Use this procedure only when an emulator uses MsiPcap and must communicate with its Windows host or another Avanti instance on that host, but direct attachment to the physical adapter does not carry that traffic. MsiPcap can still carry external traffic when this host-local limitation is present. Npcap is preferred for new configurations and does not ordinarily require this workaround.
1.Install one OpenVPN TAP-Windows6 9.24.7 adapter for each local Avanti instance that needs the workaround. Obtain the signed installer from OpenVPN's official release server: use the cross-signed package on Windows 8/8.1 and Windows Server 2012/2012 R2, or the attestation-signed package on newer supported Windows releases. Run the installer with administrator rights and include its TAP Utilities. For each additional device, run the resulting TAP-Windows / Utilities / Add a new TAP virtual ethernet adapter Start-menu shortcut as administrator. Do not configure multiple emulators to use the same TAP adapter.
2.For one emulator that needs only host-to-guest traffic, do not create a Windows Network Bridge. Configure the host side of its single TAP adapter with an address on an isolated subnet, and configure the guest on the same subnet.
3.For traffic between two or more local emulators, select their separate TAP adapters in Windows Network Connections and create one Windows Network Bridge. Configure any host-side address on the resulting Network Bridge rather than on an individual TAP member.
4.If bridged emulators also need access beyond the Windows host, add at most one physical network adapter to that bridge. A bridge containing only two or more TAP adapters is sufficient for traffic among the host and local emulators.
5.In each Avanti configuration, attach the emulated NIC to its own TAP adapter and retain MsiPcap as the selected backend.
6.Test host-to-guest, guest-to-guest, and external traffic separately. A successful external test does not prove that host-local forwarding works.
Creating or changing a Windows Network Bridge requires administrator rights and can temporarily interrupt host connectivity. Wireless adapters and hypervisor virtual switches may reject bridged or additional-MAC traffic. Treat bridging through either as a compatibility experiment, not a guaranteed solution; wired Ethernet is preferred. A TAP bridge also does not bypass promiscuous-mode or MAC-spoofing restrictions imposed by an upstream virtual switch.
