Use Virtual CEPC Without a Network (Compact 7)

  • Article

3/12/2014

This topic discusses how to connect your virtual CEPC and Platform Builder by using the loopback adapter. For information about how to connect your virtual CEPC and Platform Builder by using a network that includes a DHCP server, see Download and Run a Virtual CEPC OS Run-Time Image.

The steps to connect your virtual CEPC to Platform Builder by using the loopback adapter are:

  1. Enable the loopback adapter on your host computer.
  2. Derive an IP address for your virtual CEPC that is compatible with the loopback adapter.
  3. Configure your virtual CEPC to use this derived IP address.

The following procedures describe this process in detail. Because the steps for configuring the loopback adapter for Windows 7 differ from the steps for Windows Vista and Windows XP, use the appropriate set of instructions for your host computer.

Windows Vista and Windows XP 

Enable the loopback adapter on your host computer by using the following instructions. If you have an existing network adapter on your host computer, the loopback adapter appears as Local Area Network Connection 2 when you open Network Connections in Control Panel.

To enable the loopback adapter

  1. On your host computer, open Control Panel, click Switch to Classic View, and then double-click Add Hardware.

  2. When the Welcome to the Add Hardware Wizard page displays, click Next.

  3. At the Is the hardware connected? message, select the option Yes, I have already connected the hardware, and then click Next.

  4. At the The following hardware is already installed on your computer message, scroll down the Installed Hardware list, click Add a new hardware device, and then click Next.

  5. At the The wizard can help you install other hardware message, click Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced), and then click Next.

  6. At the From the list below, select the type of hardware you are installing message, click Network adapters, and then click Next.

  7. On the Select Network Adapter page, wait a few seconds until the Manufacturer column displays a list of names, and then do the following:

    1. Under Manufacturer, click Microsoft.
    2. Under Network Adapter, click Microsoft Loopback Adapter as shown in the following figure.
    3. Click Next.

    Selecting the Loopback Adapter in Windows XP

  8. When you see the The wizard is ready to install your hardware page, click Next.

  9. In the Completing the Add Hardware Wizard page, click Finish.

At this point, you have added a network loopback adapter that you will use to provide connectivity between Platform Builder and your virtual CEPC. In the next set of steps, you determine an IP address to use for your virtual CEPC so that it can connect to this loopback adapter.

When you enable the loopback adapter, your host computer uses address autoconfiguration to automatically assign a link-local IP address to the loopback adapter. This IP address, which begins with 169.254, represents a communications link that resides entirely on your host computer. Platform Builder uses this link to communicate with the virtual CEPC. You must assign an IP address to your virtual CEPC so that it communicates on the same link-local network as the loopback adapter. In the next set of steps, you derive an IP address for your virtual CEPC. For more information about address configuration and link-local IP addresses, see Dynamic Configuration of IPv4 Link-Local Addresses.

To derive an IP address for your virtual CEPC

  1. On your host computer, click Start, and then click Run.

  2. In the Open box, type cmd and click OK.

  3. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and then press Enter:

    ipconfig

  4. In the resulting output, look for the local area connection listing that has an Autoconfiguration IP Address setting. For example:

    Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:`` Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :`` Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.23.189`` Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0`` Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

    This Ethernet adapter is your loopback adapter, and its IP address is the address shown to the right of Autoconfiguration IP Address. In this example, the loopback adapter’s IP address is 169.254.23.189.

  5. Derive a new IP address by taking the loopback adapter’s IP address and changing the last octet to a different number (octets are the numbers in the IP address that are separated by periods). For the last octet, choose a new number that is greater than 1 and less than 255. For example, if your loopback adapter’s address is 169.254.23.189, the last octet is 189. You can change this octet to 188, which gives you a derived IP address of 169.254.23.188.

  6. Assign this new derived IP address to your virtual CEPC as described in the next set of steps.

To configure your virtual CEPC with the derived IP address

  1. If you have not yet created a virtual CEPC virtual machine in Virtual PC 2007, create a virtual machine using the instructions in Create a Virtual Machine for a Virtual CEPC.

  2. Start Virtual PC 2007. The Virtual PC Console appears.

  3. On the Virtual PC Console, click Settings. The Settings for New Virtual Machine dialog box appears.

  4. In the Setting column, click Networking.

  5. Under Networking on the right side of the dialog box, change the Number of network adapters setting to 1 (if it is not already set to 1) as shown in the following figure.

    Virtual PC 2007 Settings

  6. In the Adapter 1 list, select Microsoft Loopback Adapter and click OK.

  7. On the Virtual PC Console, click Start to start your virtual CEPC.

  8. When your virtual CEPC boot loader prompts you to enter the configuration menu, press the spacebar to enter the configuration menu.

  9. Type 4 in the Main Menu to select the Network Settings submenu.

  10. In the Network Settings submenu, type 4 to disable DHCP.

  11. Type 5 to select the Set IP address option.

  12. When you see the prompt Enter Device IP address, enter the IP address that you derived previously. For example,

    Enter Device IP address (actual 0.0.0.0): 169.254.23.188

  13. Type 1 in the Network Settings submenu to show the current settings. Verify that DHCP is disabled and that the IP address is correct. For example:

    Network:`` KITL state: enabled`` KITL mode: interrupt`` DHCP: disabled`` IP address: 169.254.23.188`` VMINI: enabled

  14. Type 0 in the Network Settings submenu to return to the Main Menu.

  15. If you want to continue to use these network settings on each subsequent virtual CEPC reboot, type 7 in the Main Menu to save the settings.

At this point, your virtual CEPC can connect to Platform Builder through the loopback adapter on your host computer.

Windows 7 

Enable the loopback adapter on your host computer by following these instructions. If you have an existing network adapter on your host computer, the loopback adapter appears as "Local Area Network Connection 2" in the Network and Sharing Center.

To enable the loopback adapter

  1. On your host computer, click Start, and then click Run.

  2. In the Open box, type hdwwiz in the text box and press Enter.

  3. When the Welcome to the Add Hardware Wizard page appears, click Next.

  4. On the Add Hardware page, click Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced), and then click Next.

  5. When the Add Hardware page presents a list of common hardware types, click Network adapters, and then click Next.

  6. On the Select Network Adapter page, wait a few seconds until the Manufacturer column displays a list of names, and then do the following:

    1. Under Manufacturer, click Microsoft.
    2. Under Network Adapter, click Microsoft Loopback Adapter as shown in the following figure.
    3. Click Next.

    Selecting the Loopback Adapterin Windows 7

  7. On the The wizard is ready to install your hardware page, click Next.

  8. On the Completing the Add Hardware Wizard page, click Finish.

At this point, you have added a network loopback adapter that you will use to provide connectivity between Platform Builder and your virtual CEPC.

When you enable the loopback adapter, your host computer uses address autoconfiguration to automatically assign a link-local IP address to the loopback adapter. This IP address, which begins with 169.254, represents a communications link that resides entirely on your host computer. Platform Builder uses this link to communicate with the virtual CEPC. You must assign an IP address to your virtual CEPC so that it communicates on the same link-local network as the loopback adapter. In the next set of steps, you determine an IP address to use for your virtual CEPC so that it can connect to this loopback adapter. For more about address configuration and link-local IP addresses, see Dynamic Configuration of IPv4 Link-Local Addresses.

To derive an IP address for your virtual CEPC

  1. On your host computer, click Start, and then click Run.

  2. In the Open box, type cmd and then press Enter.

  3. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and then press Enter:

    ipconfig

  4. In the resulting output, look for the local area connection listing that has an Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address setting. For example,

    Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:`` Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :`` Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2500:9178:934e:17bd%20`` Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.23.189`` Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0`` Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

    This ethernet adapter is your loopback adapter, and its IP address is the address shown to the right of Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. In this example, the loopback adapter’s IP address is 169.254.23.189.

  5. Derive a new IP address by taking the loopback adapter’s IP address and changing the last octet to a different number that is greater than 1 and less than 255 (octets are the numbers in the IP address that are separated by periods). For example, if your loopback adapter’s address is 169.254.23.189, you can change that last octet from 189 to 188, which gives you a derived IP address of 169.254.23.188.

  6. Assign this new derived IP address to your virtual CEPC as described in the next set of steps.

To configure your virtual CEPC with the derived IP address

  1. If you have not yet created a virtual CEPC virtual machine in Windows Virtual PC, create a virtual machine by using the instructions Create a Virtual Machine for a Virtual CEPC.

  2. In your virtual machines folder, right-click your .vmcx or .vmc file (for example, VIRTUAL CEPC.vmcx), and then click Settings.

  3. In the Windows Virtual PC Settings dialog box, do the following:

    1. Under Setting, click Networking.
    2. Under Networking on the right side of the dialog box, change the Number of network adapters to 1 (if it is not already set to 1).
    3. In the Adapter 1 list, click Microsoft Loopback Adapter (as shown in the following figure), and then click OK.

    Windows Virtual PC Settings

  4. In your virtual machines folder, double-click your .vmcx or .vmc file (for example, VIRTUAL CEPC.vmcx) to start your virtual CEPC.

  5. When your virtual CEPC boot loader prompts you to enter the configuration menu, press the spacebar to enter the configuration menu.

  6. In the Main Menu, type 4 to select the Network Settings submenu.

  7. In the Network Settings submenu, type 4 to disable DHCP.

  8. Type 5 to select the Set IP address option.

  9. When you see the prompt Enter Device IP address, enter the IP address that you derived previously. For example,

    Enter Device IP address (actual 0.0.0.0): 169.254.23.188

  10. Type 1 in the Network Settings submenu to show the current settings. Verify that DHCP is disabled and that your IP address is correct. For example:

    Network:`` KITL state: enabled`` KITL mode: interrupt`` DHCP: disabled`` IP address: 169.254.23.188`` VMINI: enabled

  11. Type 0 in the Network Settings submenu to return to the Main Menu.

  12. If you want to continue to use these network settings on each subsequent virtual CEPC reboot, type 7 in the Main Menu to save the settings.

At this point, your virtual CEPC can connect to Platform Builder through the loopback adapter on your host computer.

See Also

Concepts

Develop with Virtual CEPC