If you use the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol, you can create a view-keycombos-config file to specify which individual keys and key combinations should not be forwarded to the remote desktop.

You might prefer to have some keys or key combinations handled by your local client system when working in a remote desktop. For example, you might want to use a particular key combination to start the screen saver on your client computer. You can create a file located at /etc/vmware/view-keycombos-config and specify the key combinations and individual keys.

Place each key or key combination on a new line using the following format: 

<modName>scanCode
scanCode

The first example is for a key combination. The second example is for a single key. The scanCode value is the keyboard scan code, in hexadecimal.

In this example, modName is one of four modifier keys: ctrl, alt, shift, and super. The Super key is keyboard-specific. For example, the Super key is usually the Windows key on a Microsoft Windows keyboard but is the Command key on a Mac OS X keyboard. You can also use <any> as a wildcard for modName. For example, <any>0x153 specifies all combinations of the Delete key, including the individual Delete key for the US keyboard. The value you use for modName is not case-sensitive.

Specifying the Scan Code for a Key

The scanCode value must be in hexadecimal format. To determine which code to use, open the appropriate language- and keyboard-specific file in the lib/vmware/xkeymap directory on your client system. In addition to the key codes listed in that file, you can also use the following codes:

Table 1. Multimedia Keys
Key Name Scan Code
PREVIOUS_TRACK 0x110
NEXT_TRACK 0x119
MUTE 0x120
CALCULATOR 0x121
PLAY_PAUSE 0x122
STOP 0x124
VOLUME_DOWN 0x12e
VOLUME_UP 0x130
BROWSER_HOME 0x132
BROWSER_SEARCH 0x165
BROWSER_FAVORITES 0x166
BROWSER_REFRESH 0x167
BROWSER_STOP 0x168
BROWSER_FORWARD 0x169
BROWSER_BACK 0x16A
MY_COMPUTER 0x16B
MAIL 0x16C
MEDIA_SELECT 0x16D
Table 2. Hangul and Hanja Keys
Key Name Scan Code
HANGUL_EN 0x72
HANJA_EN 0x71
HANGUL_KO 0x172
HANJA_KO 0x171
HANGUL 0xF2
HANJA 0xF1
Table 3. System Sleep, Wake, and Power Keys
Key Name Scan Code
SYSTEM_SLEEP 0x15F
SYSTEM_WAKE 0x163
SYSTEM_POWER 0x15e

The following list shows the example contents of a /etc/vmware/view-keycombos-config file. Code comments are preceded by the # character. 

<ctrl>0x152      #block ctrl-insert
<alt>15          #block alt-tab
<ctrl><alt>0x153 #block ctrl-alt-del
<any>0x137       #block any combinations of the Print key
0x010               #block the individual Q key in a US English keyboard 
                 #or block the individual A key in a French keyboard
0x03b            #block the individual F1 key
0x04f            #block the individual 1 key in a numeric keypad