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I've installed Ubuntu Server under Virtualbox just to get a nice little shell. I've also installed the VirtualBox "Guest Additions" and set "Shared Clipboard: Bidirectional".

I still can't seem to get any copy-paste working. Am I missing something here?

I've installed gpm which gives mouse support in server mode (no X), and allows copy-paste using the mouse, but still the VirtualBox integration doesn't work.

Nifle
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bukzor
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7 Answers7

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Just trying this myself. Couldn't get it to work with gpm and a console only guest.

I strongly suspect that the clipboard integration rely's on having a running X server in the Guest.

A work-a-round is to install openssh-server on the guest and ssh using a terminal from your host to the guest. Then you have 'clipboard integration'

James McDonald
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    That's not a bad suggestion. In fact it's probably more efficient/responsive than using the VM window. – bukzor Feb 24 '11 at 05:32
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    @James Brilliant idea !!! :) – TraderJoeChicago Mar 30 '12 at 08:16
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    ran into this issue myself, this is definitely the only way I have found to work around this – adeleinr Dec 21 '12 at 02:01
  • Couldn't get it to work either on Ubuntu Server 16.04 no matter what, most likely it is tied to the X server like you suggest, so no-can-do with terminal only OSs. – Mahn Jul 11 '16 at 17:53
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    What IP address and port would you use to connect via SSH if the virtualbox is on a localhost? – DPSSpatial Feb 02 '17 at 18:21
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    There are lots of questions and answers on other sites about how to configure Virtualbox so you can SSH into it. [Here's a simple one that worked for me](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/146028/209627) with a Windows host and a terminal-only Ubuntu Server guest inside Virtualbox – user56reinstatemonica8 Jan 02 '18 at 21:35
  • This should be the accepted answer. – Ardee Aram Jan 27 '19 at 09:27
  • @DPSSpatial I just used the ifconfig command on my guest to know the ip-address to use for SSH. I did not specify any port, because upon checking with nmap, I got to know that the SSH service was running on port 22 (the default one). – MrObjectOriented Feb 01 '20 at 18:25
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Try to use PuTTY and connect via SSH to your virtual Linux system.

030
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trigg3r
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1

I came up with a different workaround. Open a shared folder, and create an executable script in the shared folder. Put "#!/bin/bash" (or whatever/wherever shell you want to use), followed by the command(s) you want to execute. Like this:

#!/bin/bash
cp foo bar
echo 'copied foo to bar'

Just replace "cp foo bar" with the long complicated string you wanted to cut and paste.

Depending on what you're doing, you might have to source the script rather than running it directly:

source ./myscript

EDIT: Oops! I forgot to add that you have to change the line endings from Windows-style to Unix-style line endings. In Emacs you can use 

M-x set-buffer-file-coding-system

while in vim it would be

:set ff=unix

Sorry!

user5753767
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  • Irony: shared folder in VirtualBox is even harder to setup than shared clipboard. – SOFe Jul 17 '19 at 05:38
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    @SOFe The problem is not that it is hard to set up, it is the shared clipboard just doesn't work in server mode (no windowing system) even if you have set it up. The shared folder at least does work. – jjanes Sep 25 '22 at 00:18
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If you're running a Server in a VM , then why don't you just ssh into the VM and use the terminal?

Think about it. It's a server with no graphical interface.

If you only had the sever version installed on a actual computer instead of the VM would you have been able to copy paste into it's command line prompt? You have no multitasking available in the same TTY unless you use some multimplexer like "screen" or "tmux" or a software such as "gpm" as v3.xx suggested.

AsimRazaKhan
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  • Well, I can tell you in my case, it's because I've been waiting 25 minutes for SSH to connect to a Debian VM and am beginning to suspect it's just not going to work. – John Smith Dec 27 '20 at 12:29
0

This is probably not a "solution", but it's how I was able to get some data off my ubuntu server VM. I set up a simple php file upload script on one of my servers, then shot the file up to it via curl. As soon as I was done I removed it.

Shane Reustle
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I don't think that you will be able to copy/paste in Ubuntu Server, mostly because:

  1. If you try to do Ctrl+V, the OS will see that as a ^V control sequence.
  2. You can't do a copy/paste with a right-click menu as there are no mouse daemons that support that. (As far as I know anyways, someone feel free to correct me.)
Wuffers
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    The shortcut I'd expect to work is shift-insert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut,_copy,_and_paste#Common_keyboard_shortcuts – bukzor Oct 04 '10 at 03:46
  • Not the point. This is a problem with the virtualization a guest additions. – GregB Apr 08 '13 at 21:58
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You need to use CTL+Shift+V to paste, copy as normal in the Host, and back in the VM add Shift as well if you wish to copy, so CTL+SHIFT+C ( then Cut with same + X ).

Cheers!

brandon.holtsclaw
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    You are wrong. CTL+SHIFT+V is the keyboard shortcut for the Ubuntu terminal, but there is an issue with the guest additions in Ubuntu 12.04 which will cause copy/paste to periodically break in one, or both directions. – GregB Apr 08 '13 at 21:57