Connecting Virtual Machines Directly to the External Network
Enter VMware's "Virtual Network Editor" via the vSphere client or VMware Workstation's Edit menu.
Make sure there's at least one VMnet that is of type "Bridged". To create a bridged VMnet, click the Add Network... button. Select a virtual network from the drop-down menu and click the OK button.
Select the appropriate VMnet and click the Bridged (connect VMs directly to the external network) radio-button under the VMnet Information heading. Select the appropriate physical network adapter from the Bridged to: drop-down menu. Leave the Bridged to: drop-down menu set to "Automatic" if you do not recognize your host machine's appropriate physical network adapter. Click the OK button to finish with the Virtual Network Editor.
Right-click on the appropriate virtual machine or "guest" system and click the Settings... or Edit Settings menu item. Highlight the Network Adapter and select Bridged: Connected directly to the physical network radio-button under the Network connection heading. If this virtual machine has no Network Adapter, click the Add... button to create a new Network Adapter. Click the OK button to finish editing this virtual machine's settings.
For more information on virtual networking with Vmware, please refer to the VMware support site article on Configuring a Virtual Network.