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Troubleshooting virtual machine TCP/IP connection issues

Symptoms

A TCP/IP connection fails to and from a virtual machine.
You cannot establish a TCP/IP connection.

Purpose

This article troubleshoots virtual machine network communication problems over a TCP/IP network protocol.

Resolution

Validate that each troubleshooting step below is true for your environment. The steps will provide instructions or a link to a document, for validating the step and taking corrective action as necessary. The steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution. Please do not skip a step.

Check your TCP/IP configuration and verify TCP/IP functionality. For more information, see Verifying virtual machine TCP/IP settings (1007875).
Ping the loopback address to verify that TCP/IP is working correctly. For more information, see Troubleshooting virtual machine TCP/IP issues by pinging the loopback address (1008206).
Check for duplicate IP addresses and resolve TCP/IP driver issues. For more information, see Resolving virtual machine IP address conflicts (1008177).
Clear the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) cache. For more information, see Troubleshooting network connection issues using Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) (1008184).
Verify the default gateway, ping the IP address of the other computer in the same virtual switch, and verify the persistent route table. For more information, see Troubleshooting virtual machine default gateway connection issues (1007910).
Check firewall configuration. For more information, see Troubleshooting network connection issues caused by firewall configuration (1007911).
Check the virtual switch VLAN configuration. For more information, see VLAN Configuration on Virtual Switch, Physical Switch, and Virtual Machines (1003806).
Verify physical switch port security. For more information, see Loss of network connectivity when port security is configured on the physical switch (1002811).
Use the TCPDUMP network traffic monitoring command to sniff TCP/IP messages. For more information, see Capturing virtual switch traffic with tcpdump and other utilities (1000880).

Note: If the problem still exists after trying the steps in this article:

Gather the VMware Support Script Data. For more information, see Collecting Diagnostic Information in a VMware Virtual Infrastructure Environment (1003689).
File a support request with VMware Technical Support and note this Article ID in the problem description. For more information, see How to Submit a Support Request.

Additional Information

For related toubleshooting information, see Troubleshooting virtual machine network connection issues (1003893).

Update History

03/17/2011 - Updated Step 9 with KB article 1000880.

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