- Feb 2, 2017
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I want my virtual machines (VMs) to think that they're connecting to the Internet...but not let them connect to the Internet.
For simplicity's sake, let's say I have three virtual machines (VMs). Two are Windows 7 workstations, and the third is a Linux firewall installation (IPFire) that is used strictly to provide DHCP services to the two workstations (MAC IP reservations). In case terminology matters, all three are running in VirtualBox and using an "internal network"; all the VMs can see each other, but they can't see the host computer or the Internet. The two workstations mostly talk to each other, but occasionally they need access to a very small number of things on the Internet.
For testing purposes, I do not want to give the VMs access to the Internet, but I would like them to think that they are connecting to it. Since there are very few things that they need from the Internet, I would like to host them in the virtual network and serve them up as needed. I do not want to change the URLs that they connect to; what I want is for those URLs to somehow magically get redirected somewhere in the virtual network that all the VMs think is actually the internet. For example, if the workstations need access to "http://images.intellicast.com/WxImages/RadarLoop/usa_None_anim.gif", I would like them to use that URL but to retrieve an image that I serve them from within the virtual network.
I am not opposed to swapping out my virtual firewall for something more robust (say, a full Linux distro) if need be. So, then, my question is: how can I make a fake Internet within my virtual network so that my VMs think that they're actually accessing the actual Internet?
In order to help you help me, here's where I stand: well-versed in Windows and moderately-well-versed in Linux, but hard-core networking is iffy.
For simplicity's sake, let's say I have three virtual machines (VMs). Two are Windows 7 workstations, and the third is a Linux firewall installation (IPFire) that is used strictly to provide DHCP services to the two workstations (MAC IP reservations). In case terminology matters, all three are running in VirtualBox and using an "internal network"; all the VMs can see each other, but they can't see the host computer or the Internet. The two workstations mostly talk to each other, but occasionally they need access to a very small number of things on the Internet.
For testing purposes, I do not want to give the VMs access to the Internet, but I would like them to think that they are connecting to it. Since there are very few things that they need from the Internet, I would like to host them in the virtual network and serve them up as needed. I do not want to change the URLs that they connect to; what I want is for those URLs to somehow magically get redirected somewhere in the virtual network that all the VMs think is actually the internet. For example, if the workstations need access to "http://images.intellicast.com/WxImages/RadarLoop/usa_None_anim.gif", I would like them to use that URL but to retrieve an image that I serve them from within the virtual network.
I am not opposed to swapping out my virtual firewall for something more robust (say, a full Linux distro) if need be. So, then, my question is: how can I make a fake Internet within my virtual network so that my VMs think that they're actually accessing the actual Internet?
In order to help you help me, here's where I stand: well-versed in Windows and moderately-well-versed in Linux, but hard-core networking is iffy.