manreferencesReviewed July 15, 2026
Libvirt ecosystem tools
Libvirt is an API ecosystem, not only virsh. Choose the tool that owns the task while keeping libvirt definitions as the common control surface. | Tool | Use | | | | | virt install | Define and install guests | | virt ma
virt-installvirt-buildervirt-customizevirt-top
Libvirt is an API ecosystem, not only virsh. Choose the tool that owns the task while keeping libvirt definitions as the common control surface.
| Tool | Use |
|---|---|
virt-install | Define and install guests |
virt-manager | Desktop graphical management |
virt-builder | Build operating-system images |
virt-customize | Modify an offline guest image |
virt-sysprep | Remove instance-specific identity from an image |
virt-cat, virt-ls | Inspect offline guest filesystems |
virt-top | View domain resource activity |
virt-xml | Script focused domain XML changes |
virt-host-validate | Validate host virtualization prerequisites |
Discovery
BASH
apropos '^virt-|libvirt|virsh'
compgen -c | grep -E '^virt-' | sort -u
rpm -qf "$(command -v virt-install)"Offline image tools can modify guest data directly. Work from snapshots or copies and confirm the guest is not writing to the same image.