virt-manager mit Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper installieren

Projektlinks

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream-Dokumentation
• Paketmanager-Seite

Befehle und Aliase

• virt-clone
• virt-install
• virt-manager
• virt-xml

Projektgeschichte

virt-manager emerged as a GTK desktop management layer over libvirt in the mid-2000s; its NEWS file marks 0.1.2 as the first public release. Early releases focused on Xen/libvirt management, graphical consoles, DBus behavior, translations, inactive domain management, and then QEMU/KVM support in 0.3.1 once the libvirt QEMU driver was available.

The 0.5.0 and 0.6.x releases made virt-manager a stronger remote administration tool by adding multi-host views, SSH/TLS remote connections, GTK-VNC console replacement, remote storage management, and remote installation workflows. From 2009 through 2011, releases added clone and migration wizards, interface and storage management, SPICE support, USB redirection, LXC wizard support, and deeper hardware editing.

The 0.10.0 release in June 2013 was a major internal transition: virt-manager merged code with python-virtinst, stopped treating virtinst as a public API, ported from GTK2 to GTK3, moved from gconf to gsettings, removed the text UI, and dropped HAL support. Version 1.0.0 followed in February 2014 with snapshots, the new virt-xml tool, better defaults, and more XML-backed hardware features.

The project moved Git hosting to GitHub in the 1.3.0 cycle in 2015. Later milestones include the Python 3 port in 2.0.0 in 2018, the 3.0.0 cleanup in 2020 that removed virt-convert and expanded cloud-init/unattended install support, the 4.0.0 series in 2022 with stronger UEFI/virtiofs/TPM defaults, and the 5.x series in 2024-2025 with Meson build migration, HVF support, external snapshots, TDX support, and expanded architecture/device coverage.

Adoptionsgeschichte

virt-manager became the familiar graphical front end for libvirt on Linux distributions because it sits at the same abstraction layer administrators use for QEMU/KVM domains: connections, domains, storage pools, networks, consoles, snapshots, hardware devices, and install workflows. Its website explicitly points users to distribution packages for Fedora, Debian, Gentoo, and OpenBSD, reflecting the project's long history as distro infrastructure rather than a single-vendor GUI.

The companion tools have become as important as the GUI. virt-install is commonly used in scripts and documentation to provision libvirt guests, virt-clone duplicates inactive guests, and virt-xml edits libvirt domain XML using virt-install-style options. That split lets the project serve both desktop users and automation-oriented administrators.

Wie es verwendet wird

Typical GUI use starts by connecting to a local or remote libvirt daemon, viewing running domains and resource graphs, creating VMs through a wizard, adjusting CPU/memory/storage/network/video devices, and opening an embedded VNC or SPICE console. Typical CLI use creates or modifies domains with virt-install and virt-xml, then manages the resulting guests through libvirt-compatible tools.

virt-manager's package-nerd niche is that it packages a user-friendly face for libvirt without hiding the underlying libvirt model. Over time it has tracked changes in QEMU/KVM, libosinfo, UEFI, TPM, SPICE, virtio devices, cloud-init, non-x86 architectures, and libvirt XML, making it a practical compatibility bridge between virtual-machine theory and day-to-day host administration.

Zeitleiste

• 0.1.2: First public release, according to NEWS.md.
• 0.3.1: QEMU/KVM management support was added through the libvirt QEMU backend.
• 2008-09: Version 0.6.0 added remote storage management and remote VM installation support.
• 2011-01: Version 0.8.6 added SPICE support.
• 2013-06: Version 0.10.0 merged with python-virtinst and ported from GTK2 to GTK3.
• 2014-02: Version 1.0.0 added snapshot support and introduced virt-xml.
• 2015-11: Version 1.3.0 moved Git hosting to GitHub.
• 2018-10: Version 2.0.0 completed the Python 3 port.
• 2020-09: Version 3.0.0 added cloud-init support and removed virt-convert.
• 2022-03: Version 4.0.0 made osinfo a harder requirement for most virt-install cases and expanded UEFI/virtiofs/TPM defaults.
• 2024-11: Version 5.0.0 switched the build to Meson and added HVF, external snapshots, and loongarch support.
• 2025-08: Version 5.1.0 added TDX VM creation support and further device/architecture improvements.

Related projects

• virt-manager is built around libvirt and commonly manages QEMU/KVM guests, while also supporting Xen and LXC. It is adjacent to virt-viewer, virt-install, virt-clone, virt-xml, libosinfo, SPICE, VNC, and the broader Linux virtualization stack.

Quellen

• https://api.github.com/repos/virt-manager/virt-manager
• https://github.com/libvirt/libvirt
• https://github.com/virt-manager/virt-manager
• https://github.com/virt-manager/virt-manager/blob/main/NEWS.md
• https://virt-manager.org/