⁠8.4.3.4. Virtual Machine Console Settings Explained

These settings apply to adding new or editing existing virtual machines.
The Virtual Machine: Console settings table details the information required on the Console tab of the New Virtual Machine and Edit Virtual Machine windows.
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Table 8.7. Virtual Machine: Console Settings

Field Name
Description
Protocol
Defines the display protocol to be used. SPICE is the recommended protocol for Linux and Windows virtual machines, excepting Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. Optionally, select VNC for Linux virtual machines. A VNC client is required to connect to a virtual machine using the VNC protocol.
VNC Keyboard Layout
Defines the keyboard layout for the virtual machine. This option is only available when using the VNC protocol.
USB Support
Defines whether USB devices can be used on the virtual machine. This option is only available for virtual machines using the SPICE protocol. Select either:
  • Disabled - Does not allow USB redirection from the client machine to the virtual machine.
  • Legacy - Enables the SPICE USB redirection policy used in Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.0. This option can only be used on Windows virtual machines, and will not be supported in future versions of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization.
  • Native - Enables native KVM/ SPICE USB redirection for Linux and Windows virtual machines. Virtual machines do not require any in-guest agents or drivers for native USB. This option can only be used if the virtual machine's cluster compatibility version is set to 3.1 or higher.
Monitors
The number of monitors for the virtual machine. This option is only available for virtual desktops using the SPICE display protocol. You can choose 1, 2 or 4. Since Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 virtual machines do not support the SPICE protocol, they do not support multiple monitors.
Smartcard Enabled
Smartcards are an external hardware security feature, most commonly seen in credit cards, but also used by many businesses as authentication tokens. Smartcards can be used to protect Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization virtual machines. Tick or untick the check box to activate and deactivate Smartcard authentication for individual virtual machines.
Disable strict user checking
Click the Advanced Parameters arrow and select the check box to use this option. With this option selected, the virtual machine does not need to be rebooted when a different user connects to it.
By default, strict checking is enabled so that only one user can connect to the console of a virtual machine. No other user is able to open a console to the same virtual machine until it has been rebooted. The exception is that a SuperUser can connect at any time and replace a existing connection. When a SuperUser has connected, no normal user can connect again until the virtual machine is rebooted.
Disable strict checking with caution, because you can expose the previous user's session to the new user.
Soundcard Enabled
A soundcard device is not necessary for all virtual machine use cases. If it is for yours, enable a soundcard here.
VirtIO Console Device Enabled
The VirtIO console device is a console over VirtIO transport for communication between the host userspace and guest userspace. It has two parts: device emulation in QEMU that presents a virtio-pci device to the guest, and a guest driver that presents a character device interface to userspace applications. Tick the check box to attach a VirtIO console device to your virtual machine.
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