Problem
I was at a customer recently where we needed to get a config file from inside a VMware Virtual Machine. The problem was that the VM was isolated in a way that we could not get to it via SMB or RDP. We did have acces to the vCenter console.
Solution
So after searching online I found that it is possible to activate the copy/paste feature so you can use copy/paste through the VMware Remote Console. (https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/57122)
You can enable this setting in the advanced options on the VM. To do this you need to add 2 lines to the advanced options of the VM
You can enable this on the host for all the VM’s or for a specific VM.
Per Virtual Machine:
Step one: you need to shutdown the VM or the settings won’t be saved
Step two: Edit the VM via settings and go to VM Options
Step three: Scroll down to configuration parameters and click edit configuration
Step four: Select add parameters
Step five: add these two parameters
| Name: | Value: |
| isolation.tools.copy.disable | False |
| isolation.tools.paste.disable | False |
If you are running ESX 6.7 or higher you need to add this line:
| Name: | Value: |
| isolation.tools.SetGUIOptions.enable | True |
Per VMware host
It is also possible to change this setting for the host so it works for all machines on that host (even if you migrate the VM to that host).
Connect to your ESX host via console or ssh and imput this command on the command line:
vi /etc/vmware/config
Press i to insert text and paste the following commands to the bottom of the document
isolation.tools.copy.disable=”FALSE”
isolation.tools.paste.disable=”FALSE”
isolation.tools.SetGUIOptions.enable=”TRUE”
press esc then : w and q to exit the VI editor.
Tips:
VMware disabled this function somewhere around the release of ESX 4.1 because of security issues so Beware this setting might have security implications in your environment! Please use with caution!!
This solution is only for copy and pasting text not for files and/or folders!