Can't ping from Windows to Linux server

Question

Basically, I can ping from my Linux server to Windows (when I disable the firewall), but I can't ping from Windows to Linux, whether I disable the ufw-firewall or not. It just doesn't reach it. My Ubuntu uses a Network Bridged Adapter, as well.

Linux server's IP:

10.88.77.111

Windows IP (Wi-Fi):

192.168.0.110

Because of this, I think, I cannot connect to the linux server using SSH as well. Firewall can't be the issue, because I disabled both of them.

EDIT:

I've said this in the comment section below, but might as well repeat it here. No, SSH does not work. It gives the famous error: "Network error: Connection timed out", and I still haven't been able to fix that problem.

Second EDIT:

Yes, my Ubuntu host is on a Virtual Machine (VirtualBox). I'm just trying to connect my Ubuntu server (which is on a VM), to my Windows host, through SSH. But that doesn't work. Since that didn't work, I tried to ping the two, and one of two was successful, which is strange. If it's the Network Bridge Adapter which is causing a problem, what do you suggest I take? And also, I HAVE done SSH before, and it worked. Only now, after a couple of months, I'm trying to do SSH again, and now it's failing, for some weird reason. Should I try and change the IP of my Ubuntu?

Third EDIT:

It's an Ubuntu Server. Here are the two relevant config-files of my server:

/etc/network/interfaces

/etc/hosts

Solution

We need a little more information on your network setup to answer your question fully, but I believe I know at least what is causing the issue.

Assuming:

---

1) Both the Windows and Linux computers are supposed to be on the same local network.

2) The Linux server is not a virtual machine.

3) You are using bridged connections on your Windows machine to share its wireless connection to the Linux server through ethernet. (You bridged Wireless and Ethernet in Windows to get a connection to Linux.)

---

Then the problem is likely your network bridge. Your router assigned the local IP 192.168.0.110 to the Windows machine, and this is a common subnet for local networks.

The issue is that your Linux server has the IP of 10.88.77.111, which is an entirely different subnet. This means it likely did not receive an address from your router properly, and because of this Windows cannot ping the Linux server.

I would remove the network bridge, check all of your settings, and try to create it again. Did you change any settings from default when creating the bridge, such as setting static addresses under the "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" properties, for example?

Edit:

Since your Linux server is a virtual machine, the above information does not apply to your setup.

When you originally setup the virtual machine, did you change any of the network settings?

Edit #2:

Wait a second, that address you have your server set to looks very similar to the address VirtualBox assigns when the network settings are in NAT mode. Are you sure it is in bridged mode, like this for example:

If it is in bridged mode, and not NAT, then set the /etc/network/interfaces file to automatically retrieve an IP address. It will likely look more like the Windows one. If the automatic address it gives you works, then configure the static IP address to be what it gave you automatically.

Comments

[Thomas Ward]

Did you try SSH-ing? Ping is one of those odd protocols where things don't necessarily reply the way they should, or is filtered out on the router between subnets, so sometimes SSH (tcp) will work, but Ping (ICMP) won't.

[MKaama]

You could install Wireshark on Windows and tcpdump on Linux to see the actual packets. Apparently, there is one more device involved, is it the WiFi router?

[Sharad Gautam]

TRY nmap instead and then add to question :)

[ZstrZr]

Yes, I tried to SSH. It says "Network error: Connection timed out".

[ZstrZr]

I already have Wireshark, but what exactly do I have to look for when troubleshooting this particular scenario? I do see the 4 pings failing, but it's not really giving me information with which I know how to deal with. Any further details? And, as for "Sharad Gautam", what is "nmap"? Personally never heard of it.

[derHugo]

Still don't get what you want to do exactly .. how does you network look like? What IP does the router have e.g. and how is the routing done?

[JohnDoe]

Is the Linux server supposed to be on a local network, or is it open to the internet (through port-forwarding or if it is a rented VPS)? The Linux server being able to ping the (local IP) Windows PC implies that they are on the same network, and if the Linux server is supposed to be local, then it is not connected to the network properly (10.88.77.111 is not normal for local networks, it should be something like 192.168.0.x). The problem may likely be the network bridge.

[RobertRSeattle]

John- the 10.0.0.0/8 is fine for local networks, it's a private address range. The strange thing is the two different subnets. If it is the same local network the router has to have a route between the subnets for them to talk. Is the linux box also on WiFi or is it hardwired? Or is one of them a virtual machine on the other? Bridged networking doesn't really work with WiFi. If the Ubuntu box is a VM guest on the Windows box I'd expect this kind of behavior.

[JohnDoe]

@John I suppose I worded this wrong, as this is what I meant. Since the Windows PC is on the 192.168.0.x subnet, it is strange for the 10.88.77.111 address. Thank you for clarifying. Also, in the question, it says he has a "Network Bridged Adapter" for the Ubuntu box, which I assume means he is sharing his Windows wireless connection to the Linux computer through the ethernet port of his Windows PC using the bridged setting (I do this a lot). It seems that this is configured incorrectly, and that is why it is assigning strange addresses instead of letting the router give it a proper address.

[ZstrZr]

See the edit where I respond to your latest questions, as I don't want this comment section to get too big lol

[David Foerster]

Could you please post text files, dialogue messages, and program output listings as text, not as images? To achieve the latter two you can either 1) select, copy & paste the dialogue text or terminal content or 2) save the program output to a file and use that. Longer listings (the editor will tell you what's too long) should be uploaded to a pastie service and linked to in the question. Thanks.

[ZstrZr]

@DavidFoerster why?

[David Foerster]

Because 1) text is accessible to search engine crawlers and people who don't have proper screens (e. g. the blind) and 2) lazy people like me can't be bothered to transcribe pictures just so they can search for error messages & co on google when looking for related answers.

[ZstrZr]

The only thing I did differently from the last successful SSH, was changing the IP-address. Or at least, that's what I think I did differently. It's been a while, and I've been configuring maaaany things on my server.

[JohnDoe]

@ZstrZr Which IP address was changed? The one on the Ubuntu server, and is it a static IP address?

[ZstrZr]

The IP of the Ubuntu server changed, and yes, it's a static IP. I also changed the /etc/hosts file. There were two links to a link-local address, and I changed one of them to the new IP-address, which is 10.88.77.111.

[JohnDoe]

Is this Ubuntu Server or Ubuntu Desktop? If it is Ubuntu Server, please post the /etc/network/interfaces file and the /etc/hosts file. In the meanwhile, since it has been awhile since I used VirtualBox, I am going to create one and see how the network driver works again. Maybe I can recreate your issue or at least understand it better. Edit: I was able to recreate the issue and will try to find a solution soon.

[ZstrZr]

Alright, thanks, I'm going to make screenshots now, and update the post. You can expect the edit in a couple minutes. Thanks in advance. And by the way, yes, it's Ubuntu Server, not Desktop.

[RobertRSeattle]

When SSH worked in the past, was the Windows host plugged in? If you're bridging the connection over ethernet, everything will work as expected and your guest will pull a DHCP address from your router. Due to the way WiFi works, normal bridging won't really work. You would need to setup NAT networking.

[ZstrZr]

I definitely have a network bridged adapter. However, the IP is something I chose to give. I'm going to try to give my Ubuntu Server an IP that is like Windows', to see if that works. Be right back.

[ZstrZr]

I've tried it out, and it works! I gave my Ubuntu Server an IP within the subnet of my Windows' one. They can both ping each other, AND SSH works. Thanks!