Playing around with various VGA providers

1. Download the Fedora Workstation ISO file from website and store it in a reference directory cdromimg.

   https://getfedora.org
   

2. Execute the following command to know about the VGA providers available at disposal.

   $ qemu-system-x86_64 -vga help
   none                 no graphic card
   std                  standard VGA (default)
   cirrus               Cirrus VGA
   vmware               VMWare SVGA
   xenfb                Xen paravirtualized framebuffer
   qxl                  QXL VGA
   virtio               Virtio VGA
   

3. Start a virtual machine for playing around with various VGA providers for the live ISO and there is no need for a virtual disk image here.

   $ qemu-system-x86_64 \
       -boot menu=on \
       -m 8192 \
       -cpu max \
       -smp 4 \
       -cdrom cdromimg/<Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-xx-y.z.iso> \
       -accel kvm
   

4. Open up Settings inside the VM and head over to the About section. Information about the Graphics can be seen here.
5. Open up Terminal inside the VM and execute the lspci commands in regards with the current VGA controller to find more information on it.

We will test out each VGA provider one-by-one and list the information for each now.

1. Standard VGA (Default)

   $ qemu-system-x86_64 \
       -boot menu=on \
       -m 8192 \
       -cpu max \
       -smp 4 \
       -cdrom cdromimg/<Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-xx-y.z.iso> \
       -accel kvm \
       -vga std
   

   1. Settings -> About
      
   2. lspci
      
2. No graphic card

   $ qemu-system-x86_64 \
       -boot menu=on \
       -m 8192 \
       -cpu max \
       -smp 4 \
       -cdrom cdromimg/<Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-xx-y.z.iso> \
       -accel kvm \
       -vga none
   

   

3. Cirrus VGA

   $ qemu-system-x86_64 \
       -boot menu=on \
       -m 8192 \
       -cpu max \
       -smp 4 \
       -cdrom cdromimg/<Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-xx-y.z.iso> \
       -accel kvm \
       -vga cirrus
   

   1. Settings -> About
      
   2. lspci
      
4. VMware SVGA

   $ qemu-system-x86_64 \
       -boot menu=on \
       -m 8192 \
       -cpu max \
       -smp 4 \
       -cdrom cdromimg/<Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-xx-y.z.iso> \
       -accel kvm \
       -vga vmware
   

   1. Settings -> About
      
   2. lspci
      
5. Xen paravirtualized framebuffer

   $ qemu-system-x86_64 \
       -boot menu=on \
       -m 8192 \
       -cpu max \
       -smp 4 \
       -cdrom cdromimg/<Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-xx-y.z.iso> \
       -accel kvm \
       -vga xenfb
   

   

6. QXL VGA

   $ qemu-system-x86_64 \
       -boot menu=on \
       -m 8192 \
       -cpu max \
       -smp 4 \
       -cdrom cdromimg/<Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-xx-y.z.iso> \
       -accel kvm \
       -vga qxl
   

   1. Settings -> About
      
   2. lspci
      
7. VirtIO VGA

   $ qemu-system-x86_64 \
       -boot menu=on \
       -m 8192 \
       -cpu max \
       -smp 4 \
       -cdrom cdromimg/<Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-xx-y.z.iso> \
       -accel kvm \
       -vga virtio
   

   1. Settings -> About
      
   2. lspci
      

References

1. https://www.kraxel.org/blog/2019/09/display-devices-in-qemu/

Authors: Akashdeep Dhar, Jarek Prokop, Nick Dirschel