ui/console: add vc encoding=utf8/cp437 option
Expose a new "encoding" QemuOpt option. Add the corresponding QAPI type and properties. This is going to be wired in the following commits. Reviewed-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com> Signed-off-by: Marc-André Lureau <marcandre.lureau@redhat.com>
Marc-André Lureau committed
Apr 20, 2026 at 12:11 UTC
b389b87d3c8accf21e7a77a65d2ed675499cc6fa
6 files changed
+69
-4
chardev/char.c
+10
@@ -650,6 +650,13 @@ ChardevBackend *qemu_chr_parse_opts(QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
650
return NULL;
651
}
652
}
653
+ if (!cc->supports_encoding_opts) {
654
+ if (qemu_opt_get(opts, "encoding")) {
655
+ error_setg(errp, "chardev '%s' does not support encoding option",
656
+ qemu_opts_id(opts));
657
+ return NULL;
658
+ }
659
+ }
660
661
backend = g_new0(ChardevBackend, 1);
662
backend->type = CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_NULL;
@@ -972,6 +979,9 @@ QemuOptsList qemu_chardev_opts = {
979
},{
980
.name = "rows",
981
.type = QEMU_OPT_NUMBER,
982
+ },{
983
+ .name = "encoding",
984
+ .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
985
},{
986
.name = "mux",
987
.type = QEMU_OPT_BOOL,
include/chardev/char.h
+1
@@ -255,6 +255,7 @@ struct ChardevClass {
255
bool internal; /* TODO: eventually use TYPE_USER_CREATABLE */
256
bool supports_yank;
257
bool supports_size_opts;
258
+ bool supports_encoding_opts;
259
260
/* parse command line options and populate QAPI @backend */
261
void (*chr_parse)(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend, Error **errp);
qapi/char.json
+28
-2
@@ -377,6 +377,24 @@
377
'base': 'ChardevCommon',
378
'if': 'CONFIG_SPICE' }
379
380
+##
381
+# @ChardevVCEncoding:
382
+#
383
+# Character encoding expected from the guest on a virtual console.
384
+#
385
+# @cp437: CP437 (8-bit Extended ASCII / VGA). Every byte maps
386
+# directly to a glyph; suitable for DOS or other guests that
387
+# output raw CP437.
388
+#
389
+# @utf8: UTF-8. Multi-byte sequences are decoded and then mapped
390
+# back to CP437 glyphs for display; unmappable codepoints are
391
+# shown as '?'. Suitable for modern Linux guests.
392
+#
393
+# Since: 11.1
394
+##
395
+{ 'enum': 'ChardevVCEncoding',
396
+ 'data': [ 'cp437', 'utf8' ] }
397
+
398
##
399
# @ChardevDBus:
400
#
@@ -384,10 +402,14 @@
402
#
403
# @name: name of the channel (following docs/spice-port-fqdn.txt)
404
#
405
+# @encoding: character encoding the guest is expected to use
406
+# (since 11.1)
407
+#
408
# Since: 7.0
409
##
410
{ 'struct': 'ChardevDBus',
390
- 'data': { 'name': 'str' },
411
+ 'data': { 'name': 'str',
412
+ '*encoding': 'ChardevVCEncoding' },
413
'base': 'ChardevCommon',
414
'if': 'CONFIG_DBUS_DISPLAY' }
415
@@ -404,6 +426,9 @@
426
#
427
# @rows: console height, in chars
428
#
429
+# @encoding: character encoding the guest is expected to use
430
+# (since 11.1)
431
+#
432
# .. note:: The options are only effective when the VNC or SDL
433
# graphical display backend is active. They are ignored with the
434
# GTK, Spice, VNC and D-Bus display backends.
@@ -414,7 +439,8 @@
439
'data': { '*width': 'int',
440
'*height': 'int',
441
'*cols': 'int',
417
- '*rows': 'int' },
442
+ '*rows': 'int',
443
+ '*encoding': 'ChardevVCEncoding' },
444
'base': 'ChardevCommon' }
445
446
##
qemu-options.hx
+5
-2
@@ -4053,7 +4053,7 @@ DEF("chardev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_chardev,
4053
" [,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]\n"
4054
"-chardev msmouse,id=id[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]\n"
4055
"-chardev vc,id=id[[,width=width][,height=height]][[,cols=cols][,rows=rows]]\n"
4056
- " [,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]\n"
4056
+ " [,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off][,encoding=ENCODING]\n"
4057
"-chardev ringbuf,id=id[,size=size][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]\n"
4058
"-chardev file,id=id,path=path[,input-path=input-file][,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]\n"
4059
"-chardev pipe,id=id,path=path[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]\n"
@@ -4285,7 +4285,7 @@ The available backends are:
4285
Several frontend devices is not supported. Stacking of multiplexers
4286
and hub devices is not supported as well.
4287
4288
-``-chardev vc,id=id[[,width=width][,height=height]][[,cols=cols][,rows=rows]]``
4288
+``-chardev vc,id=id[[,width=width][,height=height]][[,cols=cols][,rows=rows]][,encoding=ENCODING]``
4289
Connect to a QEMU text console. The implementation and supported feature
4290
set depend on the selected display backend.
4291
@@ -4304,6 +4304,9 @@ The available backends are:
4304
``cols`` and ``rows`` specify that the console be sized to fit a
4305
text console with the given dimensions.
4306
4307
+ ``encoding`` specifies the character set expected from the guest:
4308
+ ``utf8`` or ``cp437`` (8-bit Extended ASCII / VGA).
4309
+
4310
``-chardev ringbuf,id=id[,size=size]``
4311
Create a ring buffer with fixed size ``size``. size must be a power
4312
of two and defaults to ``64K``.
ui/console-vc.c
+12
@@ -1211,6 +1211,7 @@ static bool vc_chr_open(Chardev *chr, ChardevBackend *backend, Error **errp)
1211
static void vc_chr_parse(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend, Error **errp)
1212
{
1213
int val;
1214
+ const char *str;
1215
ChardevVC *vc;
1216
1217
backend->type = CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_VC;
@@ -1240,6 +1241,16 @@ static void vc_chr_parse(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend, Error **errp)
1241
vc->has_rows = true;
1242
vc->rows = val;
1243
}
1244
+
1245
+ str = qemu_opt_get(opts, "encoding");
1246
+ if (str) {
1247
+ int cs = qapi_enum_parse(&ChardevVCEncoding_lookup, str, -1, errp);
1248
+ if (cs < 0) {
1249
+ return;
1250
+ }
1251
+ vc->has_encoding = true;
1252
+ vc->encoding = cs;
1253
+ }
1254
}
1255
1256
static void char_vc_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, const void *data)
@@ -1252,6 +1263,7 @@ static void char_vc_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, const void *data)
1263
cc->chr_accept_input = vc_chr_accept_input;
1264
cc->chr_set_echo = vc_chr_set_echo;
1265
cc->supports_size_opts = true;
1266
+ cc->supports_encoding_opts = true;
1267
}
1268
1269
static const TypeInfo char_vc_type_info = {
ui/dbus.c
+13
@@ -471,6 +471,8 @@ dbus_vc_parse(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend,
471
DBusVCClass *klass = DBUS_VC_CLASS(object_class_by_name(TYPE_CHARDEV_VC));
472
const char *name = qemu_opt_get(opts, "name");
473
const char *id = qemu_opts_id(opts);
474
+ const char *str;
475
+ ChardevDBus *dbus;
476
477
if (name == NULL) {
478
if (g_str_has_prefix(id, "compat_monitor")) {
@@ -486,6 +488,16 @@ dbus_vc_parse(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend,
488
}
489
490
klass->parent_parse(opts, backend, errp);
491
+ dbus = backend->u.dbus.data;
492
+ str = qemu_opt_get(opts, "encoding");
493
+ if (str) {
494
+ int cs = qapi_enum_parse(&ChardevVCEncoding_lookup, str, -1, errp);
495
+ if (cs < 0) {
496
+ return;
497
+ }
498
+ dbus->has_encoding = true;
499
+ dbus->encoding = cs;
500
+ }
501
}
502
503
static void
@@ -496,6 +508,7 @@ dbus_vc_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, const void *data)
508
509
klass->parent_parse = cc->chr_parse;
510
cc->chr_parse = dbus_vc_parse;
511
+ cc->supports_encoding_opts = true;
512
}
513
514
static const TypeInfo dbus_vc_type_info = {