NKMS is an acronym for Network Keyboard Mouse Switch. NKMS switches keyboard and mouse input between muliple computers connected via the network using TCP. This allows you to only have one keyboard and mouse on your desk even if you are using mulitple computers at once. The right control key switches the input between machines.
There is virtually no lag when used with a good ethernet connection, but it may lag a bit over wifi, especially if the signal is weak.
NKMS depends on the following:
- PyQt6
- evdev
Install with pip:
pip install PyQt6 evdev
Install with apt:
sudo apt install python-pyqt6 python-evdev
NKMS is controlled via a system tray icon. The tray icon's context menu allows you to open the settings, start / stop the NKMS daemon, etc.
The machine your keyboard and mouse are connected to should be set to Server
mode, and all other machines should be set to Client mode as well as having
the Server address set. Be sure to set all machines to use the same port
number.
NKMS must run as root, otherwise it cannot access the input devices.
First, since NKMS must run as root, you need to allow the nkms script
to be run with sudo without requiring a password.
sudo visudo- Add this line:
yourusername ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /path/to/nkms
Then using your desktop's autostart functionality, set the following command
to autostart on login: sudo /path/to/nkms