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Host Management

VirtUI Manager provides built-in tools to inspect the host system's resources and capabilities directly from the TUI.

Host Resource Dashboard

The Host Resource Dashboard provides a real-time overview of the hypervisor's resource usage and how it's being allocated to virtual machines.

To open the dashboard, press H (Shift+h) while in the main window.

Host Resource Dashboard

Dashboard Sections

  • Host Details: Displays static information about the host hardware, including the CPU model, frequency, and topology (nodes, sockets, cores, threads).
  • Memory Usage: Shows the current RAM usage of the host operating system. A progress bar visualizes the ratio of used to total memory.
  • VM Allocation:
    • Active Allocation: Shows the total resources (vCPUs and RAM) reserved by currently running VMs. This is crucial for avoiding overcommitment of active resources.
    • Total Allocation: Shows the resources reserved if all defined VMs (running and stopped) were to be started simultaneously.
    • Colors: The progress bars change color (Green -> Yellow -> Orange -> Red) to indicate allocation levels, warning you when you are approaching or exceeding physical limits.

Host Capabilities

The Host Capabilities viewer allows you to explore the low-level features supported by the hypervisor and host hardware. This is a tree-based view of the XML capabilities returned by Libvirt.

To open the capabilities viewer, press h while in the main window.

Host Capabilities Tree

Using the Tree View

  • Navigation: Use the Up/Down arrow keys to move through the tree.
  • Expansion: Press Enter or Space to expand or collapse nodes (e.g., guest, host, cpu).
  • Search: Type directly into the search bar at the top to filter the tree nodes. This is useful for finding specific CPU flags (e.g., vmx, aes) or supported device models.

Key Information Available

  • Host UUID: The unique identifier of the host machine.
  • CPU Features: Detailed list of supported CPU instructions and security features.
  • Migration Features: supported migration schemes (e.g., live, rdma).
  • Topology: NUMA nodes and cache hierarchy.
  • Guest Support: Lists all guest architectures (e.g., x86_64, i686) and machine types supported by this KVM installation.

Server Preferences

VirtUI Manager allows you to manage host-level resources like storage pools and virtual networks through the Server Preferences modal.

To access these settings, select a VM belonging to the server you want to manage, and choose Server Preferences (or use the configured shortcut).

Network Management

The Network tab provides a comprehensive view of all virtual networks defined on the host.

Server Network Management

  • Network List: Shows the network name, mode (e.g., nat, route, bridge), active status, and autostart configuration.
  • Usage Tracking: Displays which VMs are currently using each network.
  • Controls:
    • De/Active: Toggle the operational status of the selected network.
    • Autostart: Enable or disable automatic starting of the network when the host boots.
    • Add/Edit/Delete: Full lifecycle management for virtual networks.

Storage Management

The Storage tab allows you to manage Libvirt storage pools and their volumes.

Server Storage Management

  • Pool Hierarchy: A tree-based view of all storage pools (e.g., directory, LVM, iSCSI) and the volumes (disk images) they contain.
  • Volume Details: Displays the file name, size, and which VM is currently using the volume.
  • Pool Lifecycle:
    • Activate/Deactivate: Control the state of storage pools.
    • Autostart: Configure pools to start automatically.
    • Add/Delete Pool: Create or remove storage definitions.
  • Volume Operations:
    • New Volume: Create new disk images within a pool.
    • Attach Vol: Directly attach a volume to a virtual machine.
    • XML Management: View or edit the raw XML configuration for pools and volumes.