I can’t connect my virtual machine to the network (or to the Internet). What should I do?
Please follow the steps below:
Step One: Please make sure that the virtual machine network adapter is enabled:

1. Launch Parallels Desktop for Mac
2. Click the Network Adapter link in the main configuration window to open its settings.
3. Make sure that the Enabled and Connect cable at startup options are selected in the Device Status area.
4. Under the Emulation section select the Bridged Ethernet option and choose Default Adapter or any other Mac network connection interface that is connected to the network.
5. Click OK to close Configuration Editor.

Step Two: If Bridged Networking isn’t suitable for you, try to change the VM network settings to Shared Networking.

Step Three: If networking is still unavailable in your virtual machine, try to use Apple’s Internet Sharing service to connect the VM to the network:

1. Launch Parallels Desktop for Mac.
2. Click the Network Adapter icon in the main configuration window to open its settings.
3. Make sure that the Enabled and Connect cable at startup options are selected in the Device Status area.
4. In the Emulation area select the Host-only networking option.
5. Click OK to close Configuration Editor.
6. Open Mac OS X System Preferences - Sharing - Internet.
7. Select your network connection interface in the Share your connection from drop-down list.
8. Enable the Ethernet Adaptor (en2) (number after en depends on your Mac configuration) in the To computers using list.
9. Click the Start button. Then confirm Internet Sharing service activation.
10. Click the Firewall section in the same window, and check the type of service you want to access from your virtual machine. If your Firewall is active you should select the Personal Web Sharing option to be able to browse the Internet web sites at least. Alternatively, you can click the Stop button to disable the Firewall.
11. Restart your Mac.
12. Start your virtual machine, and then check its network connections.

Which networking mode (Bridged, Shared or Host-Only) should I prefer for the VM?
Generally, Shared Networking mode is recommended. Sometimes, you may need to use other Networking modes; it depends on your particular network configuration and the type of network access you want to use in your VM. Here is a brief description of all these modes:

• Shared Networking – the recommended type of networking for the VM. Your virtual machine will share whatever network connection is used by your Mac. You will be able to access the network from the VM as long your Mac OS X is connected to the network. The only limitation of this mode is that the VM is not visible from the external network
• Bridged Networking – uses your network adapter. You should choose this mode if you want to access the VM from the external network. Please keep in mind that your network configuration should allow using DHCP to assign IP address for the VM, or you should obtain a static IP for the VM and set it in the guest OS.
• Host-Only Networking – This mode is recommended if you don’t want the VM to be able to access the external network. When in Host-Only Networking mode, the VM can see only the host system (Mac OS X) on the special internal network. However, you can set up the Apple Internet Sharing service in such a way that Mac OS X will share its connection with the VM (as described in the previous question of this FAQ section). In this case the VM networking will be similar to the Shared Networking mode.

What is the purpose of Shared Networking mode?
The Shared Networking mode is designed to simplify the VM network connections configuring and setup. This is the default option. Generally, you don’t need to perform additional network configuring in Mac OS X or the guest OS when your virtual machine is in Shared Networking mode. You can still use other networking modes for the VM depending on your needs (see previous question in this FAQ section for the modes description).

How can I change VM networking modes?
Launch Parallels Desktop for Mac and click the Network Adapter link in the main configuration window to access the VM network settings.

Why do I have an IP address conflict in the network after I start my guest OS?
IP address conflicts may occur if the IP address for the VM coincides with your Mac’s IP address (when the VM is in the Bridged Networking mode). Get your guest OS IP address automatically configured by the DHCP server or set another static IP address for the VM. If your network configuration doesn't allow the VM to have its own IP address, you should set the VM to use the Shared Networking mode.

Why is my network still not working even after I have tried all of your suggested methods from the FAQ?
Please make sure that you haven’t changed any other settings when attempting to set up the VM networking.
Here are some useful tips:

• You shouldn’t set the same IP address both to you guest OS and Mac OS X. Duplicating the Mac OS X network settings in the guest OS can lead to problems in networking.
• Do not change DHCP scope settings for the VM. The DHCP scope of your Mac should be different that that of your virtual machine. The only reason why you should change DHCP scope is if your real network address is in the same scope.
• You shouldn’t install any additional third party software or drivers in the guest OS to provide VM networking. The guest OS connects to the network using the Local Area Connection interface on the VM side.
• If you have installed any third party Firewall program in the guest OS, please make sure that it doesn’t block your network connection.

Generally, it’s highly recommended that you keep all the network settings at the default values unless specified otherwise in this FAQ or told by your Network Administrator.

Networking in my guest OS is very slow compared to my Mac OS X. I’m sure that the problem is the virtual machine as I’ve tested network speed on the Mac OS X side and everything is fine there. How can I solve the problem?
Slow network connectivity may occur if you have copied one VM to several computers on the network, and this VM is configured to use Bridged Networking mode. Each time you create a new VM, it gets its own MAC address, but if a single VM was copied, all copies have the same MAC address, which can cause loss of network packets directed to the VM. You can solve this problem by following these steps:
1. Launch Parallels Desktop for Mac, click the Network Adapter link in the VM configuration window to open its settings. On the Advanced tab manually change the MAC address. Generally, it is enough to replace one or two symbols in the address (use numbers from 0 to 9 or letters from A to F to replace the symbols).
Or
2. Use Shared Networking mode for the VM.

Host-only networking or Shared Networking doesn't work after upgrading Parallels Desktop for Mac. The option is grayed out. How can it be fixed?
Try to restart your Mac. After the restart, it should work fine. If it doesn’t, just reinstall Parallels Desktop for Mac.