How to enable connection to virtualbox machine from outside the Host (i.e. from any PC connected to Internet)

Question

I have a Host with VirtualBox installed and Guest installed (both with Windows XP SP3). I do have connection between them. And also the guest have an internet connection. I can connect via Remote Desktop Connection from Host to Guest, but I also want to be able to connect to Guest from any other PC. If can, how to achieve this?

Guest is using 2 network adapters, one NAT for sharing the internet connection and then one Host-only to be able for both machines to see each other on the local network.

Goaltender

Answer 1

Assuming you have an Internet router providing access to your ISP...

1. Change the VM networking from NAT to Bridged.
2. Check that the guest still has Internet connectivity after rebooting or ipconfig /renew.
3. Configure the router to give the guest a fixed IP address. (Typically, the guest can still use DHCP but the router is configured to give the guest the same IP address every time.)
4. Determine which ports and protocols needed to connect with the guest. E.G, TCP on port 3389 (RPD) for Remote Desktop.
5. Configure the router's "port-forwarding" feature to route external connections to the IP address of your guest. You can designate a different port for the external connections but that might not get through firewalls between the remote computer and its ISP.
6. Determine the external IP address of your Internet router.
7. Connect from the remote computer to the IP address and designated port.

Renatarenate

Yes, I suppose that will work. But I dont have router at my home. My internet connection is coming directly on LAN cable from my internet provider. I assume there's a router outside my home but i dont have access to it. The LAN cable that's coming to my PC came out of a metal box :), that why a assume there's a router inside (or AP maybe). I'm marking this as solution coz its working one, but if someone knows a dirty workaround without router or extra equipment please post it here. Thanks. – Goaltender

Try the Super User or Server Fault sites, too. – Renatarenate

@TomBlodget , are there any in depth articles starting with step #3? I have a DIR-655 router, a windows Host, and Linux guest. The guest is in bridge mode and working fine.. but I want to access the VM guest when I'm outside (say at a coffee shop) – Seating

@Seating The manufacturer's documentation seems pretty complete to me. If you have a question, check Server Fault. – Renatarenate

@TomBlodget ok, if all I need is my router's documentation I'll dive in there. – Seating