How do I use Qemu/Spice dynamic resolution in a Windows 7 guest?

Question

The Qemu Spice user manual makes reference to a "dynamic resolution" feature. If I'm understanding correctly, this alters the guest resolution to match the size of the VM's window, as is done automatically by VirtualBox's guest extensions.

I've skimmed every piece of Spice user documentation I can find. Nothing I've read actually addresses making this work in a Windows guest... although this one suggests that it works with an X11-based client.

What are the steps to enable dynamic resolution in a Windows 7 guest?

Solution

(Assuming the spice vdagent is guest tools are properly installed.)

1. If you are using the virt-manager's builtin viewer, you must enable a feature called "Auto Resize VM with Display". It is mis-categorized under View->Scale Display.

2. Consider using virt-viewer instead of the builtin viewer.

Comments

[Philippe Gachoud]

could you provide some doc or more about spice vdagent? would be helpful

[Autumn]

I wrote this very early in my libvirt journey. There is no vdagent in a windows guest (the role is filled by the Spice Guest Tools). I've edited the answer to reflect that.

[sebas]

@PhilippeGachoud there is some documentation on spice vdagent (the "guest tools" for Linux guest) at it's repository: gitlab.freedesktop.org/spice/linux/vd_agent