Bob
Have a question related to this hub?
Alice
Got something to say related to this hub?
Share it here.
| libvirt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Red Hat |
| Initial release | December 19, 2005[1] |
| Stable release | 11.7.0[2]
/ 1 September 2025 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, macOS[3] |
| Type | Library |
| License | GNU Lesser General Public License |
| Website | libvirt |
libvirt is an open-source API, daemon and management tool for managing platform virtualization.[3] It can be used to manage KVM, Xen, VMware ESXi, QEMU and other virtualization technologies. These APIs are widely used in the orchestration layer of hypervisors in the development of a cloud-based solution.
libvirt is a C library with bindings in other languages, notably in Python,[4] Perl,[5] OCaml,[6] Ruby,[7] Java,[8] JavaScript (via Node.js)[9] and PHP.[10] libvirt for these programming languages is composed of wrappers around another class/package called libvirtmod. libvirtmod's implementation is closely associated with its counterpart in C/C++ in syntax and functionality.
Various virtualization programs and platforms use libvirt. Virtual Machine Manager, GNOME Boxes and others provide graphical interfaces. The most popular command line interface is virsh, and higher level tools such as oVirt.[13]
Development of libvirt is backed by Red Hat,[14] with significant contributions by other organisations and individuals. libvirt is available on most Linux distributions; remote servers are also accessible from Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows clients.[15]
