virt-viewer
Display graphical console of a virtual machine
TLDR
Launch virt-viewer with a prompt to select running virtual machines
Launch virt-viewer for a specific virtual machine by ID, UUID or name
Wait for a virtual machine to start and automatically reconnect if it shutdown and restarts
Connect to a specific remote virtual machine over TLS
Connect to a specific remote virtual machine over SSH
SYNOPSIS
virt-viewer [OPTIONS] VMNAME|UUID|ID|URI
PARAMETERS
--version
Display version information and exit.
-c | --connect URI
Connect to the specified hypervisor. This overrides the default hypervisor.
-w | --wait
Wait indefinitely until the guest starts, before displaying the window.
-f | --fullscreen
Start in fullscreen mode.
-s | --shared
Allow other clients to connect.
-r | --reconnect
Automatically reconnect if the connection is lost.
-z | --zoom
Use scaling and zoom to fit the window size
-d | --debug
Enable debug messages
-h | --help
Display help and exit.
DESCRIPTION
The virt-viewer command is a graphical tool for displaying the console of a virtual machine. It connects to the virtual machine's graphical output using either the VNC or SPICE protocol. Virt-viewer is typically used with virtual machines managed by libvirt, but it can connect to any VNC or SPICE server. It allows you to interact with the guest operating system running inside the VM, providing a window to view and control the virtual machine as if it were a physical machine. Virt-viewer supports various features like keyboard and mouse input, clipboard sharing, audio, and video streaming from the guest. It also allows for configuring display settings such as resolution and scaling.
CAVEATS
Virt-viewer requires a graphical environment to run. Ensure the libvirt daemon is running and configured correctly before using virt-viewer. Performance depends on network connectivity and the guest's resource allocation.
SPICE VS VNC
SPICE offers better performance and features compared to VNC, such as improved audio and video streaming, better keyboard/mouse handling, and enhanced remote display capabilities. If both are available, SPICE is generally the preferred option.
HISTORY
Virt-viewer was developed as part of the libvirt project to provide a simple and reliable way to access the graphical console of virtual machines. It has evolved over time to support new features and protocols, such as SPICE, to improve performance and user experience.
