Short summary: Fixed host↔guest host‑only networking between a Kali host (vboxnet0) and a Metasploitable2 guest (eth1) by either enabling host DHCP or assigning a persistent static IP on the guest. Includes quick commands for snapshotting, enabling DHCP on the host, static guest configuration, and safe recon commands.

Metasploitable2 had a second VirtualBox host‑only NIC present (eth1) but no IPv4 address, so the Kali host could not reach it. Common causes: no host-only DHCP server, guest interface not brought up, or temporary static assignment only.

Take a snapshot (recommended before changes):

VBoxManage snapshot "Meta2" take "host-only-up" --description "Host-only and static IP 192.168.56.101"

Try DHCP from inside guest:

sudo ip link set eth1 up
sudo dhclient -v eth1
ip addr show eth1

Assign a one-off static IP (guest):

sudo ip addr add 192.168.56.101/24 dev eth1
sudo ip link set eth1 up
ip addr show eth1
# From host:
ip addr show vboxnet0
ping -c 4 192.168.56.101

Enable host-only DHCP on the Kali host (host-side):

sudo VBoxManage dhcpserver add \
  --netname HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0 \
  --ip 192.168.56.2 --netmask 255.255.255.0 \
  --lowerip 192.168.56.100 --upperip 192.168.56.200

Then on the guest:

sudo dhclient -v eth1

Create /etc/network/interfaces.d/eth1.cfg on the guest:

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
    address 192.168.56.101
    netmask 255.255.255.0

Then:

sudo ifdown eth1 2>/dev/null || true
sudo ifup eth1
# or reboot if ifup/ifdown not available:
sudo reboot

1. Snapshot before destructive testing.
2. Service scan from host:

nmap -Pn -sV -oN metasploitable-scan.txt 192.168.56.101

3. Enumerate common services: ssh, ftp, telnet, rpcbind, mysql, vsftpd, etc.
4. From the guest, confirm firewall state:

sudo iptables -L -n

• Run VBoxManage as the same user that owns the VM — using sudo can cause it to look in another user’s registry.
• If the VM is in Saved state, discard the saved state before changing adapter settings:

VBoxManage discardstate "Meta2"

• Keep Metasploitable isolated — it’s intentionally vulnerable. Use host‑only + NAT; do not expose to the public internet.

• fix.md — this file
• scripts/enable-host-dhcp.sh — host-side DHCP helper (optional)
• configs/eth1.cfg — example persistent guest network file for Debian-based guests
• nmap-examples.txt — useful nmap command collection

mkdir meta2-host-only && cd meta2-host-only
# place fix.md, scripts/enable-host-dhcp.sh, configs/eth1.cfg, nmap-examples.txt into the directory
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial: Meta2 host-only networking guide"
# create repo on GitHub, then:
git remote add origin [email protected]:YOURUSER/meta2-host-only.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

MIT

• 2025-10-17 — Initial guide & commands.