Network Manager Disabled but Connected

If you are using VirtualBox host networking with a bridge, and you have setup a static local IP for your host machine, the network manager gnome applet will show as disabled most likely because no DHCP is being used. The host ethernet card will also not show an IP address in ifconfig. Technically all host internet activity is processesed through the bridge therefore the bridge IP address can be considered the host IP address. Note that the taps have distinct IP addreses from the guest machines, therefore configure your router and network settings uniformly to avoid IP tangles. Overall since network manager is useless in a static IP and bridged network environment, you can disable it in: preferences>>session Click the startup programs tab and either disable or delete the reference to nm-applet.

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