GNOME Boxes: Linux host, Windows guest (!)

gnome-boxes-qemu-ga-virsh.txt

##########################
# QEMU Guest Agent HOWTO #
##########################

# Linux Host (Fedora)
# To use virsh command, you need:
$ sudo dnf -y install libvirt-client

# Windows Guest (11 Pro)
# You need the qemu-ga:
> winget install RedHat.VirtIO
> sc query qemu-ga |findstr "STATE"

# The Problem (configuration)
# With domain/VM running, you try:
$ virsh list
 Id   Name       State
--------------------------
 1    win11pro   running

$ virsh guestinfo win11pro
error: argument unsupported: QEMU guest agent is not configured

# Alternatively, it may be one of these error return codes:
$ curl https://libvirt.org/html/libvirt-virterror.html |pup 'table tr:nth-last-of-type(n+2) a' |rg VIR_ERR_AGENT_ |rg -v id=
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed  Time    Time    Time   Current
                                 Dload  Upload  Total   Spent   Left   Speed
100  58808 100  58808   0      0 121.5k      0                              0
 VIR_ERR_AGENT_UNRESPONSIVE
 VIR_ERR_AGENT_UNSYNCED
 VIR_ERR_AGENT_COMMAND_TIMEOUT
 VIR_ERR_AGENT_COMMAND_FAILED
$ 

Q: What's the problem and how to fix it?
A: Well, as you should know, GNOME Boxes is a minimalist tool that "just works".
A: When it creates the domain/VM definition, it's NOT configuring a qemu-ga dedicated communication channel.
# See https://wiki.libvirt.org/Qemu_guest_agent.html#setting-qemu-ga-up
# See https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#channel
# You need to edit the domain/VM XML and add the missing channel (after the console block).
$ virsh edit win11pro
# Insert these lines:
<channel type='unix'>
   <source mode='bind'/>
   <target type='virtio' name='org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>
</channel>
# Libvirt will figure it out when you save it. (tested on F44)
Q: How to verify the result (and how it should look like)?
# Method-1
# NB: if you don't have rg, use grep.
$ virsh dumpxml win11pro |rg -C2 'org.qemu.guest_agent.0'
    </console>
    <channel type='unix'>
      <target type='virtio' name='org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>
      <address type='virtio-serial' controller='0' bus='0' port='3'/>
    </channel>
$ 
# Method-2
$ virsh dumpxml win11pro |xmllint --xpath "//domain/devices/channel[@type='unix']" -
<channel type="unix">
      <target type="virtio" name="org.qemu.guest_agent.0"/>
      <address type="virtio-serial" controller="0" bus="0" port="3"/>
    </channel>
$ 
# Now start your domain/VM, and check again:
$ virsh guestinfo win11pro
user.count          : 1
user.0.name         : vmuser
user.0.domain       : VMELEVEN
user.0.login-time   : 1780698157543
os.id               : mswindows
os.name             : Microsoft Windows
os.pretty-name      : Windows 10 Pro
os.version          : Microsoft Windows 11
os.version-id       : 11
os.machine          : x86_64
os.variant          : client
os.variant-id       : client
os.kernel-release   : 22631
os.kernel-version   : 10.0
timezone.name       : GTB Daylight Time
timezone.offset     : 10800
hostname            : VMELEVEN
fs.count            : 2
fs.0.name           : \\?\Volume{c53a2aa0-0171-45a9-b531-c259fc3d9d19}\
fs.0.mountpoint     : C:\
fs.0.fstype         : NTFS
fs.0.total-bytes    : 53670309888
fs.0.used-bytes     : 37538541568
fs.0.disk.count     : 1
fs.0.disk.0.serial  : QM00001
fs.0.disk.0.device  : \\.\PhysicalDrive0
fs.1.name           : \\?\Volume{e0655436-e9a5-45dc-9bd0-a162b4df0acb}\
fs.1.mountpoint     : System Reserved
fs.1.fstype         : FAT32
fs.1.disk.count     : 1
fs.1.disk.0.serial  : QM00001
fs.1.disk.0.device  : \\.\PhysicalDrive0
disk.count          : 1
disk.0.name         : \\.\PhysicalDrive0
disk.0.partition    : no
disk.0.serial       : QM00001
disk.0.guest_bus    : sata
if.count            : 2
if.0.name           : Ethernet
if.0.hwaddr         : 52:54:00:59:81:23
if.0.addr.count     : 2
if.0.addr.0.type    : ipv6
if.0.addr.0.addr    : fe80::7467:2ea2:93fc:8963%7
if.0.addr.0.prefix  : 64
if.0.addr.1.type    : ipv4
if.0.addr.1.addr    : 192.168.122.217
if.0.addr.1.prefix  : 24
if.1.name           : Loopback Pseudo-Interface 1
if.1.hwaddr         : 
if.1.addr.count     : 2
if.1.addr.0.type    : ipv6
if.1.addr.0.addr    : ::1
if.1.addr.0.prefix  : 128
if.1.addr.1.type    : ipv4
if.1.addr.1.addr    : 127.0.0.1
if.1.addr.1.prefix  : 8
load.1m             : 0.000000
load.5m             : 0.000000
load.15m            : 0.000000

$ 

Reated upstream RFE-ticket.