Network Adapter

Using the Network settings, you can change the network type used in your virtual machine.

To edit the device settings, do the following:

1. Open the Virtual Machine menu or Alt-click (Option-click) the Parallels icon in the Mac menu bar (in the Crystal view mode) and choose Configure .
2. In the Virtual Machine Configuration dialog, click Hardware and select this device name in the sidebar.

Note: If this device is absent, you can add it to Virtual Machine Configuration. For detailed information on how to add a device, refer to Adding and Removing Devices .

Select the Connected option if you want the virtual machine to start up with this network adapter connected.

You can choose one of the following network types for the virtual machine network adapter:

• Shared Network . Select this option to enable the Network Address Translation (NAT) feature for the virtual machine. In this case, your virtual machine will share whatever network connection is currently used by the host computer.

  See Shared Network to learn how to configure this network type.

• Bridged Network . Select this option to allow the virtual machine to access the local network and Internet through one of the network adapters installed on the host computer. In this case, the virtual machine is treated as a stand-alone computer on the network and should be configured in the same way as a real one. You can choose the physical adapter where the virtual machine adapter will be bridged in the list below the Bridged Network option.

  See Bridged Ethernet Network to learn how to configure this network type.

• Host-Only Network . Select this option to allow the virtual machine to connect to the host computer and the virtual machines residing on it and to make it invisible outside the host computer.

  See Host-Only Network to learn how to configure this network type.

In the MAC address field, you can change the MAC address currently assigned to the virtual machine. MAC addresses are automatically generated during the virtual machine creation. However, you can modify the default MAC address by typing another value in the MAC address field or clicking the Generate button. When entering a new MAC address, make sure that it is unique within your network.

Wi-Fi Bridging Support

To be able to connect to wireless networks from your virtual machine:

1. Click the Type field.
2. Choose the AirPort adapter from the Bridged Network list, and click OK to apply the changes.

After you perform these steps, your virtual machine will be able to connect to the Internet through the AirPort adapter of your Mac.

When you try to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi, and the Wi-Fi Access Point has the Validate DHCP packets option enabled, you may experience problems connecting to the Internet. In this case, enable the Send the host's MAC address to DHCP server option to ensure that your virtual machine gets an IP address for accessing the Internet.

Note: Enabling the Send the host's MAC address to DHCP server option will not work with some DHCP servers - your virtual machine may get the same IP address as the physical computer.

If you cannot configure your virtual machine to work in the Bridged Ethernet mode, you can consider using another network mode: Shared Network mode or Host-Only Network mode.

If you want to prevent Virtual Machine Configuration from unauthorized changes, click the Lock icon at the bottom of the window. The next time someone wants to change the settings in any pane of Virtual Machine Configuration, an administrator's password will be required.