--- title: "How to connect a VM to the internet using VMware ESXi" description: "NOTE: If you are using a Scale or HG server, please refer to the following guide instead: How to Configure the Network on VMware ESXi with SCALE and HG Servers." url: https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/bare-metal-cloud/dedicated-servers/connect-vm-internet-using-vmware-esxi lang: en --- > For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms-full.txt. # How to connect a VM to the internet using VMware ESXi **Warning:** **NOTE:** If you are using a Scale or HG server, please refer to the following guide instead: [How to Configure the Network on VMware ESXi with SCALE and HG Servers](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/bare-metal-cloud/dedicated-servers/configuring-network-vmware-esxi-scale-hg-servers.md).   ## Requirements - A [dedicated server](https://us.ovhcloud.com/bare-metal/) with [ESXi installed](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/bare-metal-cloud/dedicated-servers/esxi-partitioning.md) (hardware requirements are in the [Broadcom documentation](https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/vsphere/8-0/esx-upgrade/upgrading-esxi-hosts-upgrade/esxi-requirements-upgrade/esxi-hardware-requirements-upgrade.html)) - A VM in your ESXi environment ([How to Create a VM in VMware ESXi](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/bare-metal-cloud/dedicated-servers/create-vm-vmware-esxi.md)) - An [Additional IP](https://us.ovhcloud.com/network/additional-ip/) through OVHcloud *** ### OVHcloud Control Panel Access - **Direct link:** [Public IP addresses](https://manager.us.ovhcloud.com/#/network/ip) - **Navigation path:** `Bare Metal Cloud` > `Network` > `IP` ***   ## Instructions ### Adding a virtual MAC to an Additional IP Find the Additional IP you wish to configure for your VM, click the _more options_ `...` button next to it, and choose the `Add a virtual MAC` option from the drop-down menu. In the pop-up menu, change the **Type** to `vmware` and enter the name of your virtual machine. **Warning:** **NOTE:** Please allow up to three minutes for the vMAC to populate in the OVHcloud Control Panel.   ### Adding the virtual MAC to the VM in ESXi In the ESXi Host Client, locate your VM in the `Virtual Machines` menu, select it, and `⏻ Power off`. Right-click the VM and select the `Edit settings` option from the drop-down menu. In the VM's settings, expand the `Network Adapter 1` drop-down. Change the **MAC Address** to `Manual` and enter the vMAC created in the [previous step](#adding-a-virtual-mac-to-an-additional-ip). **Tip:** You can now `▶ Power on` your VM!   ### Configuring network settings The steps to configure the network on your virtual machine depend on the operating system you are using; select yours below. #### Debian 11 **Note:** If you don't know the name of your interface, you can find it using the following command: ``` $ ip add ``` First, open your interface configuration file in a text editor of your choice, using the following command: ``` $ sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces ``` Edit the interfaces file to make it appear as follows: ``` # This file describes the network interfaces available on your system # and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5). source /etc/network/interfaces.d/* # The loopback network interface auto lo iface lo inet loopback # The primary network interface auto ens192 iface ens192 inet static address 192.0.2.1 netmask 255.255.255.255 gateway 203.0.113.254 dns-nameservers 208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220 ``` In this file, replace the following pieces of information as instructed: - **address:** Replace `192.0.2.1` with the Additional IP from the [first step](#adding-a-virtual-mac-to-an-additional-ip) of this guide. - **gateway:** Replace `203.0.113.254` with your Dedicated Server's gateway. **Note:** You need the first three octets of your Dedicated Server's IP address with a final octet of "254". For example, if your Dedicated Server's IP was 1.2.3.4, you would use 1.2.3.254 as your gateway. - **dns-nameservers: **The DNS name servers listed are from OpenDNS; feel free to use other name servers if you choose. Now you will need to bring your NIC online. To do so, enter the following command: ``` $ sudo ip link set ens192 up ``` Finally, restart your networking service using the following command: ``` $ sudo systemctl restart networking ``` #### Ubuntu 22.04+ / Debian 12+ Ubuntu (22.04 and later) and Debian (12 and later) both use [Netplan](https://netplan.io) for network configuration. To configure the network interface, open the network configuration file `/etc/netplan/` in a text editor of your choice. The exact file name may vary depending on your image — in this example, it's called `50-cloud-init.yaml`. ``` $ sudo vi /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml ``` Edit the file to make it appear as follows: ``` # This file describes the network interfaces available on your system # For more information, see netplan(5). network: version: 2 renderer: networkd ethernets: ens160: dhcp4: no dhcp6: no addresses: [192.0.2.1/32] gateway4: 203.0.113.254 nameservers: addresses: [208.67.222.222,208.67.220.220] routes: - to: 203.0.113.254/32 via: 0.0.0.0 scope: link ``` In this file, replace the following pieces of information as instructed: - **ethernets:** Replace `ens160` with the name of your interface. If you don't know the name of your interface, you can find it using the following command: ``` $ ip add ``` - **addresses:** Replace `192.0.2.1/32` with the Additional IP (in CIDR notation) from the [first step](#adding-a-virtual-mac-to-an-additional-ip) of this guide. - **gateway4:** Replace `203.0.113.254` with your Dedicated Server's gateway. **Note:** You need the first three octets of your Dedicated Server's IP address with a final octet of "254". For instance, if your Dedicated Server IP was 1.2.3.4, you would use 1.2.3.254 as your gateway. - **nameservers:** The DNS name server addresses listed are from OpenDNS; feel free to use other name servers if you choose. **Warning:** **NOTE:** The additional IP is configured with a host-only (`/32`) netmask, and the gateway sits outside that subnet — this is expected for OVHcloud Additional IPs. The `routes:` section above tells Netplan to treat the gateway as directly reachable. Omitting it — relying on `gateway4` alone — can leave the interface unable to reach the gateway. Now apply the Netplan settings with the following command: ``` $ sudo netplan apply ``` #### AlmaLinux & Rocky Linux (8/9) First, navigate to the `network-scripts` directory using the following command: ``` $ cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts ``` Use the `ls` command to view the directory contents. ``` $ ls -al ``` Locate your interface file (e.g., `ifcfg-ensXXX`) and then open it in a text editor of your choice using the following command: **Warning:** **NOTE:** In our example the interface file is `ifcfg-ens192`. ``` $ sudo vi ifcfg-ens192 ``` Edit the interfaces file to make it appear as follows: ``` TYPE=Ethernet PROXY_METHOD=none BROWSER_ONLY=no BOOTPROTO=none DEFROUTE=yes IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=no IPV6INIT=yes IPV6_AUTOCONF=yes IPV6_DEFROUTE=yes IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL=no IPV6_ADDR_GEN_MODE=stable-privacy NAME=ens192 UUID=*DO NOT edit this field!* DEVICE=ens192 ONBOOT=yes IPADDR=192.0.2.1 NETMASK=255.255.255.255 DNS1=208.67.222.222 DNS2=208.67.220.220 ``` In this file, check or replace the following pieces of information as instructed: - **ONBOOT=** Verify that is says `yes`. - **BOOTPROTO=** Verify that is says `none`. - **IPADDR=** Replace `192.0.2.1` with the Additional IP from the [first step](#adding-a-virtual-mac-to-an-additional-ip) of this guide. - **GATEWAY=** Replace `203.0.113.254` with your Dedicated Server's gateway. **Note:** You need the first three octets of your Dedicated Server's IP address with a final octet of "254". For instance, if your Dedicated Server IP was 1.2.3.4, you would use 1.2.3.254 as your gateway. - **DNS1=** and **DNS2=** The DNS name servers listed are from OpenDNS; Feel free to use whichever name servers you prefer. Next, since the Additional IP uses a host-only (`/32`) netmask and the gateway sits outside that subnet, create a companion route file, `route-ens192`, in the `/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/` directory to make the gateway reachable: ``` $ sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/route-ens192 ``` ``` 203.0.113.254 dev ens192 default via 203.0.113.254 dev ens192 ``` Replace `203.0.113.254` with your Dedicated Server's gateway. **Note:** You need the first three octets of your Dedicated Server's IP address with a final octet of "254". For instance, if your Dedicated Server IP was 1.2.3.4, you would use 1.2.3.254 as your gateway. Next, enable the NIC by restarting the network service: ``` $ sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager ``` #### Windows Server In this step, we will be configuring our interface settings. To do this, navigate to the **Server Manager**. From the left-hand column, click the `Local Server` option. By default, the **Ethernet0** field will read: `IPv4 address assigned by DHCP, IPv6 enabled`. This is exactly what we want to change, so click on this text. Next, `right-click` on **Ethernet0** and select the `Properties` option from the drop-down menu. From the ensuing menu, `double-click` the **Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)** option. This will allow you to configure your interface to use the IP address, gateway, and DNS name servers of your choice. Configure it as follows: Enter the following information in the dialog box, as shown in the picture: 1. **IP address:** Replace `203.0.113.32` with the Additional IP from the first step of this guide. 2. **Subnet mask:** Replace `255.255.255.248` with the correct netmask depending on the size of the block of IPs you have purchased. For example, if you are using a /28 block, put "240" in the last octet. 3. **Default gateway:** Replace `147.135.0.254` with the first three octets of your Dedicated Server's IP address with a final octet of "254". 4. **DNS server addresses:** The DNS nameservers listed are from OpenDNS; feel free to use other name servers here, if you choose. Click `OK` after making these changes. To test that the VM is fully connected to the Internet, ping example.com. If you get a response, you are good to go. If you do not, restart your VM and attempt the ping again.   ## Go further Browse all the [Dedicated Servers guides](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/bare-metal-cloud/dedicated-servers/landing-page-dedicated-servers.md). Browse the rest of the [OVHcloud US documentation](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/index.md) for guides on our other products and services. Learn more about [Dedicated Servers](https://us.ovhcloud.com/bare-metal/) on the OVHcloud US website.