Vagrant - access guest from host via hostname
Vagrant private networks allow you to access your guest machine by some address that is not publicly accessible from the global internet.
Multiple machines within the same private network can communicate with each other on private networks.
Private Network
private networks should never allow the general public access to your machine, public networks can.
DHCP
The easiest way to use a private network is to allow the IP to be assigned via DHCP.
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
config.vm.network "private_network", type: "dhcp"
end
This will automatically assign an IP address from the reserved address space. The IP address can be determined by using vagrant ssh to SSH into the machine and using the appropriate command line tool to find the IP, such as ifconfig.
Static IP
You can also specify a static IP address for the machine. This lets you access the Vagrant managed machine using a static, known IP. The Vagrantfile for a static IP looks like this:
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.50.4"
end
It is up to the users to make sure that the static IP does not collide with any other machines on the same network.
IPv6
You can specify a static IP via IPv6. DHCP for IPv6 is not supported. To use IPv6, just specify an IPv6 address as the IP:
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "fde4:8dba:82e1::c4"
end
This will assign that IP to the machine. The entire /64 subnet will be reserved. Please make sure to use the reserved local addresses approved for IPv6.
Disable Auto-Configuration
If you want to manually configure the network interface yourself, you can disable Vagrant’s auto-configure feature by specifying auto_config:
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.50.4",
auto_config: false
end
Forwarded Ports
f the guest machine is running a web server listening on port 80, you can make a forwarded port mapping to port 8080 (or anything) on your host machine. You can then open your browser to localhost:8080 and browse the website, while all actual network data is being sent to the guest
The forwarded port configuration expects two parameters, the port on the guest and the port on the host. Example:
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080
end
I created a private network with a static IP address. Then in the Windows host, I configured hostname with that IP address. This way, I am able to access the webserver from local/host OS.
Now, in VagrantFile, as my host computer’s port 88 is forwarded to guest’s 80(config.vm.network :forwarded_port, guest: 80, host: 88), I can access webserver from local LAN computers with: http://host-computer-name:88/.
Port Collisions and Correction
It is common when running multiple Vagrant machines to unknowingly create forwarded port definitions that collide with each other (two separate Vagrant projects forwarded to port 8080, for example). Vagrant includes built-in mechanism to detect this and correct it, automatically.
Port collision detection is always done. Vagrant will not allow you to define a forwarded port where the port on the host appears to be accepting traffic or connections.
Port collision auto-correction must be manually enabled for each forwarded port, since it is often surprising when it occurs and can lead the Vagrant user to think that the port was not properly forwarded. Enabling auto correct is easy:
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080,
auto_correct: true
end