How do I set permanent IP for my VirtualBox using Bridge adapter?

Question

I'm running a web (development) server on my Virtualbox (Ubuntu 11.1). I'm moving around a lot and thus I get various IP addresses on my computer.

Each time I get a new IP adr I have to change various config settings to get my site up and going.

Is there a way that I can set "permanent" IP address on my VB and somehow route all trafic to my laptop?

Answer 1

You can change your VB Guest IP to static by modifying these files.

vim /etc/network/interfaces

Add these lines at the end:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
netmask xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

For DNS Setting

vim /etc/resolv.conf

and add:

nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Answer 2

I had the same problem (VirtualBox 4.1.10, Host Ubuntu 11.10, Guest Ubuntu 11.10). Here's how I fixed it:

Set two network interfaces for the VM. The first one should be NAT and the second should be Host-Only. If you can't add a host-only connection, make sure you've set one up in Preferences -> Network.

In the Guest OS (Ubuntu for me), edit /etc/network/interfaces, adding the following on the end:

auto eth1 # this refers to the Host-only network interface
iface eth1 inet static
address 192.168.56.10 # Arbitrary IP address
netmask 255.255.255.0

and reboot. And that's it. Don't modify anything for eth0, since we need that getting it's settings automatically via DHCP to access the internet. eth1 lets the host and guest communicate with eachother.