| 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
|
|---|
| 2 | <!DOCTYPE topic
|
|---|
| 3 | PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
|
|---|
| 4 | <topic xml:lang="en-us" id="specialcharacters">
|
|---|
| 5 | <title>Typing Special Characters</title>
|
|---|
| 6 |
|
|---|
| 7 | <body>
|
|---|
| 8 | <p>
|
|---|
| 9 | Some OSes expect certain key combinations to initiate certain
|
|---|
| 10 | procedures. The key combinations that you type into a VM might
|
|---|
| 11 | target the host OS, the <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> software, or the guest
|
|---|
| 12 | OS. The recipient of these keypresses depends on a number of
|
|---|
| 13 | factors, including the key combination itself.
|
|---|
| 14 | </p>
|
|---|
| 15 | <ul>
|
|---|
| 16 | <li>
|
|---|
| 17 | <p>
|
|---|
| 18 | Host OSes reserve certain key combinations for themselves.
|
|---|
| 19 | For example, you cannot use the
|
|---|
| 20 | <b outputclass="bold">Ctrl+Alt+Delete</b> combination
|
|---|
| 21 | to reboot the guest OS in your VM, because this key
|
|---|
| 22 | combination is reserved by the host OS. Even though both
|
|---|
| 23 | Windows and Linux OSes can intercept this key combination,
|
|---|
| 24 | the host OS is rebooted automatically.
|
|---|
| 25 | </p>
|
|---|
| 26 | <p>
|
|---|
| 27 | On Linux and Oracle Solaris hosts, which use the X Window
|
|---|
| 28 | System, the key combination
|
|---|
| 29 | <b outputclass="bold">Ctrl+Alt+Backspace</b> normally
|
|---|
| 30 | resets the X server and restarts the entire graphical user
|
|---|
| 31 | interface. As the X server intercepts this combination,
|
|---|
| 32 | pressing it will usually restart your
|
|---|
| 33 | <i>host</i> graphical user interface and kill
|
|---|
| 34 | all running programs, including <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/>, in the
|
|---|
| 35 | process.
|
|---|
| 36 | </p>
|
|---|
| 37 | <p>
|
|---|
| 38 | On Linux hosts supporting virtual terminals, the key
|
|---|
| 39 | combination <b outputclass="bold">Ctrl+Alt+Fx</b>,
|
|---|
| 40 | where Fx is one of the function keys from F1 to F12,
|
|---|
| 41 | normally enables you to switch between virtual terminals. As
|
|---|
| 42 | with <b outputclass="bold">Ctrl+Alt+Delete</b>, these
|
|---|
| 43 | combinations are intercepted by the host OS and therefore
|
|---|
| 44 | always switch terminals on the <i>host</i>.
|
|---|
| 45 | </p>
|
|---|
| 46 | <p>
|
|---|
| 47 | If, instead, you want to send these key combinations to the
|
|---|
| 48 | <i>guest</i> OS in the virtual machine, you
|
|---|
| 49 | will need to use one of the following methods:
|
|---|
| 50 | </p>
|
|---|
| 51 | <ul>
|
|---|
| 52 | <li>
|
|---|
| 53 | <p>
|
|---|
| 54 | Use the items in the
|
|---|
| 55 | <b outputclass="bold">Input</b>,
|
|---|
| 56 | <b outputclass="bold">Keyboard</b> menu of the
|
|---|
| 57 | virtual machine window. This menu includes the settings
|
|---|
| 58 | <b outputclass="bold">Insert Ctrl+Alt+Delete</b>
|
|---|
| 59 | and <b outputclass="bold">Insert
|
|---|
| 60 | Ctrl+Alt+Backspace</b>. However, the latter
|
|---|
| 61 | setting affects only Linux guests or Oracle Solaris
|
|---|
| 62 | guests.
|
|---|
| 63 | </p>
|
|---|
| 64 | <p>
|
|---|
| 65 | This menu also includes an option for inserting the Host
|
|---|
| 66 | key combination.
|
|---|
| 67 | </p>
|
|---|
| 68 | </li>
|
|---|
| 69 | <li>
|
|---|
| 70 | <p>
|
|---|
| 71 | Use special key combinations with the Host key, which is
|
|---|
| 72 | normally the right Control key. <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> then
|
|---|
| 73 | translates the following key combinations for the VM:
|
|---|
| 74 | </p>
|
|---|
| 75 | <ul>
|
|---|
| 76 | <li>
|
|---|
| 77 | <p>
|
|---|
| 78 | <b outputclass="bold">Host key + Del</b>
|
|---|
| 79 | sends <b outputclass="bold">Ctrl+Alt+Del</b>
|
|---|
| 80 | to reboot the guest OS.
|
|---|
| 81 | </p>
|
|---|
| 82 | </li>
|
|---|
| 83 | <li>
|
|---|
| 84 | <p>
|
|---|
| 85 | <b outputclass="bold">Host key +
|
|---|
| 86 | Backspace</b> sends
|
|---|
| 87 | <b outputclass="bold">Ctrl+Alt+Backspace</b>
|
|---|
| 88 | to restart the graphical user interface of a Linux
|
|---|
| 89 | or Oracle Solaris guest.
|
|---|
| 90 | </p>
|
|---|
| 91 | </li>
|
|---|
| 92 | <li>
|
|---|
| 93 | <p>
|
|---|
| 94 | <b outputclass="bold">Host key + Function
|
|---|
| 95 | key</b>. For example, use this key
|
|---|
| 96 | combination to simulate
|
|---|
| 97 | <b outputclass="bold">Ctrl+Alt+Fx</b> to
|
|---|
| 98 | switch between virtual terminals in a Linux guest.
|
|---|
| 99 | </p>
|
|---|
| 100 | </li>
|
|---|
| 101 | </ul>
|
|---|
| 102 | </li>
|
|---|
| 103 | </ul>
|
|---|
| 104 | </li>
|
|---|
| 105 | <li>
|
|---|
| 106 | <p>
|
|---|
| 107 | For some other keyboard combinations such as
|
|---|
| 108 | <b outputclass="bold">Alt+Tab</b> to switch between
|
|---|
| 109 | open windows, <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> enables you to configure
|
|---|
| 110 | whether these combinations will affect the host or the
|
|---|
| 111 | guest, if a virtual machine currently has the focus. This is
|
|---|
| 112 | a global setting for all virtual machines and can be found
|
|---|
| 113 | under <b outputclass="bold">File</b>,
|
|---|
| 114 | <b outputclass="bold">Preferences</b>,
|
|---|
| 115 | <b outputclass="bold">Input</b>.
|
|---|
| 116 | </p>
|
|---|
| 117 | </li>
|
|---|
| 118 | <li>
|
|---|
| 119 | <p>
|
|---|
| 120 | A soft keyboard can be used to input key combinations in the
|
|---|
| 121 | guest. See <xref href="soft-keyb.dita#soft-keyb"/>.
|
|---|
| 122 | </p>
|
|---|
| 123 | </li>
|
|---|
| 124 | </ul>
|
|---|
| 125 | </body>
|
|---|
| 126 |
|
|---|
| 127 | </topic>
|
|---|
