Setup virtual box VM host only adapter networking. Works for Debian 3.16 64 bit.

setup.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
"""This sets up a Debian VM for host-only network adapter"""

import argparse
from subprocess import call

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="setup VM for host only networking")
parser.add_argument('--ip', '-ip', required=True, help='an ip address for host only adapter')

args = vars(parser.parse_args())

ifconfig = "ifconfig eth1 {} netmask 255.255.255.0 up".format(args['ip'])
interface = """# The host-only network interface
auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address {}
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.56.0
broadcast 192.168.56.255""".format(args['ip'])
host = "{}\tlocalhost".format(args['ip'])

#call(ifconfig, shell=True)
with open("/etc/network/interfaces", "a") as fout:
    fout.write(interface)

with open("/etc/hosts", "a") as fout:
    fout.write(host)