Enable Copy and Paste in Ubuntu VMware Guest
Enabling Copy and Paste in VMware Virtual Machines
The functionality to copy and paste between your host operating system and a VMware virtual machine is readily available. However, proper configuration is required to activate this feature.
Specifically, the installation of VMware Tools within the guest operating system is a prerequisite for copy and paste operations.
Launching the VMware Toolbox Utility
After VMware Tools have been successfully installed, the vmware toolbox utility needs to be initiated for copy and paste to function correctly.
Access your virtual machine’s command line interface and execute the following command:
> vmware-toolbox &
Upon execution of this command, a window will appear, indicating that the utility is running and copy/paste capabilities are now enabled.
To avoid interference with your primary workflow, it is often beneficial to move this window to a separate desktop environment.
With the vmware toolbox running, seamless copying and pasting between the host and guest systems is now possible.
Compatibility
This procedure has been verified to work effectively on the following Ubuntu distributions:
- Ubuntu Dapper
- Ubuntu Edgy Eft