Managing virtual machines with libvirt: Basic Concept
1 Environment #
This document applies to the following products and product versions:
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5, 15 SP4, 15 SP3, 15 SP2, 12 SP5
2 What is libvirt? #
libvirt is a collection of software that provides a common API (Application Programming Interface) for
managing popular virtualization solutions, for example KVM and Xen.
libvirt consists of an API library, a system service libvirtd, and a
command line utility virsh.
Using the libvirt-based tools is the recommended way of managing
VM Guests. Interoperability between libvirt and libvirt-based
applications has been tested and is an essential part of SUSE's support
stance.
3 How does libvirt work? #
The libvirtd service runs on the server and performs management tasks for
virtualized guests, for example starting, stopping, and migrating guests
between host servers. The libvirt client libraries and utilities connect
to libvirtd to issue tasks and collect information about the configuration
and resources of the host system and guests.
The configuration of each virtual machine is stored in an XML file. You can manage their configurations in the following ways:
Use Virtual Machine Manager and use its comfortable graphical user interface.
Use
virshand set configuration options on the command line.Export and edit VM Guest's configuration file manually, then re-import it back to the virtual machine.
4 Benefits of using libvirt #
Using libvirt has the following benefits:
A unified API to manage diverse virtualization technologies.
A number of existing
libvirt-based utilities that simplify the management of virtual machines.Ability to manage remote virtual machines.
On a host running the
libvirtdservice, you can manage various types of storage that are available to VM Guests.On a host running the
libvirtdservice, you can manage physical and logical network interfaces that are available to VM Guests.