VMWare Workstation Host-only, unable to ping between host and guest.

VMWare Workstation 15/16

I was setting up a test environment for RHCE, but when I tried to ssh to the guest from host, it mentioned 'can't reach host'.

Investigating a bit, I found that the ping didn't work either. At first I thought it was the fault of the firewall, and I disabled firewalls in both sides, but it did not help.

Later I tried upgrading VMWare to 16 to see if the problem persists, no luck either.

Then I came across a post saying that deletion and re-creation of interface will solve the issue. To achieve it, open the 'Virtual Network Editor' in VMWare Workstation, remove both Host-only and NAT interfaces, remember to click 'Apply', and then add it back again. I gave it a try, and voila, ping command works. I also specified a new 10.0.0.0/24 subnet too.

I found a workaround for now. Uncheck 'Connect a host virtual adapter to this network', click 'Apply', then check 'Connect a host virtual adapter to this network', click 'Apply' also does the job. No need to delete and re-create interfaces.

BTW, interfaces (network adapters) in Windows host should not set to DHCP, but instead a static IP which is the same one you specified in the 'Virtual Network Editor'. 

I don't know what the reason is, but glad it functions well now so that I may continue my RHCE study.

I have to do this every time the system reboots. No idea why.