How Do I Make My International Keyboard Work In The Lab Interface?

In a Skillable Studio lab, you can use international keyboard layouts and languages. Depending on the lab platform and controller, you might need to adjust your browser or Virtual Machine (VM) settings. This guide will help you do that.

Best Practices for Reducing Keyboard Layout Issues

• To ensure the best experience with international keyboard layouts in the lab interface, follow these general steps:

  • Set your browser language to match the desired keyboard language.

  • Set the VM language to match the desired keyboard language.

  • Set the VM keyboard layout to match the physical keyboard layout.

• To avoid confusion and errors, use the same language for your browser, VM, and keyboard layout.

• To find out which keyboard layouts are supported by the lab platform and controller, refer to the Supported Keyboard Layouts section of this page.

Changing Settings in Web Browsers

In Microsoft Edge, the language is tied to the local machine's language settings.
1. Set your local machine settings to the desired language.

In browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox;
1. Open the Settings menu and locate the language settings section.
1. Ensure the desired language is listed at the top of the list of languages.

Changing Settings in Windows

Your lab’s VMs must be set to the correct language. To do this, follow these steps on for each VM in the lab:

1. Open the Control Panel.

2. Select Time & Language.

3. Select language on the left side of the window.

4. Scroll down to the Preferred Languages section, select the language you prefer to use, and then select Options.

5. Scroll down to the Hardware keyboard layout section and select Change layout.

You will be prompted to sign out of Windows on the VM, for the changes to take effect.

Steps to Change Languages in Linux

Linux can set the language/region in many ways. Here’s an example for SUSE Linux:

Utilizing Command Line to Update Language

It is also possible to change the language/region using the command line interface (aka Terminal). You will need to check on how specifically to do it with your distro of Linux, but here’s an example of how to do it:

1. Edit the following file /etc/default/locale:

   • LANG="en_US"

   • LANGUAGE="en_US:en"

2. Edit the following file ~/.pam_environment:

   • LANG=en_US

   • LANGUAGE=en_US

Supported Keyboard Layouts

ESX Keyboard Layouts

• English (US)

• French

• German

• Italian

• Japanese

• Spanish

• Portuguese

• Swiss-French

• Swiss-German

Hyper-V Keyboard Layouts

• Bulgarian

• Croatian

• Czech

• Danish

• Dutch (Belgian)

• Dutch (Standard)

• English (US)

• English (Australia)

• English (Canada)

• English (United Kingdom)

• English (Ireland)

• English (New Zealand)

• Finnish

• French

• French (Belgium)

• French (Canada)

• French (Switzerland)

• German

• German (Austrian)

• German (Switzerland)

• Greek

• Hungarian

• Icelandic

• Italian

• Italian (Swiss)

• Japanese

• Korean

• Norwegian (Bokmal)

• Norwegian (Nynorsk)

• Polish

• Portuguese

• Portuguese(Brazilian)

• Romanian

• Russian (Russia)

• Slovakian

• Slovenian

• Spanish (Spain)

• Spanish (Mexico)

• Spanish (Guatemala)

• Spanish (Costa Rica)

• Spanish (Panama)

• Spanish (Dominican Republic)

• Spanish (Venezuela)

• Spanish (Colombia)

• Spanish (Peru)

• Spanish (Argentina)

• Spanish (Ecuador)

• Spanish (Chile)

• Spanish (Uruguay)

• Spanish (Paraguay)

• Spanish (Bolivia)

• Spanish (El Salvador)

• Spanish (Honduras)

• Spanish (Nicaragua)

• Spanish (Puerto Rico)

• Swedish

• Turkish

Troubleshooting International Keyboard Issues

Here are some general troubleshooting steps for issues related to changing international keyboard settings:

1. Check the Browser Settings: Ensure that the browser's language settings match the desired keyboard language. If not, adjust the settings and restart the browser.

2. Verify the VM Settings: Make sure the VM's language and keyboard layout settings match the desired ones. If not, change the settings and restart the VM.

3. Update the System: Sometimes, outdated system software can cause issues. Check if there are any updates available for your browser, VM, or operating system, and install them if necessary.

4. Disable Extensions/Add-ons: Browser extensions or add-ons can sometimes interfere with the settings. Try disabling them one by one to see if the issue resolves.

5. Try a Different Browser: If the issue persists, try using a different browser to see if the problem is specific to the browser you're using.

6. Contact Support: If none of the above steps work, reach out to contact our customer support team for assistance.