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Running Autoit on VMWARE. How to return input to host machine?


bartomas
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Hi,

I'm using Autoit on a windows XP and on a Vmware virtual machine also running Win XP.

I'm using Autoit for automating user interaction on both the host and the guest operating systems.

My problem is that I get 'trapped' in the guest virtual machine screen.

I've tried inputing Ctr-Alt (that returns input to the host) with the command

Send("^!",0)

but this has no effect when the Autoit script is running in the virtual machine.

Thanks a lot for any help.

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Hi,

I'm using Autoit on a windows XP and on a Vmware virtual machine also running Win XP.

I'm using Autoit for automating user interaction on both the host and the guest operating systems.

My problem is that I get 'trapped' in the guest virtual machine screen.

I've tried inputing Ctr-Alt (that returns input to the host) with the command

Send("^!",0)

but this has no effect when the Autoit script is running in the virtual machine.

Thanks a lot for any help.

Hi,

The way I have done this is by running 2 separate scripts, one in host, other in guest.

I am sure there are better ways to message each other, but I have a script waiting for the next action depending what file I write from guest to a directory in host; it triggers various events in host script; and vice-versa!

Good, luck, and post any better way!

best, randall

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In VMWare Desktop (and probably other products) you can add a serial port in the hardware settings for your virtual machine and direct its output to a Named Pipe on the host machine. That may be way too arcane for your purposes, but the functionality is there.

[Edit: Clarification of product]

Edited by DaveF

Yes yes yes, there it was. Youth must go, ah yes. But youth is only being in a way like it might be an animal. No, it is not just being an animal so much as being like one of these malenky toys you viddy being sold in the streets, like little chellovecks made out of tin and with a spring inside and then a winding handle on the outside and you wind it up grrr grrr grrr and off it itties, like walking, O my brothers. But it itties in a straight line and bangs straight into things bang bang and it cannot help what it is doing. Being young is like being like one of these malenky machines.

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Thanks a lot for your solution.

I haven't found anything better. I still am trying to understand why inputing the ctr+alt key sequence through a Autoit script doesn't release the keyboard and mouse in the host machine.

hi,

Maybe I misunderstood; I thought you said you were "trapped" in the guest machine; sending "Ctrl-Alt" from there will never do anything, as I understand it; you'd have to script to return focus to 'Activate VMW window" in host from your Script in host, before sending the keys, wouldn't you?

Or are you saying that does not work?

best, randall

Edited by randallc
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Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Sorry, my last mail was badly expressed.

In fact I was wrong. I don't get trapped in the guest machine's window.

I mean I can automate a few mouse clicks in the guest machine, for instance, and then activate another application in the host :

winActivate("My_Virtual_Machine")

MouseClick ( "left",200,500 , 1 )

MouseClick ( "left",700,500 , 1 )

winActivate("Notepad") ; Notepad is the title of a window in host

You were right the Ctrl+Alt has no effect ( I had thought it was necessary to execute the command Send("^!",0) before activating another applicaion in the host, but its wrong).

Thanks again.

hi,

Maybe I misunderstood; I thought you said you were "trapped" in the guest machine; sending "Ctrl-Alt" from there will never do anything, as I understand it; you'd have to script to return focus to 'Activate VMW window" in host from your Script in host, before sending the keys, wouldn't you?

Or are you saying that does not work?

best, randall

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VMWARE tools is installed on my host machine which provides a a seamless host-guest mouse. I'm not sure, but I think what I said I tried in the previous post may not work without the tools, but i may be wrong. (you can install the tools for free from the VMware Workstation evaluation download)

Fascinating; never tried that myself....

Best,randall

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  • 3 years later...

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