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Copy and paste text between your local computer and a VM
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Copying and pasting capabilities between your local computer and remote VMs vary depending on the access protocol you are using to connect to the VM.

Copying and pasting when connecting to a VM over RDP

When you are connected to a VM over RDP, the following options are available: 

  • To copy and paste text from your local computer to the remote VM and vice versa, you can use the Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V keyboard shortcuts (on a PC) or Cmd-C and Cmd-V (on a Mac). 

  • If the application you are using on the VM does not support the above key combinations for copying or pasting, you can use the VM clipboard to copy text from the local computer's clipboard to the VM's clipboard. You can then paste the text into the application using any method supported by the application, such as a context menu.

Using the VM Clipboard

The VM clipboard enables you to update the remote VM's clipboard with the text from the local computer clipboard so that you can copy from the local computer to the remote VM. It also enables you to retrieve text you copied on the remote VM if you copied it using an application that uses an action other than Ctrl-C for copying.  

To copy text from the local computer to the remote VM:

  1. Copy the text from your local computer using any supported method, such as the  Ctrl-C keyboard shortcut or a Copy menu option.

  2. In the action panel, click .

    The VM Clipboard text buffer opens. 

  3. Paste text into the text buffer using either the context menu or the Ctrl-V keyboard shortcut (Cmd-V on a Mac).

  4. Click Save.

    The VM's clipboard is now updated with the text you pasted into the text buffer. 

    You can now paste the text into any application on the VM using a paste function supported by the application for pasting.

To copy text from the remote VM to the local computer:

  1. Copy text on the remote VM, using a method supported by the application you are using. In this case, any supported method will work.

    The remote clipboard is now updated.

  2. In the action panel, click .

    The VM Clipboard text buffer opens. 

  3. Copy the text from the VM Clipboard text buffer using Ctrl-C or the context menu. 

    You can now paste the text anywhere on your local computer using any supported method, such as the Ctrl-V keyboard shortcut or a Paste menu option.

 
 

Copying and pasting when connecting to a VM over SSH

When you are connected to a VM over SSH, the following options are available:

  • To copy text from your local computer to your VM:  

    1. Copy from the local computer by using any supported method, such as the Ctrl-C keyboard shortcut or a copy option in a context menu.

    2. Paste to the VM using the Ctrl-V keyboard shortcut on a PC or the Cmd-V keyboard shortcut on a Mac.

  • To copy text from the VM to your local computer: 

    1. Copy text from the visible text in the SSH view by selecting the text with your mouse. 

      If the text you want to copy no longer appears in the SSH view, right-click the SSH view to open the history buffer, scroll up the history buffer and select the text there.

    2. Paste to the local computer using any supported method, such as the Ctrl-V keyboard combination on a PC or the Cmd-V keyboard combination on a Mac.

 

Copying and pasting when connecting to a VM over Console

When you are connected to a VM via the console interface, copying and pasting is not supported in the usual way. The following options are workarounds that send plain text from your local computer clipboard to the VM:

You can use either option to send even large amounts of text, although it may take some time to send all the text.

Important

When you use either of these features, the text content of your local computer's clipboard is sent to the VM as a series of keystrokes. The effect can be different to pasting in some cases, since:

  • Each keystroke that is sent enters the application that is currently open at the time of sending. So if you switch applications mid-send, the keystrokes sent after the switch will enter the application you switched to.

  • A sent keystroke performs any function that may be defined in the application for the specific key.

Send Text with Ctrl-V

CloudShare enables you to turn on an override and then be able to send plain text from your local computer's clipboard to a VM as a series of keystrokes, using the Ctrl-V keyboard shortcut on a PC or the Cmd-V keyboard shortcut on a Mac.

The feature overrides the Ctrl-V keyboard shortcut (on a PC) or the Cmd-V keyboard shortcut (on a Mac) in all applications on the VM. The override is disabled by default. You can turn it on and off easily.

To turn on the Ctrl-V/Cmd-V override:

  • From the Ctrl-V function dropdown in the action panel or the fullscreen menu, select Send text from local clipboard.

    You are now overriding the usage of the Ctrl-V (or Cmd-V) keyboard shortcut on every application on the VM. Ctrl-V (or Cmd-V) now sends plain text from your local computer's clipboard to the VM.

To turn off the Ctrl-V/Cmd-V override:

  • From the Ctrl-V function dropdown, select Default. 

    The Ctrl-V (on a PC) or Cmd-V (on a Mac) keyboard shortcut now performs according to the configuration of whichever application you are using when you press the shortcut.

 
Send Text via Text Buffer

The Send Text button enables you to paste text from your local computer's clipboard into a text buffer and then send that text to the remote VM as a series of keystrokes. It's available when you connect to remote VMs over the console interface.

To send text via text buffer:

  1. In the action panel, in the Virtual Keyboard area,click the Send Text button: .

    The Send Text text buffer opens.

  2. Paste text into the text buffer using either the context menu or a keyboard shortcut. 

  3. Click Send.

    The text you pasted is sent to the VM as a series of keystrokes. 

 
 
 

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