How to install Virt-Manager on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Linux

In this tutorial, we learn the commands to install Virt-Manager on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy JellyFish and then how to use it for creating a virtual machine.

Virtual Machine Manager, also known as virt-manager or VMM for short, provides a unified user interface for creating and managing virtual machines. VMM relies on libvirt, i.e. it supports the virtualization solutions that libvirt also supports. These include QEMU, KVM, and Xen, but not VirtualBox or VMware Player.

VMM offers both a graphical user interface and several command-line programs. VMM is written entirely in Python.

The special feature of VMM is that it forms a kind of intermediate layer so that the management of the virtual machines is uniform, no matter which virtualization solution is used, which reduces the administration effort. The configuration is stored in XML files so that this can also be corrected manually as required. The managed virtual machines can also be located on another computer (e.g. another server), and the connection to it can also be encrypted.

Steps to install and use Virt-Manager on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

The commands given here can also be used for other Ubuntu versions such as 20.04 Focal Fossa including Linux distros based on it. Such as Linux Mint, POP OS, Elementary, and more…

1. Update Ubuntu 22.04

In this tutorial, we are about to use the default package manager of Ubuntu. Therefore, before going forward, let’s update our system using the given command. This will also rebuild the APT package index cache.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

2. Install Virt-Manager on Ubuntu 22.04

The package to install Virt-manager is available to download and install via the default Ubuntu 22.04 system repository. Hence, we just need to run the given APT command to get this open-source GUI for KVM.

sudo apt install virt-manager

3. Run or open Virt-Manager 

Go to the Application launcher and search for “Virtual machine manager”  (VVM) and run it. Before it opens, the system would ask to provide the user password. This will allow it to create and manage virtual machines.

Alternatively, you can use a command in a Terminal to run it. Just type – virt-manager and hit the Enter key.

Virt Manager on Ubuntu 22.04 20.04

4. Create Virtual Machines:

Click on the PC icon to create a new virtual machine on Virt-Manager using KVM.

Create a VM on Virt manager remotely ubuntu

5. Locate ISO Media Volume

Click on the Browse button and then locate the ISO file you want to use for installing an operating system on your virtual machine as a guest OS.

Create new virtual machine on KVM Virt Manager

After that uncheck the box given for “Automatically detect from the installation media/source”; set the OS type to Generic OS and then click on the Forward button.

Select ISO file KVM Virt Manager

6. Choose Memory and CPU Settings

Set the amount of virtual memory you want to assign to the VM and then the number of CPU cores.

Assign RAM virtual memory

7. Create Qemu Virtual Disk Image

To install VM guest OS, we need some storage space and for that, we have to create a disk image file. Just enter the amount of hard disk space you want to assign and move forward.

Create Virtual Disk Qemu image

8. Network Virt-Manager – Ubuntu 22.04  

Name your Virtual machine, here. Also, by default, the Virt-manager will use the NAT, however, you can select the Bridge interface or the one you have created. If you don’t know about these settings let the default NAT be selected.

Virt Manager Configure NAT network

9. Sart the Virtual Machine  

Once you are done with the all above steps, you will see the VVM (Virtual Machine Manager) will start the remote/local Virtual machine automatically. It will provide a Display that can be used to control the VM just like any physical computer using a keyboard and mouse.

Install Virt Manager VMM on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

10. How to Update Virt-Manager – VMM

In the future, if you want to update this Virtual Machine Manager to its latest available version then simply run the system update command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

11. Uninstall or Remove Virt-Manager from Ubuntu 22.04

In case you don’t require open source GUI Virtual Machine manager anymore on your Ubuntu 22.04 system then here is the command to uninstall it.

sudo apt autoremove --purge virt-manager

FAQ

What does Virt-manager do?

Virt-Manager is an open-source tool that can be used to manage Virtual machines Graphically just like VirtualBox on Linux systems. Popularly it is used for KVM running VMs, however, can manage virtual machines running on other virtualization technologies such as Xen and LXC.

How do I open Virt-manager?

We can start the Virt-Manager either using the command terminal or via the Application launcher of the system. If you are using the command line then just type – virt-manager and press the Enter key. Whereas the GUI users need to open the Application launcher on their system and in the search box type VMM or Virtual machine manager.

How do I get Virt-manager on Windows?

Virt-Manager is not available for the Windows platform. Only the Virt-Viewer can be used on Windows. However, still, if you want to use the VMM then can go for the WSL method. Here is the tutorial on it- Install Virt-Manager on Windows 10 using WSL

Is QEMU better than VirtualBox?

No, QEMU is not better than VirtualBox because Oracle Virtualbox is fast, easy to use, and scalable. On the other hand, QEMU is an emulator that is not true virtualization. However, if your system’s CPU doesn’t support Virtualization then QEMU is a good option.

What is the difference between KVM and QEMU?

QEMU is a Quick Emulator that provides a set of different hardware and device models for the OS you want to install. Whereas the KVM is a kernel module for Linux to enable virtualization; this is the hypervisor. Qemu can be used to install Guest operating systems, however, the speed will be slow. That is the reason why developers have combined it with KVM, to run virtual machines at near-native speed.

Can KVM run on Windows?

No, we cannot install KVM natively on Windows operating system because it is a virtualization module in the Linux kernel that allows the kernel to function as a hypervisor. Hence, Windows operating systems don’t support KVM instead offer their own Hypervisor called Hyper-V.

Other Articles:

How to install Qemu/KVM and Virt-Manager GUI on Ubuntu 20.04
Install KVM on Ubuntu 20.4 and use it remotely
How to install and use Virt-Manager on Windows 10
How to install Ubuntu 22.04 Server on VirtualBox

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