How can I change the local IP a virtual machine in VmWare NAT DHCP?

I will assume you are using VMWare Workstation. You should be more specific about what you want and what's your setup, so it's easier to help. For example, you didn't post what you did to the vmnetdhcp.conf file.

If you are hosting VMs in NAT mode, and want to change the DHCP settings so your VMs have another IP assigned by VMware, you should follow this steps:

1. Log in to the host system as an Administrator user. Only an Administrator user can change network settings in the virtual network editor.

2. Select Edit > Virtual Network Editor. Select the host-only or NAT network.

3. To use the virtual DHCP server to assign IP addresses to virtual machines on the network, select Use local DHCP service to distribute IP addresses to VMs.

4. To change additional DHCP settings, click DHCP Settings.

5. You can change the range of IP addresses that the virtual DHCP server provides on the selected network and the duration of DHCP licenses that the DHCP server provides to clients on the virtual network.

6. Click OK to save your changes.

EDIT / UPDATE: After some of your comments, I can extend the answer and see if this helps further:

Even though I already posted this table in the links below, I'm linking another version of the VMware Workstation 9 documentation. for the following table for NAT setups:

net.1  |  Host machine |  192.168.0.1 
net.2  |  NAT device   |  192.168.0.2
net.3–net.127 | Static addresses | 192.168.0.3–192.168.0.127
net.128–net.253 | DHCP-assigned  | 192.168.0.128–192.168.0.253
net.254 | DHCP server | 192.168.0.254 
net.255 | Broadcasting | 192.168.0.255 

Here in this VMware kb article, you can see a video on how to get to the option to set the specific IP. You should remember the table above to set that fixed lease though.

Another way, instead of the GUI mode denoted in the video is to edit the vmnetdhcp.conf file in: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware and add something like this:

host VM_With_Fixed_Lease {
hardware ethernet 00:11:22:33:44:55;
fixed-address 192.168.0.25;
}

Of course you should replace VM_With_Fixed_Lease with a name you like (avoid spaces or weird characters, keep it to a simple alphabetic name). The hardware ethernet is the MAC address of the guest VM, and the fixed-address would be the fixed lease you wish. Remember to use the range in table above for static vs dynamic leases. Even thought you mentioned in the question that you had edited the file, you didn't give any details, so I guess there was something missing there.

Remember you have to poweroff the VM and you should restart VMware Workstation (if you don't know how to restart the DHCP server that will take care of it).

Sources:

• https://pubs.vmware.com/workstation-9/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.ws.using.doc%2FGUID-7EBE03F0-4581-4646-B816-07AD7B7A5380.html
• https://www.vmware.com/support/ws5/doc/ws_net_advanced_ipaddress.html