diff --git a/docs/man/xen-pv-channel.pod.7 b/docs/man/xen-pv-channel.pod.7
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+=encoding utf8
+
+
+=head1 Xen PV Channels
+
+A channel is a low-bandwidth private byte stream similar to a serial
+link. Typical uses of channels are
+
+=over
+
+=item 1.
+
+to provide initial configuration information to a VM on boot
+ (example use: CloudStack's cloud-early-config service)
+
+
+=item 2.
+
+to signal/query an in-guest agent
+ (example use: oVirt's guest agent)
+
+
+=back
+
+Channels are similar to virtio-serial devices and emulated serial links.
+Channels are intended to be used in the implementation of libvirt s
+when running on Xen.
+
+Note: if an application requires a high-bandwidth link then it should use
+vchan instead.
+
+
+=head2 How to use channels: an example
+
+Consider a cloud deployment where VMs are cloned from pre-made templates,
+and customised on first boot by an in-guest agent which sets the IP address,
+hostname, ssh keys etc. To install the system the cloud administrator would
+first:
+
+=over
+
+=item 1.
+
+Install a guest as normal (no channel configuration necessary)
+
+
+=item 2.
+
+Install the in-guest agent specific to the cloud software. This will
+ prepare the guest to communicate over the channel, and also prepare
+ the guest to be cloned safely (sometimes known as "sysprepping")
+
+
+=item 3.
+
+Shutdown the guest
+
+
+=item 4.
+
+Register the guest as a template with the cloud orchestration software
+
+
+=item 5.
+
+Install the cloud orchestration agent in dom0
+
+
+=back
+
+At runtime, when a cloud tenant requests that a VM is created from the template,
+the sequence of events would be: (assuming a Linux domU)
+
+=over
+
+=item 1.
+
+A VM is "cloned" from the template
+
+
+=item 2.
+
+A unique Unix domain socket path in dom0 is allocated
+ (e.g. /my/cloud/software/talk/to/domain/)
+
+
+=item 3.
+
+Domain configuration is created for the VM, listing the channel
+ name expected by the in-guest agent. In xl syntax this would be:
+
+ channel = [ "connection=socket, name=org.my.cloud.software.agent.version1,
+              path = /my/cloud/software/talk/to/domain/" ]
+
+
+
+=item 4.
+
+The VM is started
+
+
+=item 5.
+
+In dom0 the cloud orchestration agent connects to the Unix domain
+ socket, writes a handshake message and waits for a reply
+
+
+=item 6.
+
+Assuming the guest kernel has CONFIGI<HVC>XEN_FRONTEND set then the console
+ driver will generate a hotplug event
+
+
+=item 7.
+
+A udev rule is activated by the hotplug event.
+
+ The udev rule would look something like:
+
+ SUBSYSTEM=="xen", DEVPATH=="/devices/console-[0-9]", RUN+="xen-console-setup"
+
+ where the "xen-console-setup" script would read the channel name and
+ make a symlink in /dev/xen-channel/org.my.cloud.software.agent.version1
+
+
+
+=item 8.
+
+The in-guest agent uses inotify to see the creation of the /dev/xen-channel
+ symlink and opens the device.
+
+
+=item 9.
+
+The in-guest agent completes the handshake with the dom0 agent
+
+
+=item 10.
+
+The dom0 agent transmits the unique VM configuration: hostname, IP
+ address, ssh keys etc etc
+
+
+=item 11.
+
+The in-guest agent receives the configuration and applies it.
+
+
+=back
+
+Using channels avoids having to use a temporary disk device or network
+connection.
+
+
+=head2 Design recommendations and pitfalls
+
+It's necessary to install channel-specific software (an "agent") into the guest
+before you can use a channel. By default a channel will appear as a device
+which could be mistaken for a serial port or regular console. It is known
+that some software will proactively seek out serial ports and issue AT commands
+at them; make sure such software is disabled!
+
+Since channels are identified by names, application authors must ensure their
+channel names are unique to avoid clashes. We recommend that channel names
+include parts unique to the application such as a domain names. To assist
+prevent clashes we recommend authors add their names to our global channel
+registry at the end of this document.
+
+
+=head2 Limitations
+
+Hotplug and unplug of channels is not currently implemented.
+
+
+=head2 Channel name registry
+
+It is important that channel names are globally unique. To help ensure
+that no-one's name clashes with yours, please add yours to this list.
+
+    Key:
+    N: Name
+    C: Contact
+    D: Short description of use, possibly including a URL to your software
+       or API
+    
+    N: org.xenproject.guest.clipboard.0.1
+    C: David Scott <dave.scott@citrix.com>
+    D: Share clipboard data via an in-guest agent. See:
+       http://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Clipboard_sharing_protocol
