Access iSCSI Targets Using Internal Networking

As an experimental feature, enables access to an iSCSI target running in a virtual machine which is configured to use Internal Networking mode. See iSCSI Servers, Internal Networking, and VBoxManage storageattach.

The IP stack accessing Internal Networking must be configured in the virtual machine which accesses the iSCSI target. A free static IP and a MAC address not used by other virtual machines must be chosen. In the example below, adapt the name of the virtual machine, the MAC address, the IP configuration, and the Internal Networking name (MyIntNet) according to your needs. The following eight commands must first be issued:

$ VBoxManage setextradata VM-name \
VBoxInternal/Devices/IntNetIP/0/Trusted 1
$ VBoxManage setextradata VM-name \
VBoxInternal/Devices/IntNetIP/0/Config/MAC 08:00:27:01:02:0f
$ VBoxManage setextradata VM-name \
VBoxInternal/Devices/IntNetIP/0/Config/IP 10.0.9.1
$ VBoxManage setextradata VM-name \
VBoxInternal/Devices/IntNetIP/0/Config/Netmask 255.255.255.0
$ VBoxManage setextradata VM-name \
VBoxInternal/Devices/IntNetIP/0/LUN#0/Driver IntNet
$ VBoxManage setextradata VM-name \
VBoxInternal/Devices/IntNetIP/0/LUN#0/Config/Network MyIntNet
$ VBoxManage setextradata VM-name \
VBoxInternal/Devices/IntNetIP/0/LUN#0/Config/TrunkType 2
$ VBoxManage setextradata VM-name \
VBoxInternal/Devices/IntNetIP/0/LUN#0/Config/IsService 1

Finally the iSCSI disk must be attached with the --intnet option to tell the iSCSI initiator to use internal networking, as follows:

$ VBoxManage storageattach ... --medium iscsi --server 10.0.9.30 \
--target iqn.2008-12.com.sun:sampletarget --intnet

Compared to a regular iSCSI setup, the IP address of the target must be specified as a numeric IP address, as there is no DNS resolver for internal networking.

The virtual machine with the iSCSI target should be started before the VM using it is powered on. If a virtual machine using an iSCSI disk is started without having the iSCSI target powered up, it can take up to 200 seconds to detect this situation. The VM will fail to power up.