NAT port forwarding from host to client in VMWare Fusion 5?

Question

How do I forward ports from my host machine to the virtualized machine when I'm using NAT to share my network connection? I found some instructions for earlier versions of VMWare, but I don't see the files they mention in the same location in my installation.

Answer 1

Okay, I found out where it's located - /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/nat.conf

So, open it up (VMWare shouldn't be running while you do this):

sudo nano /Library/Preferences/VMware\ Fusion/vmnet8/nat.conf

Go down in the file, there should be a section like:

[incomingtcp]

# Use these with care - anyone can enter into your VM through these...
# The format and example are as follows:
#<external port number> = <VM's IP address>:<VM's port number>
#35 = 172.16.126.128:22

Uncomment that last line, and edit as appropriate.

Couple of notes:

• These instructions are for TCP port forwarding, there's a corresponding [incomingudp] section for UDP
• If for some reason this section doesn't already exist, just add it