Today we're going over how to connect to our vmware player via ssh for our pentesting lab
Please note, if you're unfamiliar with how to set up vmware player (installing or otherwise), you can research that first
then come back to this. It is assumed that you know how to set up vmware player and install an .iso unto it. That is beyond the scope
of this how-to and is the only requirement/prerequisite for this how-to.

Doing this with root didn't work for me. While it is possible to use the root account, this how-to is done using a non-root account.

NOTICE:::For Windows Host Use ipconfig [where you see] ifconfig |Use gps or ./services.exe for systemctl status:::

Setup is simple and requires no special software or hardware.Tools needed for this are:
>> ssh
>> vmware player
>> linux/windows host.iso
>> eth0 interface

Optional tools:
nmap

step 1: start a vm instance of any distro/.iso
In my case I went with Knoppix Linux because its a live distro that requires no setup, but you can choose whatever you like.

step 2: in vmware player, set network to host-only (anything else will not work for this excercise)
as an optional, you can start services on the vmware instance to create target ports for attacking,
in my case I started vncserver, (known as Xtightvnc)

step 3: on host, start ssh service [service ssh start]

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step 4: on host, set a static ip address for host using same subnet class; ex: 172.16.67.[#]
where [#] is any number between 2-254, excluding the ip address of vmware player guest

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<< host os

Note: IPADDRESS shown below was assigned via DHCP server of vmware player BEFORE setting to host-only
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<< guest os

step 5: on host, set default gateway to route of vmware player ex: 172.16.67.1

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For windows this is done differently...please research how to change/add the gateway using &#039;route add/change&#039; for Windows systems.
I&#039;ve tried several times but no luck.

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<< vmware player ipaddress

There&#039;s no need for persistance because the vmware player will be closed eventually but you can also do:
echo nameserver 172.16.67.200 > /etc/resolv.conf

If you get an error about permission denied, it means that you cannot write to /etc/resolv.conf because of sticky-bit,
but don&#039;t worry about it because its not needed.

step 6: ssh into vmware player using ssh hostname@ipaddress - the password is the same
for your system administration. so if your password is &#039;sa3799&#039; for your host username, enter
that same password for the ssh login. Where for me hostname = mukyu @ ippaddress = 172.16.67.1.

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checking netstat we see our connection is establish

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Please note, if you haven&#039;t set up ssh keys using ssh-keygen, you will need to do so
before connecting to vmware player. This will not be covered in this how-to.

step 7: using nmap or nc, scan the vmware player ipaddress to see connected devices; your
static ipaddress should be listed showing your open ports. In my case 22,443 & 902 are
my open ports.

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Here we can see that our session is active and successful:

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For shorter output...use systemctl, but mind that this does not convey successful connection as service does. I&#039;ve
included the example for good measure.

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Once we had our fun using ssh to vm, we can end our session with the &#039;exit&#039; command.

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Extra Mile:
We can also connect from the guest OS to the host OS via ssh and vice-versa. Connecting from the guest OS uses the credentials of the host OS and vice-versa
Explore this option on your own and have fun. Feel free to reply if having trouble.

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Thank you for reading and I hope you explore more on this as you progress in your training.
This How-To only covered vmware player, however, it is possible to apply similar techniques to other virtual host such as:
vbox -- virtl -- vmware workstation -- vncviewer ..etc