Enable copy-paste with Virtual Machine Manager
Introduction
In this short article, we’ll cover a common issue you might have been searching for: how to enable copy-paste in a Windows virtual machine created with Virtual Machine Manager. Being able to transfer text or files between your host machine and the virtual machine is a small but essential feature that can greatly improve productivity.
Note: These steps work reliably on Windows 10. On Windows 11, spice agent may encounter issues.
Step 1. Download Spice Space
The first step on enabling copy-paste in the virtual machine manager is to download the spice guest tools and install them in your Windows machine. These tools are some optional drivers and services that can be installed in the Windows guest to improve SPICE performance and integration. This includes the qxl video driver and the SPICE guest agent (for copy and paste, automatic resolution switching, …).
Step 2. Configure Spice Server
Now, you need to open your virtual machine configuration in Virtual Machine Manager. Go to Display Spice and select Spice server as the type. Afterwards, you will need to restart your VM and the copy-paste functionality must be fully working.
It was easy but vital.
Additionally, if you want to setup a shared folder between your host machine (Ubuntu) and your guest machine (Windows), I would highly recommend this guide written by Ubuntu. It shows how to setup a samba server for sharing files between the machines over the network.
I hope this guide makes things easier for you. Thanks for stopping by!
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I’m staring at my screen, stuck on a tricky business logic bug.
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Five minutes later, it points me to the answer.…