#1588 Auto-type into VMware console changes single quote to semicolon

[frisbeegolfer]

How to reproduce:

1. Create a KeePass entry with a password that contains a single quote character, possibly at the end of the password.
2. Verify that auto-type correctly types the single quote into a Notepad window.
3. Open a vSphere 6.0 console session to a Windows server.
4. Verify that a single quote shows up correctly when typed into Notepad or any other application in the console session.
5. Switch to KeePass outside the console session and have it auto-type the password with the single quote.
6. Notice that the single quote is transformed into a semicolon in the Notepad window in the vSphere 6.0 console session.

The particular problem password was 32 characters with a lot of special characters. The single quote was the last character. We've used KeePass auto-type many other times into a vSphere console window without issues, though we did run into this problem once before and didn't troubleshoot to figure out why it happened. We've removed the single quote from our password profile to work around this issue in the meantime.

[frisbeegolfer]

To clarify, this was a vSphere 6.0 thick client console session. I'll try the web client console and post the results.

[frisbeegolfer]

This behavior also occurs in the vSphere 6.0 VMRC web client console.

[Paul]

That's a very strange transformation as those keys don't seem to be related apart from being next to each other on the keyboard.

There is a new key sending engine in KeePass V2.25 so it may be worth trying V2.24.

Have you tried the RCDAutoType plug-in?
http://keepass.info/plugins.html#rdcandtcato

cheers, Paul

[Dominik Reichl]

Please try auto-typing the following text into a vSphere window and let me know what text you actually get:
eE"ee'ee´ee^ee~ee

Furthermore, please let me know the full path of the executable file that displays the vSphere window.

Thanks and best regards,
Dominik

[Dominik Reichl]

If anyone can provide the information, please post it here.

Thanks and best regards,
Dominik

[Zultag Gatluz]

Hi, I know this is a bit dated, but the issue still exists. There are several characters that are not passed or are changed when Auto-Type sends to VMware Remote Console (VMRC). I'm not sure if my comment will reopen the case or if I should create a new ticket... so let me know if you see this.

In my testing here are all the characters on a normal US keyboard that are not working:
` (Backquote) - Character does not pass through
~ (Tilde) - This characer passes through as Enter or \r\n
^ (Carrot) - Deletes the next character... and more! See below...
' (Singlequote) - Passes through as ; (simicolon)
" (Doublequote) - Passes through as g (lowercase g)

Auto-Type sent:

ee`ee~ee^ee'ee"ee

Received in Notepad of virtual machine:

eeee
eee;eegee

I thought Carrot was initially just not passing, but it seems to actually be deleting the next character. On further inspection, I sent some sequences of carrots and found that three carrots in a row not only delete the next character but also open the Find tool in Notepad! :) LOL

Now, on to Dameware MiniRemote Control! I've found that Dameware also exibits all the same behavior with the exception to quotes. Quotes are just not passed through instead of being changed to other characters.

Thanks!!

[Paul]

Can you also post the full path of the vSphere executable?

cheers, Paul

p.s. Carrot should be Caret :)

[Zultag Gatluz]

"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Remote Console\vmrc.exe"

Thanks for correcting me! HAHA

[Dominik Reichl]

Great, thanks! I'll implement an improvement based on this in the next few days and will then post a development snapshot for testing here.

Best regards,
Dominik

[Dominik Reichl]

I've enabled an alternative key sending method for the vmrc.exe process now.

Here's the latest development snapshot for testing:
https://keepass.info/filepool/KeePass_190801.zip

Thanks and best regards,
Dominik

[thomglow]

The latest development snapshot posted above fixed my issue when logging into the VMware Remote Console when I had an apostrophe in my password. Thanks for the fix.

[evoforce]

Hello,
i'm using current version 2.43 of KeePass and have still some issues with vrmc.
My client and the virtual computer are configured with german keyboard.
Auto-Type cannot pass through some characters and replace other ones.

` (Backquote) - Character does not pass through
~ (Tilde) - Character does not pass through
^ (Carrot) - Character does not pass through
' (Singlequote) - Passes through as ö
" (Doublequote) - Passes through as g

Should i open an new ticket or is it ok this way?

Best regards,
Paul

[Paul]

Does KeePass 2.42.1 produce the same result?

cheers, Paul

[evoforce]

Hi Paul,
my bad it is to early in the morning.
I did not recognized that my VMware Workstation was opend not VMRC.
VMRC and KeePass is working very well, but not with VMware Workstation 15 (15.5.0 build-14665864).

[Paul]

What is the executable for Workstation?
On my machine it's C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player\vmplayer.exe.

cheers, Paul

[evoforce]

Using the Workstation Pro
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware.exe"

[Dominik Reichl]

Ok, thanks! I've enabled the alternative key sending method for the vmware.exe process now.

With this, ', " and ~ should work fine now. ^ and backquote can be problematic with a German keyboard, because they are combining characters (for instance pressing ^e results in ê); selecting a keyboard variant without dead keys may resolve this.

Here's the latest development snapshot for testing:
https://keepass.info/filepool/KeePass_191103.zip

Thanks and best regards,
Dominik

[evoforce]

Hello Dominik,
thank you!
Tested and it works now with VMware Workstation too.
The characters like ^epasses through as^ so it is not result into ê .

Best regards,
Paul

[Dominik Reichl]

Ok, thanks for testing it!