Dynamic Keyboard Layout Synchronization

Previously, the keyboard layouts on the Mac VDA and on the client device had to be the same. Key mapping issues might occur, for example, when the keyboard layout changes from English to French on the client device but not on the VDA.

Citrix addresses the issue by synchronizing the keyboard layout of the VDA with the keyboard layout of the client device automatically. Anytime the keyboard layout on the client device changes, the layout on the VDA follows suit.

Configuration

Group Policy

The dynamic keyboard layout synchronization feature is disabled by default. To enable or disable the feature, set the Client Keyboard Layout Sync and IME Improvement policy or edit the registry.

The Client Keyboard Layout Sync and IME Improvement policy takes priority over registry settings and can be applied to user and machine objects you specify or all objects in your site. Registry settings on a given Mac VDA apply to all sessions on that VDA.

Set the Client Keyboard Layout Sync and IME Improvement policy to enable or disable the dynamic keyboard layout synchronization feature:

  1. In Studio, right-click Policies and select Create Policy.

  2. Search for the Client Keyboard Layout Sync and IME Improvement policy.

    keyboard-layout-sync

  3. Click Select next to the policy name.

  4. Set the policy.

    keyboard-edit-setting

There are three options available:

  • Disabled: disables dynamic keyboard layout synchronization and client IME user interface. There is an exception that when group policy is disabled, end users can still use registry settings to enable the feature manually.

  • Support dynamic client keyboard layout synchronization: enables dynamic keyboard layout synchronization regardless of the DWORD value of the KeyboardSyncMode registry key at HKLM\Software\Citrix\VirtualDesktopAgent\mac\kbime.

  • Support dynamic client keyboard layout synchronization and IME improvement: enables both dynamic keyboard layout synchronization and client IME user interface synchronization regardless of the DWORD value of the KeyboardSyncMode registry key at HKLM\Software\Citrix\VirtualDesktopAgent\mac\kbime.

    Note:

    IME improvement isn’t yet supported in Mac VDA.

Registry Setting

To enable dynamic keyboard layout Sync, set KeyboardSyncMode to 2 under the key of HKLM\Software\Citrix\VirtualDesktopAgent\mac\kbime in ctxreg configure DB

Here is the command example:

sudo /opt/Citrix/VDA/bin/ctxreg create -k "HKLM\Software\Citrix\VirtualDesktopAgent\mac\kbime" -t "REG_DWORD" -v "KeyboardSyncMode" -d "2" --force

If you change to any other value the keyboard dynamic Sync is disabled:

/opt/Citrix/VDA/bin/ctxreg update -k "HKLM\Software\Citrix\VirtualDesktopAgent\mac\kbime" -t "REG_DWORD" -v "KeyboardSyncMode" -d "1"

Dynamic Keyboard Layout Synchronization