virsh

List running VMs

$ virsh list

$ virsh list --all

$ virsh start [vm-name]

$ virsh shutdown [vm-name]

$ virsh destroy [vm-name]

$ virsh console [vm-name]

$ virsh dominfo [vm-name]

$ virsh define [vm.xml]

virsh [-c uri] command [args]

virsh is the command-line interface for managing virtual machines through the libvirt virtualization API. It provides unified control over KVM, QEMU, Xen, and other hypervisors, handling domain lifecycle operations, storage pools, virtual networks, and snapshots.
Domains (VMs) can be started, stopped, paused, and migrated. The console command provides serial access to running VMs (exit with Ctrl+]). Domain configurations are defined in XML and can be created, modified, and exported. The tool also manages storage pools, volumes, and virtual networks for complete virtualization infrastructure control.

list

List domains.

Start domain.

Graceful shutdown.

Force stop.

Serial console.

Domain info.

Define domain.

Remove domain.

Connection URI.

Requires libvirt daemon. Root for system VMs. XML syntax complex.

virsh is the command-line interface for libvirt, the virtualization API. It provides unified management for multiple hypervisors.

virt-manager(1), qemu(1), kvm(1)