I'm setting up a home server to learn Linux, using Proxmox with a Debian virtual machine. I want to copy commands on my Windows computer and paste them into the Debian command line, but pressing Ctrl+V only inserts "^V". I tried using SPICE, installing GPM, and connecting through RDP with clipboard support enabled, but none of those reliably transfers the Windows clipboard into the Debian CLI. What's the simplest way to paste commands into the VM?
3 Answers
If you're using a Linux graphical terminal, Ctrl+Shift+V is commonly the paste shortcut because Ctrl+V is reserved for terminal input and may appear as `^V`. Middle-click paste is also common in Linux terminals, but it generally uses the Linux desktop selection rather than your Windows clipboard.
Proxmox's console, SPICE, RDP, and different terminal emulators each handle clipboard integration differently. If clipboard sharing is unreliable, SSH through PuTTY is usually simpler and more dependable. Just be careful when pasting commands, especially ones involving `sudo`, downloads, or shell scripts, and review them before pressing Enter.
The easiest approach is usually to connect to the Debian VM over SSH instead of using the Proxmox console. In the VM, run `ip addr` to find its IP address, then use an SSH client such as PuTTY on Windows to connect to that address. In PuTTY, right-clicking in the terminal normally pastes the contents of your Windows clipboard.
That solved it. Ctrl+Shift+V wasn't working for me, but right-clicking inside the PuTTY window pasted the clipboard contents.