Specifications

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VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide
Keyboard Mapping on a Linux Host
This section addresses the following issues and provides additional details on
keyboard mapping in Linux:
• My (language-specific) keyboard is not supported by GSX Server.
• Some of the keys on my keyboard don’t work right in the virtual machine.
• My keyboard works fine when I run a virtual machine locally, but not when I run
the same virtual machine with a remote X server.
The following sections describe keyboard mapping on a Linux host:
• Quick Answers on page 310
• The Longer Story on page 310
• V-Scan Code Table on page 314
Quick Answers
If your keyboard works correctly with a local X server, and you just want the same
behavior with a remote X server (which is also an XFree86 server running on a PC), just
power off the virtual machine and close the console, then add the line
xkeymap.usekeycodeMapIfXFree86 = true
to the virtual machine configuration file or to ~/.vmware/config. Make this
change on the host machine, where you run the virtual machine, not on the machine
with the remote X server.
If you are using an XFree86-based server that GSX Server does not recognize as an
XFree86 server, use this instead:
xkeymap.usekeycodeMap = true
If you are using an XFree86 server running locally, and the keyboard does not work
correctly, please report the problem by submitting a support request at
www.vmware.com/requestsupport.
The Longer Story
Unfortunately, keyboard support for the PC (virtual or otherwise) is a complex affair. To
explain it properly, we have to start with some background information — greatly
simplified.
Pressing a key on the PC keyboard generates a scan code based roughly on the
position of the key. For example, the Z key on a German keyboard generates the same
code as the Y key on an English keyboard, because they are in the same position on