dhcp private_network fails on virtualbox

Question

dhcp private_network fails on virtualbox

phinze opened this issue 11 years ago · 77 comments

Problem

With a fresh VirtualBox install, adding a private network with type: :dhcp fails with the following error:

There was an error while executing `VBoxManage`, a CLI used by Vagrant
for controlling VirtualBox. The command and stderr is shown below.

Command: ["dhcpserver", "add", "--ifname", "vboxnet0", "--ip", "172.28.128.2", "--netmask", "255.255.255.0", "--lowerip", "172.28.128.3", "--upperip", "172.28.128.254", "--enable"]

Stderr: VBoxManage: error: DHCP server already exists

Subsequent boots fail with a different message:

A host only network interface you're attempting to configure via DHCP
already has a conflicting host only adapter with DHCP enabled. The
DHCP on this adapter is incompatible with the DHCP settings. Two
host only network interfaces are not allowed to overlap, and each
host only network interface can have only one DHCP server. Please
reconfigure your host only network or remove the virtual machine
using the other host only network.

Steps to repro

Fresh install of Vagrant 1.4.3 and VirtualBox 4.3.6.

Minimal Vagrantfile:

# force virtualbox provider
ENV['VAGRANT_DEFAULT_PROVIDER'] = 'virtualbox'

Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|
  config.vm.box     = 'precise64'
  config.vm.box_url = 'http://files.vagrantup.com/precise64.box'
  config.vm.network 'private_network', type: :dhcp
end

Error message will appear on first vagrant up. My test host is OS X but I bet you this occurs on all hosts.

Explanation

VirtualBox ships with an initial dhcpserver seeded in its config [1].

$ VBoxManage list dhcpservers
NetworkName:    HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0
IP:             192.168.56.100
NetworkMask:    255.255.255.0
lowerIPAddress: 192.168.56.101
upperIPAddress: 192.168.56.254
Enabled:        Yes

The hostonlyifs settings ship empty.

When encountering a private network with type: :dhcp, Vagrant sees this HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 dhcpserver and assumes that it is valid and ready to be attached to vboxnet0. But vboxnet0 was just created and has an IP address of 172.28.128.1.

So the error message comes from VirtualBox yelling that you can't assign a dhcpserver with an IP address outside the network of an adapter.

But the error occurs after the hostonlyif has been created, so it's leaked to subsequent boots, which is why the error message changes.

What now?

We have a couple of options to solve this:

Petition VirtualBox to ship with an empty dhcpservers config
Add code to Vagrant to clean up this default dhcpserver
Add code to Vagrant to get smarter about dhcpservers with inconsistent IP addresses, possibly suggesting action to the user to fix

Workaround

Removing the default dhcpserver from VirtualBox solves all these collision problems.

VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0

[1] Here's the code that seeds the dhcpserver: https://www.virtualbox.org/browser/vbox/trunk/src/VBox/Main/xml/Settings.cpp#L1506

Magrath commented 10 years ago

+1

jwhitcraft commented 10 years ago

+1

jmvrbanac commented 10 years ago

+1

ms-tg commented 10 years ago

👍

kensykora commented 10 years ago

+1

minonne commented 10 years ago

+1

swashcap commented 10 years ago

+1

senz commented 10 years ago

+1

a-chernykh commented 10 years ago

+1

harmon commented 10 years ago

+1

etrepum commented 10 years ago

+1

screendriver commented 10 years ago

+1

gvlekke commented 10 years ago

+1

nbr commented 10 years ago

+1

lucaspottersky commented 10 years ago

+1

jasonm-makerbot commented 10 years ago

+1

ymkim92 commented 10 years ago

+1

mohrt commented 10 years ago

+1

thoughtarray commented 9 years ago

+1

jbradley428 commented 9 years ago

+1

Answer 1 · 2014-03-19T18:15:57.000Z

The workaround that I am using is to run the following before the first vagrant up

VBoxManage hostonlyif create

If this is a fresh VirtualBox installation, this creates a new vboxnet0 interface that gets the default dhcp server linked, and Vagrant can proceed with creating its own at vboxnet1. If this is an already-primed VirtualBox installation, this will just result in an extra, unused interface. This is a pretty minor side effect until a more graceful solution can be worked out.

Answer 2 · 2014-04-23T12:46:20.000Z

Thanks for posting this, it helped me get what I needed to get vagrant setup on Ubuntu 14.04.

FWIW.. this did not work for me

VBoxManage hostonlyif create

While this did work 👍

VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0

Answer 3 · 2014-05-05T00:48:11.000Z

Closing due to inactivity. Still a bug but its one I never hear about (I think only if DHCP is used?) and seems pretty low priority.

Answer 4 · 2014-06-03T23:28:16.000Z

Ran into this as well and the VBoxManage dhcpserver remove trick worked. If a proper fix is not planned, perhaps the command (or a link to this issue) could be added to the lengthy message vagrant spits up when the error is encountered.

Answer 5 · 2014-06-10T20:15:28.000Z

I experienced this too. I didn't explicitly choose DHCP, I just did a default install of virtualbox on my OSX machine. I agree: if you're not going to fix it, it would be nice for you to document the workaround in the error message. As for priority, it stopped my vagrant deployment from working. To me, who is affected by it, that's higher than "pretty low priority".

Answer 6 · 2014-06-13T00:47:34.000Z

A default installation of Vagrant 1.6.3 and VirtualBox 4.3.12 resulted in this error for me too. A link to this issue would work for me.

The following command resolved the issue for me:

VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0

👍 for all for the help.

Answer 7 · 2014-06-27T09:25:31.000Z

I had this issue today, I agree with @YmerejRedienhcs - what would it take for this to become higher priority than "pretty low"?

Answer 8 · 2014-06-27T11:29:54.000Z

Please increase priority of this. It happens on a basic new installation, it's going to break for all new developers / designers etc. on my projects.

I found the suggested workaround fixed it for me:

VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0

Answer 9 · 2014-07-09T23:17:46.000Z

The VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 command worked for me as well. +1.

Answer 10 · 2014-08-04T05:11:42.000Z

+1 - bit me, found this issue, command fixed

Answer 11 · 2014-08-18T13:25:41.000Z

This seems pretty basic functionality which needs to be in the command line and at least in the documentation I think. Thanks for the good work btw :-)

Answer 12 · 2014-08-20T14:45:45.000Z

also encountered this bug
the command fixed it

Answer 13 · 2014-08-26T21:31:27.000Z

Hey folks! Filed https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/13323 upstream, we'll see what uncle VBox has to say! 👴

Answer 14 · 2014-09-10T05:16:59.000Z

This happened with me with the default Vagrantfile create from Berkshelf.

Answer 15 · 2014-09-17T21:01:24.000Z

+1 @rjmunro

Answer 16 · 2014-09-23T20:49:12.000Z

+1 -- frustrating couple days spent hunting down what was actually going on.

Answer 17 · 2014-10-05T20:13:36.000Z

Vagrant should not be in a broken state when you first try to use it (if the Vagrantfile uses :private_network, type: dhcp).

This is just my opinion, but Vagrant should either support the feature or disable it, having to use esoteric workarounds to get going makes Vagrant look bad.

Answer 18 · 2014-11-07T10:20:23.000Z

👍 We just ran into this at the office. Unsure how it started (I've never seen it happen), but my colleague just had this issue. Using VBoxManage ... remove ... solved the issue.

Answer 19 · 2014-11-29T22:35:31.000Z

Alrighty dear peoples - we finally have a candidate fix in the pipeline over at #4882 - stay tuned for reviews and eventual mergings! 🌵

Answer 20 · 2015-01-05T23:09:04.000Z

@jasonm-makerbot the fix for this was merged - are you still hitting this on latest vagrant?

Answer 21 · 2015-01-05T23:57:47.000Z

I just ran into this issue on 1.7.1 (The latest version as of today). This is a brand new mac, and this was the first vagrant machine I've ever tried to start on this machine.

Going into the Virtualbox gui and deleting the Host-Only Network fixed the problem for me. I guess Virtualbox ships with a Host-Only Network by default.

Answer 22 · 2015-01-06T00:03:19.000Z

Dang, the detection code in 25ff636 must not be triggering. 😞 I'll reopen for now and take a look soon.

Answer 23 · 2015-01-06T21:52:53.000Z

I also still see this in 1.7.1, on a brand new RHEL box with fresh virtualbox + vagrant 1.7.1 install. Work-around VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 worked still. Let me know if you need help testing potential fixes.

Answer 24 · 2015-01-09T21:57:46.000Z

@phinze I did a bit more digging and it looks like the VirtualBox global settings are stored on a per user basis in the user's home folder ~/.config/VirtualBox.

So if you run VBoxManage dhcpserver remove ... as root, and you install/run vagrant as root, there is no issue, I suspect your fix will work.

However if vagrant gets installed as root (and root's DHCP server gets removed), but a non-root user tries to run vagrant up, he will run into the issue because the DHCP server exists for him (his ~/.config/VirtualBox/ folder is completely different).

Could this be the issue?

Answer 25 · 2015-01-09T22:16:19.000Z

Yes I am on the latest version of Vagrant:
jason.meredith@JasonMeredithMBP:[Preferences] $ vagrant --version
Vagrant 1.7.1

On Jan 5, 2015, at 6:09 PM, Paul Hinze notifications@github.com wrote:

@jasonm-makerbot the fix for this was merged - are you still hitting this on latest vagrant?

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Answer 26 · 2015-01-22T01:27:50.000Z

Alright I think this is finally ready to be made a thing of the past! #5233 fixed the lingering bug in the cleanup code and will come out in vagrant 1.7.3

Answer 27 · 2015-01-22T01:29:56.000Z

Yay! Thanks bud! 👍

Answer 28 · 2015-01-22T01:47:54.000Z

Interesting that today is the first time I tried dhcp, immediately ran into this, and 15 minutes prior it was fixed. Thanks!! 👍

Answer 29 · 2015-01-23T12:08:07.000Z

Just got bitten by this. Thanks for the workaround (since Vagrant 1.7.3 is not out yet) and the fix in 1.7.3 when it is out.

Answer 30 · 2015-02-03T16:23:50.000Z

VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 worked for me.

Answer 31 · 2015-02-26T23:06:09.000Z

+1
VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0
worked for me too.

Answer 32 · 2015-03-02T13:15:31.000Z

worked like a charm!

Answer 33 · 2015-03-22T18:48:54.000Z

Thanks @phinze! ⛵

Answer 34 · 2015-04-01T16:50:07.000Z

Also got this error with Vagrant 1.7.2.

VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 worked like a champ.

Answer 35 · 2015-04-08T16:57:00.000Z

Just encountered this error with:

Vagrant@1.7.2
VirtualBox@4.3.26r98988

VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 fixed the issue.

Answer 36 · 2015-05-04T16:28:04.000Z

VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 👍 👍 👍

Answer 37 · 2015-05-11T12:52:41.000Z

I'm surprised that this is still an issue. However, on the latest ubuntu vivid with virtualbox installed from the oracle repo, it is. The VBoxManage command above removing the interface settings worked.

Answer 38 · 2015-05-27T20:43:05.000Z

+1 just happened to me using Vagrant on a Yosemite host (10.10.3) w/ an Ubuntu (14.04) guest. I have been using Vagrant for over a year with RHEL, CentOS, Oracle Linux and Ubuntu 13.x guest OSes, and no issues with any of those.

UPDATE: I used the box-cutter/ubuntu1404-desktop base box when I got the error. Have not tested if a custom Ubuntu 14.04 base box fixes the issue.

VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 "worked" to unblock me.

Answer 39 · 2015-06-02T17:24:30.000Z

Vagrant noob here, definitely still an issue. VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 worked for me on OSx Yosemite

Answer 40 · 2015-06-16T08:42:23.000Z

+1 to this solution: VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0

Based off a fresh install of Vagrant 1.7.2 and VirtualBox 4.3.28

Answer 41 · 2015-06-19T10:23:08.000Z

+1 fresh vagrant fresh VB

Answer 42 · 2015-09-16T15:51:15.000Z

+1
Thanks for this solution VBoxManage dhcpserver remove
fresh install of Vagrant 1.7.4 and VirtualBox 5.0.4 on Ubuntu 14.04.

Answer 43 · 2015-11-02T18:16:15.000Z

Same error, fresh install of Vagrant 1.7.4 and VirtualBox 4.3

Answer 44 · 2015-12-01T12:39:59.000Z

+1 for vbox 5.0.10 and vagrant 1.7.4 on Ubuntu 14.04

Answer 45 · 2015-12-08T22:26:59.000Z

+1 vagrant 1.7.4 - on windows I had to manually remove it from virtualbox under file -> Preferences -> Network -> Host-only Networks highlight the available network and click the minus sign to remove it.

Answer 46 · 2016-10-10T20:39:27.000Z

+1

Still a problem for me. Now that I know about it I won't lose another half hour setting up a VirtualMachine using https://github.com/chef/bento and http://berkshelf.com.

Answer 47 · 2017-02-22T19:22:42.000Z

Same error, Windows 10, Vagrant 1.9.1, VirtualBox 5.1.14. Fixed by deleting the Host-only Networks from the VirtualBox GUI. Just to note, I happened to have two of them for some reason.

Answer 48 · 2017-06-11T01:33:25.000Z

Just got this error on Vagrant 1.9.1 vbox 5.1.22

Answer 49 · 2017-08-11T10:02:51.000Z

This issue still appears to be very much broken unfortunately.

Answer 50 · 2018-07-01T23:23:49.000Z

Issue definitely still exists. Vagrant 2.1.2 and VirtualBox 5.2.12.

Agree with people above that this should not be an out-of-the-box error that is likely to occur for any host-only network using DHCP (which is default for VirtualBox).

Answer 51 · 2019-06-17T14:46:14.000Z

If the VBoxManage dhcpserver remove --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 comand gives you error: VBoxManage.exe: error: DHCP server does not exist
then you can use the VBoxManage list dhcpservers command to see available servers. It worked for me to remove them all (by NetworkName).

Answer 52 · 2019-12-16T16:05:52.000Z

Just upgraded VirtualBox and Vagrant and had the very same problem.

Answer 53 · 2019-12-18T19:19:42.000Z

Same here.

Answer 54 · 2020-01-20T22:12:11.000Z

Freaking 5 year old issue still persist, smh.

Answer 55 · 2020-01-20T22:14:53.000Z

Contribute, then 🙈

…

On Mon, 20 Jan 2020, 22:12 Abdul Rehman (Bsienn), ***@***.***> wrote: Freaking 5 year old issue still persist, smh. — You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3083?email_source=notifications&email_token=AAERYF7CGP7L77SPV5LZ5YTQ6YOT5A5CNFSM4AM746NKYY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOEJN5WNQ#issuecomment-576445238>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAERYF76N5E3PKLXQDMDSBLQ6YOT5ANCNFSM4AM746NA> .

Answer 56 · 2020-01-27T16:06:53.000Z

My work is suffering from this. I need to be able to use virtual box.

Answer 57 · 2020-01-28T01:50:18.000Z

I'm going to lock this issue because it has been closed for 30 days ⏳. This helps our maintainers find and focus on the active issues.

If you have found a problem that seems similar to this, please open a new issue and complete the issue template so we can capture all the details necessary to investigate further.