Troubleshooting: No Internet on QEMU VM despite Connection Present

Creating a Virtual Machine (VM) using Ansible Playbooks on an Ubuntu Server 24.04 to pass a USB Wi-Fi adapter and detect its connection during the installation process is a common task. However, despite the network interface being detected and connected, there might be instances where the VM still does not have an internet connection. This article will provide a detailed context, covering key concepts, subtitles, and a solution to the issue.

Table of Contents

1. Preparing the Host Machine
2. Creating the Ansible Playbook
3. Running the Ansible Playbook
4. Troubleshooting No Internet Connection in the VM

Preparing the Host Machine

Before creating the VM, ensure that the host machine has the following prerequisites:

• A USB Wi-Fi adapter
• Ansible installed and configured
• VirtualBox installed and configured

Creating the Ansible Playbook

Create a new directory for the playbook and initialize it:

mkdir -p vm_setup/ansible_playbooks/
cd vm_setup/ansible_playbooks/
ansible-galaxy init vm_setup.yml

Now, edit the vm_setup.yml file to include the necessary tasks:

---
- hosts: vm
  become: yes
  vars:
    vm_name: my_vm
    vm_memory: 2048
    vm_cpus: 2
    vm_storage: 40960
    usb_device: 046d:c52b

  tasks:
    - name: Add USB Wi-Fi adapter to VM
      virsh:
        cmd: 'define $vm_name'
        args:
          connection: virtualbox
        state: present
        when: ansible_os_family == 'Debian'

    - name: Add USB Wi-Fi adapter to VM configuration
      virsh:
        cmd: 'edit $vm_name'
        args:
          connection: virtualbox
        state: present
        when: ansible_os_family == 'Debian'

    - name: Add USB device to VM configuration
      blockinfile:
        path: /etc/virsh/qemu-ifup.d/50-usb-device.cfg
        block: |
          <interface type='userdevice'>
            <mac address='52:54:00:{{ vm_mac }}'/>
            <source controller='usb' index='{{ item }}'/>
            <model type='rndis'/>
            <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x02' function='0x0'/>
          </interface>
        create: yes
        vars:
          vm_mac: `cat /sys/class/net/virbr0/address`
        with_items:
          - "{{ usb_device }}"

    - name: Create and start the VM
      virsh:
        cmd: 'create $vm_name'
        args:
          connection: virtualbox
        state: present

    - name: Install OS on the VM
      command: virt-install --connect qemu:///system --name $vm_name --ram $vm_memory --vcpus $vm_cpus --disk path=$vm_storage,format=qcow2 --os-type=linux --os-variant=ubuntu24.04 --graphics vnc --noautoconsole --network bridge=virbr0 --usb $usb_device
      args:
        executable: /usr/bin/env
      become: yes

    - name: Wait for the VM to finish booting
      wait_for:
        host: "{{ vm_name }}"
        port: 5900
        state: started
      delay: 60
      retries: 60
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Install necessary packages
      apt:
        name:
          - wpa_supplicant
          - dhcpcd5
          - net-tools

    - name: Configure Wi-Fi connection
      blockinfile:
        path: /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
        create: yes
      block: |
        country=US
        network={
          ssid="Your_Wi-Fi_SSID"
          psk="Your_Wi-Fi_PASSWORD"
        }

    - name: Restart networking services
      service:
        name: networking
        state: restarted

Running the Ansible Playbook

To run the playbook, execute the following command:

ansible-playbook vm_setup.yml

Troubleshooting No Internet Connection in the VM

If the VM still does not have an internet connection after following the above steps, try the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Check the VM's network interface:

virsh net-dhcp-leases virbr0

2. Check the DHCP client logs:

dmesg | grep dhcp

3. Manually configure the network interface:

sudo ip addr show
sudo ip link set eth0 up
sudo ip addr add <IP_ADDRESS>/<NETMASK> dev eth0
sudo ip route add default via <GATEWAY_IP>

Replace <IP_ADDRESS>, <NETMASK>, and <GATEWAY_IP> with the appropriate values.

References

• Ansible Documentation - VirtualBox
• VirtualBox User Manual - Networking
• Ubuntu Server 24.04 Documentation - Networking
• WPA Supplicant Configuration
• DHCPCD5 Configuration
• Net-Tools