jcs / vmwh

vmwh
Copyright (c) 2010-2011 joshua stein <[email protected]>

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
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THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
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OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

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vmwh is a vmware helper for x11, developed on openbsd to run in userland
alongside the vmt(4) vmware kernel driver[1] and, optionally, the vmmouse xorg
driver (unless the -m option is used, in which case vmwh handles mouse position
synchronization itself).  it currently requires xclip to do the x11 clipboard
manipulation.

it detects when the mouse cursor switches back to the host ("ungrabs") and
sends the guest's x11 clipboard data (read from xclip) to the host through the
vmware backdoor[2], which gets put onto the host's clipboard.

it then detects when the mouse cursor switches back to the guest ("grabs") and
replaces the x11 clipboard contents (via xclip) with the host's, which is read
through the vmware backdoor.



1. vmwh does not interface with the kernel or the vmmouse driver in any way, so
   it may work on other operating systems.  it is developed on amd64 and has
   been tested on i386.

2. https://sites.google.com/site/chitchatvmback/backdoor