libvirt: virtualization API and daemon (GitHub mirror)
libvirt is the toolkit that manages KVM/QEMU and other hypervisors through one API, plus the virsh client. The GitHub repository is a read-only mirror; development happens on GitLab.
libvirt/libvirt
- Stars
- 1.7k
- Forks
- 748
- Language
- C
- Licence
- LGPL-2.1
- Last push
- 15 Oct 2026
On GitHub: Read-only mirror. Please submit merge requests / issues to https://gitlab.com/libvirt/libvirt
Open on GitHublibvirt provides a stable C API, daemons and the virsh command-line client for managing virtual machines, virtual networks and storage. It supports several hypervisors; on Linux it is the standard management layer for KVM/QEMU and is used by tools such as virt-manager and virt-install.
The GitHub repository libvirt/libvirt is a read-only mirror. Its description asks contributors to submit merge requests and issues to the project’s GitLab instead. Use the mirror for browsing and cloning the source; report bugs and send patches upstream.
For day-to-day use, install libvirt from your distribution packages rather than building it from source. The documentation, including the virsh manual and the XML format references, is published at libvirt.org.
See also
- 0098 What Proxmox VE is: KVM virtual machines, LXC containers and a web UI Proxmox VE is an open source virtualization platform based on Debian. It runs KVM virtual machines and LXC containers and is managed… Beginner · Concept · Linux Article Basics · Installation & first steps 15 Oct 2026
- 0100 Create a VM and a cloud-init template with qm Create KVM virtual machines from the command line with qm, then build a reusable cloud-init template from a cloud image and clone… Intermediate · How-to · Linux Article Basics · VMs & containers 15 Oct 2026
- 0123 KVM vs QEMU vs libvirt: how Linux virtualization fits together KVM is the Linux kernel part that uses CPU virtualization extensions, QEMU is the program that emulates a full machine around it,… Beginner · Concept · Linux Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0124 virsh cheat sheet: everyday libvirt commands A quick reference for virsh: list, start, stop and inspect VMs, change CPUs and memory, manage networks, storage pools and snapshots, with… Intermediate · Reference · Linux Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0125 Create a KVM virtual machine with virt-install Use virt-install to create libvirt/KVM guests: install from an ISO, run a text-only install over the serial console, or import a cloud… Intermediate · How-to · Linux Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0126 KVM snapshots and cloning with virsh and virt-clone Take, list, revert and delete libvirt snapshots with virsh, understand internal vs external and disk-only snapshots, and clone a stopped VM with… Advanced · How-to · Linux Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
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