So-- right off the bat when I load the vmware image, I notice that the network icons have a discrepancy between the icon in the system tray and the icon in the vmware workstation. It appears the network connection in my virtual desktop is not connecting to the internet, and is regarded as "local only"
The IP address 192.168.0.200 also does not show up on my router, so I can't forward any ports to it. Here are the network settings in vmware:
I'm not sure what I'm missing here lol.
Tried a fresh start at it and also running VMware as an administrator. No luck. Here's a screencap of what the network center looks like on a fresh install of the desktop image:
I've tested the network bridge settings and tried all of the adapters. I've also found that if I add a second network adapter and set it to automatic bridging, it works and I can connect to the internet within the virtual desktop, however I still cannot port forward to it, and I still cannot connect to the server.
Judging from this screenshot in the OP, it seems to me that the issue I'm having getting my virtual desktop to connect to the internet is the root of the problem. You can see that the network icon on the virtual desktop in this screenshot from the OP has the little green globe on it, however in my screenshot, it does not.
I feel as though I've emptied my options, I don't know what the hell to even try any more. I cannot get this thing to show up on my router, so therefore I cannot forward any ports. This is really frustrating.