Specifying the keyboard layout when connecting with VNC client

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• A VNC client acts as if the keyboard is currently using an English layout, when it is not.
• Incorrect letters appear when you type.
• Letters typed on a non-English keyboard do not print the correct letters on the screen.

Environment

VMware Fusion 1.x
VMware Fusion 4.x
VMware Fusion Pro 8.x
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware Fusion 7.x
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Linux)
VMware Fusion 10.x
VMware Fusion 6.x
VMware Workstation 8.x (Windows)
VMware Fusion 11.x
VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Fusion 3.x
VMware Fusion Pro 10.x
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 6.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Fusion 2.x
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Windows)
VMware Fusion Pro 11.x
VMware Workstation 7.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 6.x (Linux)

Resolution

This issue can be resolved by specifying the remote keyboard layout to be used by the virtual machine.

 

To specify the remote keyboard layout:

1. Open the virtual machine configuration file ( .vmx) for editing. For more information, see:
    
   • Fusion: Editing the .vmx file for your Fusion virtual machine (1014782)
   • Workstation: Editing the .vmx file of a VMware Workstation and VMware Player virtual machine (2057902)
      

2. Add this line to the end of the file:
   
   RemoteDisplay.vnc.keymap = "<lang_code>"
   
   where <lang_code> is a value chosen from the vnckeymap folder.
   
   Note: The location of the vnckeymap folder varies based on your host operating system or your product version:

   • Windows XP / Server 2003: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware Workstation.
   • Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\VMware.
   • Linux: /usr/lib/vmware
   • Fusion 4.x and above: /Applications/VMware Fusion/Library.
   • Fusion 3.x and earlier: /Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion.

Additional Information

Instead of using a value from the vnckeymap folder, you can create a custom file.

To create a custom layout file, create a new text file and specify the key value pairs consisting of the VNC or X KeySym and the corresponding keyboard scan code. Use an existing vnckeymap file as an example. When completed, set the keymap file variable in the .vmx to specify the custom file you created.

Example: RemoteDisplay.vnc.keymapFile = "my_keyfile"

Editing the .vmx file for your VMware Fusion virtual machine
Tips for editing a .vmx file
Editing the .vmx file of a VMware Workstation and VMware Player virtual machine