# The virtualization API

## libvirt is:

- A toolkit to interact with the virtualization capabilities of recent versions of Linux (and other OSes), see our project goals for details.
- Free software available under the GNU Lesser General Public License.
- A long term stable C API
- A set of bindings for common languages
- A CIM provider for the DMTF virtualization schema
- A QMF agent for the AMQP/QPid messaging system
- A technical meritocracy, in which participants gain influence over a project through recognition of their contributions.

## libvirt supports:

- The KVM/QEMU Linux hypervisor
- The Xen hypervisor on Linux and Solaris hosts.
- The LXC Linux container system
- The OpenVZ Linux container system
- The User Mode Linux paravirtualized kernel
- The VirtualBox hypervisor
- The VMware ESX and GSX hypervisors
- The VMware Workstation and Player hypervisors
- The Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor
- The IBM PowerVM hypervisor
- The Virtuozzo hypervisor
- The Bhyve hypervisor
- Virtual networks using bridging, NAT, VEPA and VN-LINK.
- Storage on IDE/SCSI/USB disks, FibreChannel, LVM, iSCSI, NFS and filesystems

## libvirt provides:

- Remote management using TLS encryption and x509 certificates
- Remote management authenticating with Kerberos and SASL
- Local access control using PolicyKit
- Zero-conf discovery using Avahi multicast-DNS
- Management of virtual machines, virtual networks and storage
- Portable client API for Linux, Solaris and Windows