Index: /trunk/src/VBox/HostDrivers/adpctl/VBoxNetAdpCtl.cpp
===================================================================
--- /trunk/src/VBox/HostDrivers/adpctl/VBoxNetAdpCtl.cpp	(revision 68055)
+++ /trunk/src/VBox/HostDrivers/adpctl/VBoxNetAdpCtl.cpp	(revision 68056)
@@ -33,4 +33,5 @@
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #ifdef RT_OS_LINUX
+# include <arpa/inet.h>
 # include <net/if.h>
 # include <linux/types.h>
@@ -254,4 +255,70 @@
 
 
+#ifdef RT_OS_LINUX
+/*
+ * Helper class to incapsulate IPv4 address conversion.
+ */
+class AddressIPv4
+{
+public:
+    AddressIPv4(const char *pcszAddress, const char *pcszNetmask = 0)
+        {
+            if (pcszNetmask)
+                m_Prefix = maskToPrefix(pcszNetmask);
+            else
+            {
+                /*
+                 * Since guessing network mask is probably futile we simply use 24,
+                 * as it matches our defaults. When non-default values are used
+                 * providing a proper netmask is up to the user.
+                 */
+                m_Prefix = 24;
+            }
+            inet_pton(AF_INET, pcszAddress, &(m_Address.sin_addr));
+            snprintf(m_szAddressAndMask, sizeof(m_szAddressAndMask), "%s/%d", pcszAddress, m_Prefix);
+            m_Broadcast.sin_addr.s_addr = computeBroadcast(m_Address.sin_addr.s_addr, m_Prefix);
+            inet_ntop(AF_INET, &(m_Broadcast.sin_addr), m_szBroadcast, sizeof(m_szBroadcast));
+        }
+    const char *getBroadcast() const { return m_szBroadcast; };
+    const char *getAddressAndMask() const { return m_szAddressAndMask; };
+private:
+    unsigned int maskToPrefix(const char *pcszNetmask);
+    unsigned long computeBroadcast(unsigned long ulAddress, unsigned int uPrefix);
+
+    unsigned int       m_Prefix;
+    struct sockaddr_in m_Address;
+    struct sockaddr_in m_Broadcast;
+    char m_szAddressAndMask[INET_ADDRSTRLEN + 3]; /* e.g. 192.168.56.101/24 */
+    char m_szBroadcast[INET_ADDRSTRLEN];
+};
+
+unsigned int AddressIPv4::maskToPrefix(const char *pcszNetmask)
+{
+    unsigned cBits = 0;
+    unsigned m[4];
+
+    if (sscanf(pcszNetmask, "%u.%u.%u.%u", &m[0], &m[1], &m[2], &m[3]) == 4)
+    {
+        for (int i = 0; i < 4 && m[i]; ++i)
+        {
+            int mask = m[i];
+            while (mask & 0x80)
+            {
+                cBits++;
+                mask <<= 1;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return cBits;
+}
+
+unsigned long AddressIPv4::computeBroadcast(unsigned long ulAddress, unsigned int uPrefix)
+{
+    /* Note: the address is big-endian. */
+    unsigned long ulNetworkMask = (1l << uPrefix) - 1;
+    return (ulAddress & ulNetworkMask) | ~ulNetworkMask;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * Linux-specific implementation of 'ip' command, as other platforms do not support it.
@@ -260,6 +327,5 @@
 {
 public:
-    CmdIpLinux() { pszBuffer = 0; m_pszPath = "/sbin/ip"; };
-    virtual ~CmdIpLinux() { delete pszBuffer; };
+    CmdIpLinux() { m_pszPath = "/sbin/ip"; };
     /**
      * IPv4 and IPv6 syntax is the same, so we override `remove` instead of implementing
@@ -273,9 +339,12 @@
     virtual int addV4(const char *pcszAdapter, const char *pcszAddress, const char *pcszNetmask = 0)
         {
-            return execute(CmdList("addr") << "add" << combine(pcszAddress, pcszNetmask) <<
-                           "dev" << pcszAdapter);
+            AddressIPv4 addr(pcszAddress, pcszNetmask);
+            bringUp(pcszAdapter);
+            return execute(CmdList("addr") << "add" << addr.getAddressAndMask() <<
+                           "broadcast" << addr.getBroadcast() << "dev" << pcszAdapter);
         };
     virtual int addV6(const char *pcszAdapter, const char *pcszAddress, const char *pcszNetmask = 0)
         {
+            bringUp(pcszAdapter);
             return execute(CmdList("addr") << "add" << pcszAddress << "dev" << pcszAdapter);
             NOREF(pcszNetmask);
@@ -296,37 +365,9 @@
         { return CmdList("addr") << "show" << "dev" << pcszAdapter; };
 private:
-    /** Converts address and network mask into a single string in CIDR notation (like 192.168.1.1/24) */
-    const char *combine(const char *pcszAddress, const char *pcszNetmask);
-
-    char *pszBuffer;
-};
-
-const char * CmdIpLinux::combine(const char *pcszAddress, const char *pcszNetmask)
-{
-    delete pszBuffer;
-    if (pcszNetmask)
-    {
-        unsigned cBits = 0;
-        unsigned m[4];
-        if (sscanf(pcszNetmask, "%u.%u.%u.%u", &m[0], &m[1], &m[2], &m[3]) == 4)
-        {
-            for (int i = 0; i < 4 && m[i]; ++i)
-            {
-                int mask = m[i];
-                while (mask & 0x80)
-                {
-                    cBits++;
-                    mask <<= 1;
-                }
-            }
-            const size_t cbBuf = strlen(pcszAddress) + 4;
-            pszBuffer = new char[cbBuf]; // '/xx\0'
-            snprintf(pszBuffer, cbBuf, "%s/%u", pcszAddress, cBits);
-            return pszBuffer;
-        }
-    }
-    return pcszAddress;
-}
-
+    /** Brings up the adapter */
+    void bringUp(const char *pcszAdapter)
+        { execute(CmdList("link") << "set" << "dev" << pcszAdapter << "up"); };
+};
+#endif /* RT_OS_LINUX */