Keyboard Issues

This topic addresses the following issues (and some others too):

My (language-specific) keyboard is not supported by VMware ESX 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.

Quick Answers

If your keyboard works correctly with a local X server and you only want the same behavior with a remote X server (which is also an XFree86 server running on a PC), add the line
xkeymap.usekeycodeMapIfXFree86 = true
to the virtual machine configuration file or to ~/.vmware/config (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 VMware ESX Server does not recognize as an XFree server, use this instead:
xkeymap.usekey codeMap = true

If you are using an XFree86 server running locally and the keyboard does not work correctly, please report the problem to the VMware technical support department.

Refer to VMware ESX Server documentation for complete information on this subject.