[vbox-dev] Using VirtualBox network drivers

[Gary Palter]

Well, I'm back.

My client has informed me that the alternatives suggested below aren't acceptable.  They want to use the VirtualBox network drivers.  How can I use those drivers without creating a VirtualBox VM?  Any pointers to documentation or sample code that will show me what I need would be most helpful.

Thank you,

  - Gary Palter
    Principal Software Engineer
    Clozure Associates


On Dec 5, 2012, at 6:59 PM, Ivo Smits <Ivo at UFO-Net.nl> wrote:

> Just a few ideas which are probably somewhat easier:
> - Use libpcap to capture and inject network packets (useable directly 
> from userspace, you will need to handle packet filtering yourself but 
> it's easy)
> - Use a tap device and a linux kernel network bridge (the tap device 
> will work like a real switch port, with some filtering provided by the 
> network bridge)
> - Use VDE (should be easy to use, can connect to host network 
> interfaces, tap devices or act as a NAT gateway)
> 
> Ivo Smits
> 
> Op 5-12-2012 23:17, Gary Palter schreef:
>> I am working on a project for a client which involves migrating a 20+ year old application to Linux.  (All I can say about the application is that it's an emulator for an almost 30 year old computer architecture.)
>> 
>> The guest's operating system is aware that it's running in a virtual machine.  For network access, it communicates with the emulator through a set of queues to send and receive Ethernet packets.  In the original emulator, we attach a packet filter to the Ethernet interface in order to inject packets onto the wire and grab packets intended for the guest.
>> 
>> For the new emulator, we want to use the VirtualBox network drivers to setup a bridged interface.  I've spent several hours reading through the source code and, frankly, I'm lost.
>> 
>> How, exactly, does VirtualBox setup a bridged interface?  (I know that VboxNetFlt driver is involved but I don't know how it's hooked up.)  How is ARP handled?  How would I use the VirtualBox drivers in our emulator, keeping in mind that there's no VBox guest involved?
>> 
>> Thank you for your assistance,
>> 
>>  - Gary Palter
>>    Principal Software Engineer
>>    Clozure Associates
>> 
>> 
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> 
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