Enabling Copy/Paste for Ubuntu VM Connected via vSphere Client

I have a Ubuntu VM running in a VMware vCenter server to which I connect via vSphere Client from my Windows machine. By default the copy/paste sharing between the VM and my Windows machine is disabled, so I had to go through a few steps to get this feature enabled. This post is a note for what I did to make it work eventually.

[Step 1] Enable Copy/Paste in vSphere Client

Shut down your VM and do the following:

1. Enter the VM’s properties window by clicking the link/button that’s labeled Edit Settings or Edit virtual machine settings.
2. Switch to Options tab, select General under Advanced and click the button Configuration Parameters... that’s displayed on the right of the window.
3. Add the following three parameters:
   • isolation.tools.copy.disable = FALSE
   • isolation.tools.paste.disable = FALSE
   • isolation.tools.setGUIOptions.enable = TRUE

   then click OK all the way out.

[Step 2] Install VMware Tools

Start your VM and install VMware tools by entering the following:

sudo apt install open-vm-tools-desktop

and then reboot. Done.

References

• Instructions for installing VMware tools: https://vitux.com/how-to-install-vmware-tools-in-ubuntu/
• Enabling copy/paste in vSphere Client: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/57122