How to configure a second IP address and bind it to a VBoxHeadless virtual machine?

Question

I've requested my ISP to dedicate me a second Internet IP address and have got it. Now I need to configure it (I've never had any experience with using multiple IP addresses on one network interface) on my Ubuntu 10.04 server so that it will be a public address of a VirtualBox (VBoxHeadless) machine (running Ubuntu 10.04 Server as well). Would you be so kind to tell me how can I do so, or at least what docs to read and what specific subjects to google for?

Answer 1

The easiest way would be to set the virtual machine to use ‘bridged’ networking on the host's normal eth0 interface. Then set up the guest OS to use the second IP address as a static IP, whilst the host OS continues to the the first static IP.

With this approach, you don't have to set up multiple interfaces on the host OS or NAT rules to map the guest to a particular external IP. The guest and the host use different interfaces on the same shared network adapter.