How-to install Windows SPICE Guest Tools on QEMU/KVM Virtual Machine Manager

As everyone knows, getting started with a new technology is not always simple but this how-to will hopefully help in the process when using a Windows VM.

As of 2023 and if you are using a Windows guest you can use Windows SPICE Guest Tools.

How to install Windows SPICE Guest Tools on QEMU/KVM Virtual Machine Manager

To start, make sure inside the VM manager "Show virtual hardware details" -> "Video < Model-Name >" you have QXL selected.

If it looks like this:

then you continue with the following steps.

The Process

1. Start the Windows VM.

2. Open your favorite browser, inside the Windows VM.

3. Go to SPICE Website Download Page.
   

4. Scroll down to "Windows binaries".

5. In the first sentence you should see:

   • "Windows SPICE Guest Tools (spice-guest-tools)"
   • Click -> (spice-guest-tools) to download it on the Guest VM.

6. Run through the installer. The defaults should be fine.
   

7. Restart

You should now be able to change the "Display resolution" in the Windows VM.

Hopefully this helps. If you have further questions, let me know in the comments.