KVM virsh send-key example (Control-Alt-Delete and more)

send-key domain [--codeset codeset] [--holdtime holdtime] keycode...

Parse the keycode sequence as keystrokes to send to domain. Each keycode can either be a numeric value or a symbolic name from the corresponding codeset. If --holdtime is given, each keystroke will be held for that many milliseconds. The default codeset is linux, but use of the --codeset option allows other codesets to be chosen.

If multiple keycodes are specified, they are all sent simultaneously to the guest, and they may be received in random order. If you need distinct keypresses, you must use multiple send-key invocations.

  • linux - Linux generic input event subsystem. The symbolic names match the corresponding Linux key constant macro names.
  • xt - XT keyboard controller. No symbolic names are provided
  • atset1 - AT keyboard controller, set 1 (aka XT compatible set). Extended keycoes from atset1 may differ from extended keycodes in the xt codeset. No symbolic names are provided
  • atset2 - AT keyboard controller, set 2. No symbolic names are provided
  • atset3 - AT keyboard controller, set 3 (aka PS/2 compatible set). No symbolic names are provided
  • os_x - OS-X keyboard input subsystem. The symbolic names match the corresponding OS-X key constant macro names
  • xt_kbd - Linux KBD device. These are a variant on the original XT codeset, but often with different encoding for extended keycodes. No symbolic names are provided
  • win32 - Win32 keyboard input subsystem. The symbolic names match the corresponding Win32 key constant macro names
  • usb - USB HID specification for keyboard input. No symbolic names are provided
  • rfb - RFB extension for sending raw keycodes. These are a variant on the XT codeset, but extended keycodes have the low bit of the second byte set, instead of the high bit of the first byte. No symbolic names are provided.

Examples

Send Control-Alt-Delete, which will reboot the server:

virsh send-key fedora-27 KEY_LEFTCTRL KEY_LEFTALT KEY_DELETE

Some more examples:

# send three strokes 'k', 'e', 'y', using xt codeset. these
# are all pressed simultaneously and may be received by the guest
# in random order
virsh send-key fedora-27 --codeset xt 37 18 21

# send one stroke 'right-ctrl+C'
virsh send-key fedora-27 KEY_RIGHTCTRL KEY_C

# send a tab, held for 1 second
virsh send-key fedora-27 --holdtime 1000 0xf

Keycode list

static const KeyDef key_defs[] = {
    { 0x2a, "shift" },
    { 0x36, "shift_r" },

    { 0x38, "alt" },
    { 0xb8, "alt_r" },
    { 0x64, "altgr" },
    { 0xe4, "altgr_r" },
    { 0x1d, "ctrl" },
    { 0x9d, "ctrl_r" },

    { 0xdd, "menu" },

    { 0x01, "esc" },

    { 0x02, "1" },
    { 0x03, "2" },
    { 0x04, "3" },
    { 0x05, "4" },
    { 0x06, "5" },
    { 0x07, "6" },
    { 0x08, "7" },
    { 0x09, "8" },
    { 0x0a, "9" },
    { 0x0b, "0" },
    { 0x0c, "minus" },
    { 0x0d, "equal" },
    { 0x0e, "backspace" },

    { 0x0f, "tab" },
    { 0x10, "q" },
    { 0x11, "w" },
    { 0x12, "e" },
    { 0x13, "r" },
    { 0x14, "t" },
    { 0x15, "y" },
    { 0x16, "u" },
    { 0x17, "i" },
    { 0x18, "o" },
    { 0x19, "p" },
    { 0x1a, "bracket_left" },
    { 0x1b, "bracket_right" },
    { 0x1c, "ret" },

    { 0x1e, "a" },
    { 0x1f, "s" },
    { 0x20, "d" },
    { 0x21, "f" },
    { 0x22, "g" },
    { 0x23, "h" },
    { 0x24, "j" },
    { 0x25, "k" },
    { 0x26, "l" },
    { 0x27, "semicolon" },
    { 0x28, "apostrophe" },
    { 0x29, "grave_accent" },

    { 0x2b, "backslash" },
    { 0x2c, "z" },
    { 0x2d, "x" },
    { 0x2e, "c" },
    { 0x2f, "v" },
    { 0x30, "b" },
    { 0x31, "n" },
    { 0x32, "m" },
    { 0x33, "comma" },
    { 0x34, "dot" },
    { 0x35, "slash" },

    { 0x37, "asterisk" },

    { 0x39, "spc" },
    { 0x3a, "caps_lock" },
    { 0x3b, "f1" },
    { 0x3c, "f2" },
    { 0x3d, "f3" },
    { 0x3e, "f4" },
    { 0x3f, "f5" },
    { 0x40, "f6" },
    { 0x41, "f7" },
    { 0x42, "f8" },
    { 0x43, "f9" },
    { 0x44, "f10" },
    { 0x45, "num_lock" },
    { 0x46, "scroll_lock" },

    { 0xb5, "kp_divide" },
    { 0x37, "kp_multiply" },
    { 0x4a, "kp_subtract" },
    { 0x4e, "kp_add" },
    { 0x9c, "kp_enter" },
    { 0x53, "kp_decimal" },
    { 0x54, "sysrq" },

    { 0x52, "kp_0" },
    { 0x4f, "kp_1" },
    { 0x50, "kp_2" },
    { 0x51, "kp_3" },
    { 0x4b, "kp_4" },
    { 0x4c, "kp_5" },
    { 0x4d, "kp_6" },
    { 0x47, "kp_7" },
    { 0x48, "kp_8" },
    { 0x49, "kp_9" },

    { 0x56, "<" },

    { 0x57, "f11" },
    { 0x58, "f12" },

    { 0xb7, "print" },

    { 0xc7, "home" },
    { 0xc9, "pgup" },
    { 0xd1, "pgdn" },
    { 0xcf, "end" },

    { 0xcb, "left" },
    { 0xc8, "up" },
    { 0xd0, "down" },
    { 0xcd, "right" },

    { 0xd2, "insert" },
    { 0xd3, "delete" },

    { 0xf0, "stop" },
    { 0xf1, "again" },
    { 0xf2, "props" },
    { 0xf3, "undo" },
    { 0xf4, "front" },
    { 0xf5, "copy" },
    { 0xf6, "open" },
    { 0xf7, "paste" },
    { 0xf8, "find" },
    { 0xf9, "cut" },
    { 0xfa, "lf" },
    { 0xfb, "help" },
    { 0xfc, "meta_l" },
    { 0xfd, "meta_r" },
    { 0xfe, "compose" },

    { 0, NULL },
};
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Pub: 03 Jan 2018 16:11 UTC
Edit: 21 Aug 2018 13:18 UTC
Views: 7218