diff --git a/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c b/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c
index 92faa442c8caa4e95506878a3ac6d357f7fa7c61..1befd119aa5036ab0ac2e54cc02cdcb60b708815 100644
--- a/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c
+++ b/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ libxlDriverConfigDispose(void *obj)
     VIR_FREE(cfg->saveDir);
     VIR_FREE(cfg->autoDumpDir);
     VIR_FREE(cfg->lockManagerName);
+    VIR_FREE(cfg->channelDir);
     virFirmwareFreeList(cfg->firmwares, cfg->nfirmwares);
 }
 
@@ -1348,6 +1349,8 @@ libxlDriverConfigNew(void)
         goto error;
     if (VIR_STRDUP(cfg->autoDumpDir, LIBXL_DUMP_DIR) < 0)
         goto error;
+    if (VIR_STRDUP(cfg->channelDir, LIBXL_CHANNEL_DIR) < 0)
+        goto error;
 
     if (virAsprintf(&log_file, "%s/libxl-driver.log", cfg->logDir) < 0)
         goto error;
@@ -1499,6 +1502,107 @@ int libxlDriverConfigLoadFile(libxlDriverConfigPtr cfg,
 
 }
 
+#ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_DEVICE_CHANNEL
+static int
+libxlPrepareChannel(virDomainChrDefPtr channel,
+                    const char *channelDir,
+                    const char *domainName)
+{
+    if (channel->targetType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_XEN &&
+        channel->source.type == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_UNIX &&
+        !channel->source.data.nix.path) {
+        if (virAsprintf(&channel->source.data.nix.path,
+                        "%s/%s-%s", channelDir, domainName,
+                        channel->target.name ? channel->target.name
+                        : "unknown.sock") < 0)
+            return -1;
+
+        channel->source.data.nix.listen = true;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int
+libxlMakeChannel(virDomainChrDefPtr l_channel,
+                 libxl_device_channel *x_channel)
+{
+    libxl_device_channel_init(x_channel);
+
+    if (l_channel->targetType != VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_XEN) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                       _("channel target type not supported"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    switch (l_channel->source.type) {
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_PTY:
+        x_channel->connection = LIBXL_CHANNEL_CONNECTION_PTY;
+        break;
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_UNIX:
+        x_channel->connection = LIBXL_CHANNEL_CONNECTION_SOCKET;
+        if (VIR_STRDUP(x_channel->u.socket.path,
+                       l_channel->source.data.nix.path) < 0)
+            return -1;
+        break;
+    default:
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                       _("channel source type not supported"));
+        break;
+    }
+
+    if (!l_channel->target.name) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_INVALID, "%s",
+                       _("channel target name missing"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (VIR_STRDUP(x_channel->name, l_channel->target.name) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int
+libxlMakeChannelList(const char *channelDir,
+                     virDomainDefPtr def,
+                     libxl_domain_config *d_config)
+{
+    virDomainChrDefPtr *l_channels = def->channels;
+    size_t nchannels = def->nchannels;
+    libxl_device_channel *x_channels;
+    size_t i, nvchannels = 0;
+
+    if (VIR_ALLOC_N(x_channels, nchannels) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < nchannels; i++) {
+        if (l_channels[i]->deviceType != VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_CHANNEL)
+            continue;
+
+        if (libxlPrepareChannel(l_channels[i], channelDir, def->name) < 0)
+            goto error;
+
+        if (libxlMakeChannel(l_channels[i], &x_channels[nvchannels]) < 0)
+            goto error;
+
+        nvchannels++;
+    }
+
+    VIR_SHRINK_N(x_channels, nchannels, nchannels - nvchannels);
+    d_config->channels = x_channels;
+    d_config->num_channels = nvchannels;
+
+    return 0;
+
+ error:
+    for (i = 0; i < nchannels; i++)
+        libxl_device_channel_dispose(&x_channels[i]);
+    VIR_FREE(x_channels);
+    return -1;
+}
+#endif
+
 #ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_PVUSB
 int
 libxlMakeUSBController(virDomainControllerDefPtr controller,
@@ -1839,6 +1943,7 @@ libxlDriverNodeGetInfo(libxlDriverPrivatePtr driver, virNodeInfoPtr info)
 int
 libxlBuildDomainConfig(virPortAllocatorPtr graphicsports,
                        virDomainDefPtr def,
+                       const char *channelDir LIBXL_ATTR_UNUSED,
                        libxl_ctx *ctx,
                        libxl_domain_config *d_config)
 {
@@ -1873,6 +1978,11 @@ libxlBuildDomainConfig(virPortAllocatorPtr graphicsports,
         return -1;
 #endif
 
+#ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_DEVICE_CHANNEL
+    if (libxlMakeChannelList(channelDir, def, d_config) < 0)
+        return -1;
+#endif
+
     /*
      * Now that any potential VFBs are defined, update the build info with
      * the data of the primary display. Some day libxl might implicitely do
diff --git a/src/libxl/libxl_conf.h b/src/libxl/libxl_conf.h
index ed5a3de45cd36436d6b6d8f52ab5475e65e33a14..0ea76b4df58812457ee0a1213cafa552aa9026dd 100644
--- a/src/libxl/libxl_conf.h
+++ b/src/libxl/libxl_conf.h
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
 # define LIBXL_LIB_DIR LOCALSTATEDIR "/lib/libvirt/libxl"
 # define LIBXL_SAVE_DIR LIBXL_LIB_DIR "/save"
 # define LIBXL_DUMP_DIR LIBXL_LIB_DIR "/dump"
+# define LIBXL_CHANNEL_DIR LIBXL_LIB_DIR "/channel/target"
 # define LIBXL_BOOTLOADER_PATH "pygrub"
 
 
@@ -98,6 +99,7 @@ struct _libxlDriverConfig {
     char *libDir;
     char *saveDir;
     char *autoDumpDir;
+    char *channelDir;
 
     virFirmwarePtr *firmwares;
     size_t nfirmwares;
@@ -196,9 +198,15 @@ libxlMakeUSB(virDomainHostdevDefPtr hostdev, libxl_device_usbdev *usbdev);
 virDomainXMLOptionPtr
 libxlCreateXMLConf(void);
 
+# ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_DEVICE_CHANNEL
+#  define LIBXL_ATTR_UNUSED
+# else
+#  define LIBXL_ATTR_UNUSED ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED
+# endif
 int
 libxlBuildDomainConfig(virPortAllocatorPtr graphicsports,
                        virDomainDefPtr def,
+                       const char *channelDir LIBXL_ATTR_UNUSED,
                        libxl_ctx *ctx,
                        libxl_domain_config *d_config);
 
diff --git a/src/libxl/libxl_domain.c b/src/libxl/libxl_domain.c
index f0493398234740b34a1030e65af14e6e842334e9..db2c1dcef1aa1632562f8e0b6d72f3747985b7fe 100644
--- a/src/libxl/libxl_domain.c
+++ b/src/libxl/libxl_domain.c
@@ -1057,6 +1057,42 @@ libxlDomainCreateIfaceNames(virDomainDefPtr def, libxl_domain_config *d_config)
     }
 }
 
+#ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_DEVICE_CHANNEL
+static void
+libxlDomainCreateChannelPTY(virDomainDefPtr def, libxl_ctx *ctx)
+{
+    libxl_device_channel *x_channels;
+    virDomainChrDefPtr chr;
+    size_t i;
+    int nchannels;
+
+    x_channels = libxl_device_channel_list(ctx, def->id, &nchannels);
+    if (!x_channels)
+        return;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < def->nchannels; i++) {
+        libxl_channelinfo channelinfo;
+        int ret;
+
+        chr = def->channels[i];
+        if (chr->source.type != VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_PTY)
+            continue;
+
+        ret = libxl_device_channel_getinfo(ctx, def->id, &x_channels[i],
+                                           &channelinfo);
+
+        if (!ret && channelinfo.u.pty.path &&
+            channelinfo.u.pty.path != '\0') {
+                VIR_FREE(chr->source.data.file.path);
+                ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP(chr->source.data.file.path,
+                                        channelinfo.u.pty.path));
+            }
+    }
+
+    for (i = 0; i < nchannels; i++)
+        libxl_device_channel_dispose(&x_channels[i]);
+}
+#endif
 
 #ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_SRM_V2
 # define LIBXL_DOMSTART_RESTORE_VER_ATTR /* empty */
@@ -1180,7 +1216,7 @@ libxlDomainStart(libxlDriverPrivatePtr driver,
         goto cleanup_dom;
 
     if (libxlBuildDomainConfig(driver->reservedGraphicsPorts, vm->def,
-                               cfg->ctx, &d_config) < 0)
+                               cfg->channelDir, cfg->ctx, &d_config) < 0)
         goto cleanup_dom;
 
     if (cfg->autoballoon && libxlDomainFreeMem(cfg->ctx, &d_config) < 0)
@@ -1261,6 +1297,11 @@ libxlDomainStart(libxlDriverPrivatePtr driver,
 
     libxlDomainCreateIfaceNames(vm->def, &d_config);
 
+#ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_DEVICE_CHANNEL
+    if (vm->def->nchannels > 0)
+        libxlDomainCreateChannelPTY(vm->def, cfg->ctx);
+#endif
+
     if ((dom_xml = virDomainDefFormat(vm->def, cfg->caps, 0)) == NULL)
         goto destroy_dom;
 
diff --git a/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c b/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c
index 54eee555ac409aaba801c3599ad6e4003d76bba3..1adf4c58c035a68a5b5c20610eaa3f4e9a44e58e 100644
--- a/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c
+++ b/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c
@@ -718,6 +718,13 @@ libxlStateInitialize(bool privileged,
                        virStrerror(errno, ebuf, sizeof(ebuf)));
         goto error;
     }
+    if (virFileMakePath(cfg->channelDir) < 0) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
+                       _("failed to create channel dir '%s': %s"),
+                       cfg->channelDir,
+                       virStrerror(errno, ebuf, sizeof(ebuf)));
+        goto error;
+    }
 
     if (!(libxl_driver->lockManager =
           virLockManagerPluginNew(cfg->lockManagerName ?