--- source_url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OVirt?utm_source=openai" title: oVirt - Wikipedia mirrored_at: 2026-08-15T01:01:01.911Z host: en.wikipedia.org cited_in_42a: true mirror_canonical: "https://index.42a.ai/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OVirt__q__utm_source_openai" --- > **Original source:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OVirt?utm_source=openai From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia oVirt [Original author](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmer "Programmer") [Red Hat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat "Red Hat") [Developer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmer "Programmer") oVirt Project [Stable release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle "Software release life cycle") 4.5.7[\[1\]](#cite_note-1) / January 13, 2026; 7 months ago Written in [Java](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_\(programming_language\) "Java (programming language)") [Operating system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system "Operating system") [Linux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux "Linux") [Platform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computing_platform "Computing platform") [Java](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_\(platform\) "Java (platform)") Available in [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language "English language"), [Japanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language "Japanese language"), [French](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language "French language"), [German](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language "German language"), [Italian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language "Italian language"), [Spanish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language "Spanish language") [Type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_categories#Categorization_approaches "Software categories") [Virtual machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine "Virtual machine") [Licence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license "Software license") [Apache License 2.0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_License_2.0 "Apache License 2.0") Website [www.ovirt.org](http://www.ovirt.org/) [Repository](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repository_\(version_control\) "Repository (version control)") - [github.com/ovirt/](https://github.com/ovirt/) **oVirt** is a [free, open-source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software "Free and open-source software") [virtualization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_virtualization "Hardware virtualization") management platform. It was founded by [Red Hat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat "Red Hat") as a community project on which [Red Hat Virtualization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat_Virtualization "Red Hat Virtualization") was based. It allows centralized management of [virtual machines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine "Virtual machine"), compute, storage and networking resources, from an easy-to-use web-based front-end with [platform independent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-platform "Cross-platform") access. [KVM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel-based_Virtual_Machine "Kernel-based Virtual Machine") on [x86-64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64 "X86-64"), [PowerPC64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ppc64 "Ppc64")[\[2\]](#cite_note-2)[\[3\]](#cite_note-3) and [s390x](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S390x "S390x")[\[4\]](#cite_note-4) architecture are the only [hypervisors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervisor "Hypervisor") supported, but there is an ongoing effort to support [ARM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture "ARM architecture") architecture in a future releases. oVirt consists of two basic components, oVirt engine and oVirt node. The oVirt engine backend is written in [Java](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_\(programming_language\) "Java (programming language)"), while the frontend is developed with [GWT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Web_Toolkit "Google Web Toolkit") web toolkit. The oVirt engine runs on top of the [WildFly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WildFly "WildFly") (former JBoss) [application server](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_server "Application server"). The frontend can be accessed through a webadmin [portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_portal "Web portal") for administration, or a user portal with privileges, and features that can be fine tuned. User administration can be managed locally or by integrating oVirt with [LDAP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_Directory_Access_Protocol "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol") or [AD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_directory "Active directory") services. The oVirt engine stores data in a [PostgreSQL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostgreSQL "PostgreSQL") [database](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database "Database"). [Data warehousing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_warehouse "Data warehouse") and [reporting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_reporting "Financial reporting") capabilities depend on additional history and reports databases that can be optionally instantiated during the setup procedure. A [REST API](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer "Representational state transfer") is available for customizing or adding engine features.[\[5\]](#cite_note-5) An oVirt node is a [server](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_\(computing\) "Server (computing)") running [CentOS Stream](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CentOS_Stream "CentOS Stream") or derivatives, with KVM hypervisor enabled and a VDSM (Virtual Desktop and Server Manager) [daemon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_\(computing\) "Daemon (computing)") written in [Python](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_\(programming_language\) "Python (programming language)"). Management of resources initiated from a webadmin portal are sent through the engine backend that issues appropriate calls to the VDSM daemon. VDSM controls all resources available to the node (compute, storage, networking) and virtual machines running on it and is also responsible for providing [feedback](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feedback "Feedback") to the engine about all initiated operations. Multiple nodes can be [clustered](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_cluster "Computer cluster") from the oVirt engine webadmin portal to enhance [RAS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability,_availability_and_serviceability_\(computing\) "Reliability, availability and serviceability (computing)"). The oVirt engine can be installed on a standalone server, or can be hosted on a cluster of nodes themselves inside a virtual machine (self-hosted engine). The self-hosted engine can be manually installed or automatically deployed via a [virtual appliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_appliance "Virtual appliance").[\[6\]](#cite_note-6) oVirt is built upon several other projects including [libvirt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libvirt "Libvirt"), [Gluster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluster "Gluster"), [PatternFly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PatternFly?action=edit&redlink=1 "PatternFly (page does not exist)"), and [Ansible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansible_\(software\) "Ansible (software)"). Virtual [datacenters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_center "Data center"), managed by oVirt, are categorized into storage, networking and clusters that consist of one or more oVirt nodes. [Data integrity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_integrity "Data integrity") is ensured by [fencing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fencing_\(computing\) "Fencing (computing)"), with agents that can use various resources such as [baseboard management controllers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_Platform_Management_Interface#Baseboard_management_controller "Intelligent Platform Management Interface") or [uninterruptible power supplies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply "Uninterruptible power supply"). Storage is organized within entities called storage domains and can be local or shared. Storage domains can be created using the following storage solutions or protocols: - [NFS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_File_System "Network File System") - [iSCSI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISCSI "ISCSI") - [Fibre Channel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibre_Channel "Fibre Channel") - [POSIX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX "POSIX") compliant [filesystem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system "File system") - [GlusterFS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlusterFS "GlusterFS") Network management allows defining multiple [VLANs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLAN "VLAN") that can be [bridged](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridging_\(networking\) "Bridging (networking)") to the [network interfaces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_interface_controller "Network interface controller") available on the nodes. Configuration of [bonded](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonding_protocol "Bonding protocol") interfaces, [IP addresses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address "IP address"), [subnet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subnetwork "Subnetwork") masks and [gateways](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_\(telecommunications\) "Gateway (telecommunications)") on managed nodes are all supported within webadmin portal interface, as is [SR-IOV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-root_IOV "Single-root IOV") on hardware configurations that support this feature. Management features for compute resources include [CPU pinning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Processor_affinity "Processor affinity"), defining [NUMA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-uniform_memory_access "Non-uniform memory access") topology, enabling [kernel same-page merging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_same-page_merging "Kernel same-page merging"), [memory over-provisioning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_overcommitment "Memory overcommitment"), [HA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-availability_cluster "High-availability cluster") VM reservation etc. Virtual machine management enables selecting high availability priority, [live migration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_migration "Live migration"), live [snapshots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapshot_\(computer_storage\) "Snapshot (computer storage)"), cloning virtual machines from snapshots, creating virtual machine templates, using cloud-init for automated configuration during provisioning and deployment of virtual machines. Supported [guest operating systems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guest_operating_system "Guest operating system") include [Linux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux "Linux"), [Microsoft Windows](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows "Microsoft Windows") and [FreeBSD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD "FreeBSD"). Access to virtual machines can be achieved from webadmin portal using [SPICE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Protocol_for_Independent_Computing_Environments "Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environments"), [VNC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VNC "VNC") and [RDP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_Desktop_Protocol "Remote Desktop Protocol") protocols. oVirt can be integrated with many open source projects, including [OpenStack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStack "OpenStack") [Glance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStack#Glance "OpenStack") and [Neutron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStack#Networking_.28Neutron.29 "OpenStack") for disk and network provisioning, [Foreman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreman_\(software\) "Foreman (software)")/Katello for VM/node provisioning or pulling relevant errata information into webadmin portal and can be further integrated with [ManageIQ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ManageIQ "ManageIQ") for a complete virtual infrastructure [lifecycle management](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine_lifecycle_management "Virtual machine lifecycle management").[\[7\]](#cite_note-7) [Disaster recovery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IT_disaster_recovery "IT disaster recovery") features include the ability to import any storage domain into different oVirt engine instances and [replication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_\(computing\) "Replication (computing)") can be managed from oVirt with GlusterFS [geo-replication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geo-replication "Geo-replication") feature, or by utilizing synchronous/asynchronous block level replication provided by storage hardware vendors. oVirt engine [backups](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup "Backup") can be automated and periodically transferred to a remote location. oVirt supports [hyper-converged infrastructure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-converged_infrastructure "Hyper-converged infrastructure") deployment scenarios.[\[8\]](#cite_note-8) Self-hosted engine and [Gluster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluster "Gluster")\-based storage domains allow centralized management of all resources that can be seamlessly expanded, simply by adding an appropriate number of nodes to the cluster, without having any [single points of failure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_point_of_failure "Single point of failure"). oVirt provides deep integration with Gluster, including Gluster specific performance improvements. - Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager [(OLVM)](https://www.oracle.com/virtualization/) commercially supported oVirt build - [Red Hat Virtualization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat_Virtualization "Red Hat Virtualization") (RHV) - [Kernel-based Virtual Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel-based_Virtual_Machine "Kernel-based Virtual Machine") (KVM) - [Comparison of platform virtualization software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_platform_virtualization_software "Comparison of platform virtualization software") 1. [↑](#cite_ref-1) ["oVirt 4.5.7 Release Notes"](https://ovirt.org/release/4.5.7/). 2. [↑](#cite_ref-2) Gustavo Frederico Temple Pedrosa, Vitor de Lima, Leonardo Bianconi (2014). ["Engine support for PPC64"](https://ovirt.org/develop/release-management/features/virt/engine-support-for-ppc64). Retrieved 25 January 2020.`{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web "Template:Cite web")}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list "Category:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list")) 3. [↑](#cite_ref-3) Gustavo Frederico Temple Pedrosa, Vitor de Lima, Leonardo Bianconi (2014). ["VDSM for PPC64"](https://ovirt.org/develop/release-management/features/virt/for-ppc64). Retrieved 25 January 2020.`{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web "Template:Cite web")}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list "Category:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list")) 4. [↑](#cite_ref-4) ["Nodes \[Jenkins\]"](https://web.archive.org/web/20211111203934/https://jenkins.ovirt.org/computer/). _jenkins.ovirt.org_. Archived from [the original](https://jenkins.ovirt.org/computer/) on 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2021-11-11. 5. [↑](#cite_ref-5) Ourfali, Oved. ["Scripting and integration with oVirt"](https://events.static.linuxfound.org/sites/events/files/slides/Scripting%20and%20Integration%20with%20oVirt_0.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 26 December 2015. 6. [↑](#cite_ref-6) Tiraboschi, Simone. ["oVirt self-hosted engine seamless deployment"](https://events.static.linuxfound.org/sites/events/files/slides/oVirt%20self-hosted%20engine%20seamless%20deployment.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 26 December 2015. 7. [↑](#cite_ref-7) ["External Network Providers"](https://www.ovirt.org/develop/release-management/features/network/external-network-provider.html). _oVirt_. Retrieved 2023-09-18. 8. [↑](#cite_ref-8) Chaplygin, Denis (29 January 2018). ["Improving Hyperconverged Performance"](https://www.slideshare.net/DenisChapligin/improving-hyperconverged-performance). Retrieved 9 February 2018. - [Official website](https://www.ovirt.org/)