switch that you created by clicking the Network Adapter in the left panel of the pop-up window. Then, confirm your selection by clicking OK. It will add the network adapter to your virtual machine.
Step 6
Connect and run the Windows 7 virtual machine.
Step 7
When opening the virtual machine, configure the TCP/IP configuration of the vEthernet network card created by Hyper-V on your physical computer as follows.
Step 8
To configure the TCP/IP settings of the Windows 7 VM, refer to the image provided below and follow the steps accordingly. It will ensure that your virtual machine’s TCP/IP settings are appropriately set up.
Step 9
Pinging from the virtual machine to the default gateway (192.168.10.1) will succeed as follows.
Step 10
From Step 1 to Step 9, we configured an Internal Virtual Switch. It shows you how to get an internal VM for the Internet.
In this step, we will add an External Virtual Switch to the Internal VM and bring it to the Internet. Open Virtual Switch Manager similarly, select External as below, and click Create Virtual Switch.
Step 11
Type a name for the External Virtual Switch and fill in the description. When adding an external network, you must select the network card of your physical machine connected to the Internet.
Step 12
Open the Windows 7 machine network settings again and add a new Network Adapter by clicking Add Hardware.
Step 13
Add the External Virtual Switch that you created to the virtual machine.
Step 14
Check the virtual machine network settings. It needs to get an IP address from our local network, as in the image below. You may need to check your DHCP settings if it does not obtain an automatic IP address.
Step 15
Run the CMD command prompt on the Windows 7 machine and test the Internet connection by pinging the Modem IP address to the Google DNS server.
Step 16
Finally, you can check the VM Internet connection by viewing any website by opening an Internet browser from the virtual machine.
How to Configure Internet Settings in Hyper-V ⇒ Video
Conclusion
This article has demonstrated how to configure an Internet connection for a virtual machine on the Windows 10 operating system by utilizing the Microsoft virtualization program. You can successfully establish an Internet connection for your virtual machine through this guide.
TolgaBagci
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I followed the steps but ping fails. I am running hyperventilate in Windows 10 and guest is server 2012 r2.
I am curious how you would have multiple VMs to the switch while acquiring unique IP addresses from your DHCP/Router to access the internet. I am stumped on this currently.
Hello, AaronW!
By simply adding “External Switch” to your VMs in Hyper-V, you can get them all on the Internet. In short, you have to follow after Step 10.
If you want to try different network scenarios, you must add Internal Switch. For example, you can add 2 NICs to a server and enable the IP Routing service and then connect two different IP blocks (192.168.10.0/24 – 192.168.20.0/24) with each other.
I’ve created 3 VMs using hyper-V. I made 1 the Domain Controller. Then I added the other 2 as a member on the same domain using “Ncpa.cpl” and “Sysdm.cpl”. In other words, I placed all 3 under same subnet mask. Then I followed these steps; created the External Switch and still have zero internet access. Any clue as to why?