Automic VaultAutomic Vault

brew

Install virt-manager with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

App for managing virtual machines. Version 5.1.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-05.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install virt-manager

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install virt-manager

MacPorts ports tree · gnome/virt-manager/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add virt-install

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · virt-install · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install virt-install

Debian stable package indexes · virt-install · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install virt-install

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · virt-install · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#virt-manager

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/vi/virt-manager/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S virt-manager

Arch Linux sync databases · virt-manager · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

Ubuntu aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install virt-manager

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · virt-manager · source: archive.ubuntu.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install virt-install

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · virt-install · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

App for managing virtual machines

Commands and aliases

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

history

Project history and usage

Virtual Machine Manager, usually called virt-manager, is a desktop application and command-line tool suite for managing virtual machines through libvirt. It primarily targets QEMU/KVM, while also supporting Xen and libvirt LXC containers, and it ships tools such as virt-install, virt-clone, and virt-xml.

Project history

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.

Adoption history

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.

How it is used

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.

Timeline

  • 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.

security posture

Risk level: orange

infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal.

Risk classifier

orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure

Why

  • infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal

Signals

  • text:virtual machine

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 1 platform targets.
  • Installs with 14 runtime dependencies.
  • Build metadata lists 5 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
virt-clonecliglobal executable
virt-installcliglobal executable
virt-managercliglobal executable
virt-xmlcliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-07
manager version5.1.0
manager updated2026-07-05
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected

https://virt-manager.org/

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:virt-manager
Version5.1.0
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/virt-manager
Homepagehttps://virt-manager.org/
Repositoryhttps://github.com/virt-manager/virt-manager
Upstream docshttps://github.com/virt-manager/virt-manager#readme
LicenseGPL-2.0-or-later
Source archivehttps://releases.pagure.org/virt-manager/virt-manager-5.1.0.tar.xz
Last updated2026-07-05T04:22:29Z
Pulseupdated
Dependenciesadwaita-icon-theme, certifi, cpio, gtk-vnc, gtksourceview4, libosinfo, libvirt-glib, libvirt-python, osinfo-db, py3cairo, pygobject3, python@3.14, spice-gtk, vte3
Build dependenciesdocutils, gettext, meson, ninja, pkgconf
Bottleavailable (on all)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Namevirt-manager
Version Scheme0
Revision5
Head VersionHEAD
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • head
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

virt-install 1:5.0.0-5+deb13u1

utilities to create and edit virtual machines

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apt install virt-install
  • Section: admin
  • Architecture: all
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • 8 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • 4 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: virt-install from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

virt-manager 1:5.0.0-5+deb13u1

desktop application for managing virtual machines

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apt install virt-manager
  • Section: admin
  • Architecture: all
  • 13 dependencies
  • 10 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: virt-manager from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

virtinst 1:5.0.0-5+deb13u1

transitional dummy package for virt-install

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apt install virtinst
  • Section: admin
  • Architecture: all
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • 1 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: virtinst from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Nix95%

virt-manager

nix profile install nixpkgs#virt-manager
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/vi/virt-manager/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
Ubuntu apt95%

virt-manager 1:4.1.0-3

desktop application for managing virtual machines

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apt install virt-manager
  • Section: universe/admin
  • Architecture: all
  • 13 dependencies
  • 10 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: virt-manager from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
Ubuntu apt95%

virtinst 1:4.1.0-3

utilities to create and edit virtual machines

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apt install virtinst
  • Section: universe/admin
  • Architecture: all
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • 8 dependencies
  • 4 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: virtinst from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
apk95%

virt-install 5.1.0-r0

Utilities for installing virtual machines

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apk add virt-install
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: virt-install from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

virt-manager 5.1.0-r0

GUI for managing virtual machines

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apk add virt-manager
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: virt-manager from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

virt-manager-bash-completion 5.1.0-r0

Bash completions for virt-manager

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apk add virt-manager-bash-completion
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: virt-manager-bash-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

virt-manager-common 5.1.0-r0

Common files used by virt-manager and virt-install

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apk add virt-manager-common
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • 1 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: virt-manager-common from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

virt-manager-doc 5.1.0-r0

GUI for managing virtual machines (documentation)

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apk add virt-manager-doc
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: virt-manager-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

virt-manager-lang 5.1.0-r0

Languages for package virt-manager

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo apk add virt-manager-lang
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: virt-manager-lang from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
dnf95%

virt-install 5.1.0-4.fc44

Utilities for installing virtual machines

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo dnf install virt-install
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • 3 dependencies
  • 3 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: virt-install from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst
dnf95%

virt-manager 5.1.0-4.fc44

Desktop tool for managing virtual machines via libvirt

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo dnf install virt-manager
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • 9 dependencies
  • 3 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: virt-manager from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst
dnf95%

virt-manager-common 5.1.0-4.fc44

Common files used by the different Virtual Machine Manager interfaces

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo dnf install virt-manager-common
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: virt-manager
  • 7 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: virt-manager-common from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst
pacman95%

virt-manager 5.1.0-3

Desktop user interface for managing virtual machines

https://virt-manager.org/

sudo pacman -S virt-manager
  • License: GPL-2.0-only
  • Architecture: any
  • 8 dependencies
  • 2 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Virt Manager
Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: virt-manager from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • cpioRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • gtk-vncRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • libosinfoRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • docutilsBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • gettextBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • mesonBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • ninjaBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.

Same workflow

  • lumeShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, virtualization.
  • nemuShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, virtualization.
  • osinfo-db-toolsShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, virtualization.
  • qemuShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, virtualization.
  • vmdktoolShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, virtualization.
  • limaShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, virtualization.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • Nucleus package database
  • av.db category and tag curation
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment