How to Fix the Disappearing Network Interface Issue in VMware Virtual Machines

Source of the Problem

I often use VMware virtual machines when learning Linux. However, sometimes you may encounter an issue where the virtual machine's network interface disappears, which prevents the virtual machine from connecting to the network.

Solution

To fix the issue of a missing network card in a VMware virtual machine, you can use the following three commands:

1. Stop the Network Manager service:

   BASH

   sudo service network-manager stop
   

2. Delete the Network Manager state file:

   BASH

   
   sudo rm /var/lib/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.state
   
   

3. Restart the Network Manager service:

   BASH

   
   sudo service network-manager start
   
   

What These Commands Do

• sudo service network-manager stop: This command stops the Network Manager service. Network Manager is a tool used to manage network interfaces. It can automatically configure network interfaces and handle network connections.
• sudo rm /var/lib/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.state: This command deletes the Network Manager state file. This file stores the current state of Network Manager. If there is a problem with this file, it may cause the network interface to disappear.
• sudo service network-manager start: This command restarts the Network Manager service, allowing the network interface to be reconfigured and fixing the missing network card issue.

Notes

• Administrator privileges are required: These commands require administrator privileges to run, so add `sudo` before the commands.
• It may affect network connections: These commands stop and restart the Network Manager service, which may affect other applications currently using the network.

Although the method I shared has worked for me and for friends around me when this kind of issue occurred, it may still be ineffective in some special cases. If that happens, you may need to look for other solutions.