If you have installed Ubuntu 10.x on vmWare, you will find that the default keyboard configuration does not let you type anything into the login box. This is a big issue since Ubuntu requires that your root user has a password. In order to get around this issue, do the following:
#STEPS Click the button on the bottom-right side of the screen and click on "Universal Access Preference". Click to toggle the first option that says "Use on-screen keyboard" and click Close. Now you will need to reboot your VM in order to see the keyboard.
That’s it, after the login screen your keyboard automagically starts working again…