Enable content Copy/Paste between VMRC client and Windows/Linux Virtual Machine

Products

• VMware vCenter Server 7.0
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

This article provides the basic steps to enable the Copy/Paste between the VMRC client and a Windows/Linux Virtual Machine.

Note:

• The Copy/Paste between VMRC client and MacOS virtual machine is not currently supported.
• This steps provided in this KB will help with copying data only, not the file/folder.
• This is per VM level configuration.
• For ESXi virtual machines, one-way copy/paste feature from the client machine to/from VMRC (VM) is currently not supported.This may be feasible for local virtual machines on workstations, but not for ESXi virtual machines.

 

Environment

VMware vCenter Server

VMware ESXi 

Resolution

1. To resolve this issue, first install or upgrade the VMware tools for the Windows/Linux virtual machine. For more information see Installing and upgrading VMware Tools in vSphere.
   
   From the vCenter Server HTML5 Web Client

   1. Power off the VM.
   2.  Enable the Copy & Paste for the Windows/Linux virtual machine:
      1. Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
      2. For vCenter 7.0
         1. Click the VM Options tab, expand Advanced, and click Edit Configuration.
            
         2. Click on Add Configuration Params three times to give three rows 
         3. Fill in the Name and Value fields as mentioned below:
            
            

            Name	Value
            isolation.tools.copy.disable	FALSE
            isolation.tools.paste.disable	FALSE
            isolation.tools.setGUIOptions.enable	TRUE

         4. Click OK to save and exit out of the Configuration Parameters wizard. (Note: These options override any settings made in the guest operating system’s VMware Tools control panel. )
         5. Click OK to save and exit out of the Edit Settings wizard.
      3. For vCenter 8.0 
         1. Click the "Advanced Parameters" tab.
         2. Click filter icon of Attribute column. Search for 3 items' names, check if they already exist. If yes, edit their corresponding values. If not, add them from the textboxs above.

            Name	Value
            isolation.tools.copy.disable	FALSE
            isolation.tools.paste.disable	FALSE
            isolation.tools.setGUIOptions.enable	TRUE

         3. Click "OK".
   3. Power on the VM
   4. Then use Copy/Paste directly on Windows/Linux/any other platform. 
   5. For paste operation's target platform is Linux, Older X applications do not use a clipboard. Instead, the system allows pasting of the currently selected text (called the "primary selection") without copying it to a clipboard. Pressing the middle mouse button is usually the way to paste the primary selection. For more information see Copying and pasting from a Windows guest to Linux host.

NOTE: If you have confirmed your configuration and the issue persists, please open a support case for further assistance:

1. Log in to the Broadcom Support Portal.
2. Navigate to My Cases and select Build a Case.
3. Reference this article (KB 319537) in your case description to indicate the steps already performed.

Additional Information

Enabling copy/paste from a local client machine to a ESXi/Remote VM via VMRC(VM) or Workstation is not possible. For Workstation local VMs this is possible.

The ability to enable copy and paste functionality at the Windows logon screen is not a built-in feature of Windows. By default, copy and paste operations are disabled at the logon screen for security reasons. Allowing copy and paste of user credentials on the logon screen could potentially expose sensitive information and pose security risks.

   Workarounds

• • For Workstation the method is a "Type Text" feature, so the password is virtually typed into the guestOS.
  • For VMRC the method is "Send clipboard as typed text" so utilizing the usual copy/paste functionality which is not allowed at the Windows login screen.