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Enabling copy/paste functionality in the web console?
I am accessing Proxmox 7.2 using the web interface, and individual machines using the console menu option. I would like to have the ability to copy some text on the computer I am using and paste it into the VM console window. That is the functionality I got accustomed to in VMWare Workstation, but that does not work here. Is there a way to make it work?
My current workaround is to send a link to myself on social media, open up the page in the browser in the VM, and then copy/paste locally on the VM, but it is cumbersome. Another alternative would be to create a text file on the main system, share the folder, create a text file in it, and open up the shared file in the VM.
I hope there is a better way.
If not, is there some software like a simplified version of TeamViewer that would enable the drag/drop functionality between different computers?
Comments Section
Use Spice instead of VNC. Spice allows you to copy and paste.
I see in the upper line, in the console dropdown, xterm.js and spice are grayed out. What have I to do to enable spice? Does it have any drawback versus novnc, taking into account that novnc is the default option?
Nope. That's a limitation of qemu and noVNC.
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/novnc-copy-paste-not-works.19773/post-487648
It's been an open topic in Proxmox since 2014 and the most current discussion (July, this year, linked above) is that they are not going to attempt it.
Your best option is to use Spice, SSH, or RDP.
I use a combination of SSH (for terminal / CLI) and WinSCP (for drag & drop / file transfer).
As far as I'm aware, it would be extremely difficult to add a copy paste functionality to noVNC, due to how it's being implemented in Proxmox, though I could be wrong as I'm not exactly an expert with VNC.
This was posted a few days ago. It allows for some copy/pasting to noVNC.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Proxmox/comments/y0p8b5/copy_and_paste_tampermonkey_script/
For people who are still looking for an alternative solution. I created a Chrome Extension that allows you to paste your clipboard into kvm/qemu.
Chrome webstore: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/proxmox-console-extension/mnkdipbaleabnmdhikbhnkennhldlmaf
Github: https://github.com/Flowgem/Proxmox-Console-Extension
Joining your new comment on a 2 year old thread to say thanks! Set up spice before on intel mac and windows, but following the same process on a new M2 MacBook and can not get this crap to work. Going to try this out.
Tried it. The very first thing I copy pasted pasted fine. After that, if I copy a word, it pastes the last 2-3 letters. As in if I copy the word "testing", it will paste "ng" into the proxmox console. Any idea if I can fix this? This is on an intel Mac btw, not the M series like I commented earlier. Chrome has developer mode enabled. Would like to see this for firefox please! Thanks in advance
Nice idea.
My current review on the extension:
Very nice idea but:
Why does it need to *read* all web pages when it's doing *input*?
Why does it default to reading the contents of all websites? If it has to read the web page, I only want it to read my Proxmox website.
When I was pasting in multiple line texts (into vim), the carriage returns weren't being sent. This was true copies out of both Word and Notepad.
Types rather more slowly than is required. :-D
Proxmox really isn't intended for GUI functionality like that, it's a server side (home lab, but the pro version is quite usable for professional server uses) hypervisor. SSH, RDP are ways to go for your integration. The best Proxmox VMs are Linux and Windows Server VMs with no GUI that you manage remotely.