Installing kvm on debian 13 (trixie)

When KVM was introduced back in 2007 it was breakthrough in how virtualization was done on linux, I still recall those days were we used xen kernel for virtualization, virtualizor, openvz os level virtualization.

KVM component is present in the linux kernel, Intel VT-x/AMD-V has to be enabled in BIOS to use kvm function.

root@labserver:~# kvm-ok
INFO: /dev/kvm exists
KVM acceleration can be used
root@labserver:~# lsmod | grep kvm
kvm_intel             466944  12
kvm                  1388544  1 kvm_intel
irqbypass              12288  1 kvm

Check virtualization:

Virtualization:                     VT-x

Update apt cache, install required packages:

sudo apt install qemu-kvm libvirt-daemon-system libvirt-clients bridge-utils virt-manager

Enable libvirtd service:

sudo systemctl start libvirtd
sudo systemctl status libvirtd

Add user to libvirt group:

sudo usermod -aG kvm $USER

Verify the installation:

virt-host-validate qemu
virsh --connect qemu:///system net-list --all
virsh --connect qemu:///system net-start default
virsh --connect qemu:///system net-autostart default

Allow users to access virsh:

echo "export LIBVIRT_DEFAULT_URI='qemu:///system'" >> ~/.bashrc