VMware Workstation 16 for Windows - vnckeymap file for Russian Layout

[adroman]

Hello dear friends,

Is it possible to have working En-Ru layouts during VNC session in VMware Workstation 16 for Windows?

I can't find vnckeymap file for Russian Layout in corresponding directory - C:\ProgramData\VMware\vnckeymap.

I'm not sure that I have enough knowledge to create a custom layout file.

Is there any reliable and not very difficult solution?

Any help will be highly appreciated.

[bluefirestorm]

You could give this a try using the Russian equivalent of "The quick brown fox....". I just simply added the Cyrillic key mappings to the us file (so that other stuff like keypads, function keys, escape, etc are already in there assuming the keymaps are the same with the Russian keyboard layout).

The reference for the Cyrillic keysym mapping were from here
https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xproto/x11protocol.html#keysym_encoding

I cannot find the keymap for the ruble sign but I put in there anyway in the last line.

I attached the file as ru.txt  (the .txt extension so that the forum software will take it).

[adroman]

First of all, my friend, I would like to thank you for your time and attention.
I've renamed this txt file to "ru" without extension and putted it in corresponding directory.
Unfortunately it doesn't help with any types of VNC client configuration.
I do believe that it's not honorable for VMware to ignore the presence of biggest country of the world. We can't use native VNC functionality without support of Russian layout.

[bluefirestorm]

Did you the add

RemoteDisplay.vnc.keymap = "ru"

to the vmx configuration file of the VM?

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1004815

[bluefirestorm]

I think the first file I sent won't work as the scan codes (the right hand side of the = ) are incorrect, but the Cyrillic keysyms should be correct (the left hand side of the = ) but I think you still need to set the vmx file entry as indicated in this KB
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1004815 The language code probably just have to correspond to the file name (or vice-versa).

You can get the a new "ru" file from here
https://github.com/sirius-metal/vmware-vnckeymap

The "ru" might still have some mapping errors. I don't have a physical Russian keyboard and I don't read Russian and I also don't know the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. Let me know if the Cyrillic characters come out; then after that we can sort out the remaining key mappings.

[adroman]

I am very grateful for the fact that you have done such a volume of work, it is really nice.

Unfortunately, Russian letters are still not entered even with new "ru" file and adding "RemoteDisplay.vnc.keymap = "ru"" to the vmx file.

[bluefirestorm]

Make sure when you edit the vmx the VM is shut down (not suspended).

Do the non-Cyrillic keys work (such as Esc or the function keys F1 through F12, or Numeric Keypad)?

Did you try to type every Cyrillic key? As I don't have a physical keyboard and I don't know Russian, if only certain keys don't work or mapped wrongly you can use this Microsoft layout to let me know which keys are not working or mapped incorrectly. For example, you can tell me Cyrillic capital letter IO is missing/mapped wrongly

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/keyboards/kbdru

[bluefirestorm]

Looking at "Related Information" section of the KB towards the end, perhaps you should also add the following also to the vmx

RemoteDisplay.vnc.keymapFile = "ru"

[adroman]

Thank you so much, friend! 👍 I restarted my PC and voila! Now the Russian layout works!!! 👏🤘💥

The only annoying problem is that I can't switch between layouts with Left Alt+Shift. It can only be switched with a mouse click. Maybe this can be fixed somehow? 🙏

I think you can test the Russian layout through the on-screen keyboard.

[bluefirestorm]

The on-screen keyboard would not help me understand the Russian alphabet. The Microsoft website keyboard layout is useful for someone like me who doesn't understand the Russian alphabet because as you hover the mouse over a key it shows its "name" like Cyrillic hardsign, numero, etc. So if a mapping is missing or wrong, letting me know the name would be more useful to me.

The mapping for Left-Alt and Left-Shift are also in the ru file.

As for the keyboard shortcut to switch between language layout, isn't the shortcut to Windows key+space bar (for Windows 10)? For Ubuntu desktop it is also the same shortcut (Windows key+space bar). The Windows key (Super_L) is also mapped in the ru file.

[adroman]

Thank you very much friend for detailed explanation! 👍  

I use only windows for VNC connections and Win+Space works really fine. I didn't know about it. 🤗

But Alt+Shift also swithes between layouts but after switching the following layout can't be typed for some reason. You can easily reproduce it with Real VNC client for Windows.

Anyways if it's not possible to fix "Alt+Shift", I'm OK to take some time to become used with new key combination. 🤓