Hi, I tried to use libvirt to run KVM/QEMU on Freescale PowerPC platforms. So far there's only one serial device (spapr-vty) defined in QEMU to work as console for IBM PSeries platform. There's no serial device support in QEMU for Freescale PowerPC (ePAPR). libvirt/src/qemu/qemu_command.c /* This function generates the correct '-device' string for character * devices of each architecture. */ char * qemuBuildChrDeviceStr(virDomainChrDefPtr serial, virBitmapPtr qemuCaps, char *os_arch, char *machine) { virBuffer cmd = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER; if (STREQ(os_arch, "ppc64") && STREQ(machine, "pseries")) { if (serial->deviceType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_SERIAL && serial->source.type == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_PTY && serial->info.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_ADDRESS_TYPE_SPAPRVIO) { virBufferAsprintf(&cmd, "spapr-vty,chardev=char%s", serial->info.alias); if (qemuBuildDeviceAddressStr(&cmd, &serial->info, qemuCaps) < 0) goto error; } } else virBufferAsprintf(&cmd, "isa-serial,chardev=char%s,id=%s", serial->info.alias, serial->info.alias); if (virBufferError(&cmd)) { virReportOOMError(); goto error; } return virBufferContentAndReset(&cmd); error: virBufferFreeAndReset(&cmd); return NULL; } We usually connect guest with telnet. For instance, /usr/bin/qemu-system-ppc -name demo -M ppce500v2 -enable-kvm -m 256 -nographic -kernel /media/ram/uImage -initrd /media/ram/ramdisk -append "root=/dev/ram rw console=ttyS0,115200" -serial tcp::4445,server Then to run 'telnet 10.193.20.xxx 4445' could connect the guest. The temporary workaround is not add '-device' string after '-serial' option. diff -Nur libvirt-0.10.1.orig/src/qemu/qemu_command.c libvirt-0.10.1/src/qemu/qemu_command.c --- libvirt-0.10.1.orig/src/qemu/qemu_command.c 2012-08-30 15:35:18.000000000 +0530 +++ libvirt-0.10.1/src/qemu/qemu_command.c 2012-10-05 17:19:32.060368755 +0530 @@ -5501,13 +5501,15 @@ virCommandAddArg(cmd, devstr); VIR_FREE(devstr); - virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-device"); - if (!(devstr = qemuBuildChrDeviceStr(serial, qemuCaps, + if (!STREQ(def->os.arch, "ppc")) { + virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-device"); + if (!(devstr = qemuBuildChrDeviceStr(serial, + qemuCaps, def->os.arch, def->os.machine))) - goto error; - virCommandAddArg(cmd, devstr); - VIR_FREE(devstr); + goto error; + virCommandAddArg(cmd, devstr); + VIR_FREE(devstr); + } } else { virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-serial"); if (!(devstr = qemuBuildChrArgStr(&serial->source, NULL))) Applying the above patch to libvirt, all the other domain control commands could work except 'virsh console domain'. # cat >demo.args <<EOF # vi demo.args /usr/bin/qemu-system-ppc -name demo -M ppce500v2 -enable-kvm -m 256 -nographic -kernel /media/ram/uImage -initrd /media/ram/ramdisk -append "root=/dev/ram rw console=ttyS0,115200" -serial tcp::4445,server -net nic # virsh domxml-from-native qemu-argv demo.args >demo.xml # vi demo.xml <domain type='kvm'> <name>demo</name> <uuid>985d7154-83c8-0763-cbac-ecd159eee8a6</uuid> <memory unit='KiB'>262144</memory> <currentMemory unit='KiB'>262144</currentMemory> <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu> <os> <type arch='ppc' machine='ppce500v2'>hvm</type> <kernel>/media/ram/uImage</kernel> <initrd>/media/ram/ramdisk</initrd> <cmdline>root=/dev/ram rw console=ttyS0,115200</cmdline> </os> <clock offset='utc'/> <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff> <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot> <on_crash>destroy</on_crash> <devices> <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-ppc</emulator> <serial type='tcp'> <source mode='bind' host='' service='4445'/> <protocol type='raw'/> <target port='0'/> </serial> <console type='tcp'> <source mode='bind' host='' service='4445'/> <protocol type='raw'/> <target type='serial' port='0'/> </console> <memballoon model='virtio'/> </devices> </domain> # virsh -c qemu:///system define demo.xml # virsh -c qemu:///system start demo But it seemed that can't connect to the console. # virsh -c qemu:///system console demo Connected to domain test Escape character is ^] error: internal error character device (null) is not using a PTY I tried also use '-serial pty' option, /usr/bin/qemu-system-ppc -name test -M ppce500v2 -enable-kvm -m 256 -nographic -kernel /media/ram/uImage -initrd /media/ram/ramdisk -append "root=/dev/ram rw console=ttyS0,115200" -serial pty Then there's no other output after the below message: # virsh -c qemu:///system console demo Connected to domain test Escape character is ^] It seemed not libvirt group issue. I also tried the LXC. It could connect to the console if <init>/bin/sh/</init> instead of <init>/sbin/init</init> Best Regards, Olivia