Error "internal error cannot find character device" when trying to connect a domain's console¶

Symptom¶

% virsh console test2 Connected to domain test2 Escape character is ^] error: internal error cannot find character device (null)

Investigation¶

The error tells there is no serial console configured for the domain.

Solution¶

Setup serial console in the domain's XML.

1. Add the following XML in domain's XML (using "virsh edit")

<serial type='pty'>
  <target port='0'/>
</serial>
<console type='pty'>
  <target type='serial' port='0'/>
</console>

2) Setup console in guest kernel command line, you can login into the guest to edit /boot/grub/grub.conf directly, or using tool "virt-edit". Append following to the guest kernel command line:

console=ttyS0,115200

3) % virsh start vm && virsh console vm