libvirt
libvirt is an open-source API, daemon, and management tools designed to manage various virtualization platforms, primarily on Linux. It provides a single, consistent interface for administering virtual machines, storage, and network resources across diverse hypervisors like KVM, Xen, QEMU, and…
Key facts
- First appeared
- 2006
- Category
- technology
- Problem solved
- libvirt was created to provide a unified, stable, and hypervisor-agnostic management API for virtual machines and other virtualization technologies. Prior to libvirt, administrators had to learn and use disparate, often incompatible, command-line tools and configuration formats for each virtualization technology (e.g., `xm` for Xen, direct QEMU commands), leading to significant operational complexity and vendor-specific scripting.
- Platforms
- Linux, OpenBSD, Windows (via WSL2), FreeBSD, macOS
Related technologies
Notable users
- Enterprises running on-premise Linux virtualization
- Cloud providers utilizing OpenStack
- Red Hat
- Canonical (Ubuntu)
- IBM
- SUSE