OS Manuals

/usr/bin/virt-launcher

KubeVirt virt-launcher manages QEMU/KVM virtual machines in Kubernetes pods

From virt-launcher-1.8 1.8.4-r14 (enterprise-packages), captured 2026-11-08 by running virt-launcher --help (exit 0). permalink

Usage of /usr/bin/virt-launcher:
      --allow-emulation                          Allow use of software emulation as fallback
      --container-disk-dir string                Base directory for container disk data (default "/var/run/kubevirt/container-disks")
      --disk-memory-limit int                    Memory limit for disk verification (default 2097152000)
      --ephemeral-disk-dir string                Base directory for ephemeral disk data (default "/var/run/kubevirt-ephemeral-disks")
      --grace-period-seconds int                 Grace period to observe before sending SIGTERM to vmi process (default 30)
      --hook-sidecars uint                       Number of requested hook sidecars, virt-launcher will wait for all of them to become available
      --hotplug-disk-dir string                  Base directory for hotplug disk data (default "/var/run/kubevirt/hotplug-disks/")
      --hypervisor string                        Hypervisor to be used by the VMI (default "kvm")
      --image-volume                             Generated with ImageVolume instead of containerDisk
      --kubevirt-share-dir string                Shared directory between virt-handler and virt-launcher (default "/var/run/kubevirt")
      --libvirt-hook-server-and-client           Enable pre-migration hooks on the target virt-launcher pod
      --libvirt-log-filters string               Set custom log filters for libvirt
      --name string                              Name of the VirtualMachineInstance
      --namespace string                         Namespace of the VirtualMachineInstance
      --ovmf-path string                         The directory that contains the EFI roms (like OVMF_CODE.fd) (default "/usr/share/OVMF")
      --qemu-agent-file-interval duration        Interval between consecutive qemu agent calls for file command (default 5m0s)
      --qemu-agent-sys-interval duration         Interval between consecutive qemu agent calls for sys commands (default 2m0s)
      --qemu-agent-user-interval duration        Interval between consecutive qemu agent calls for user command (default 10s)
      --qemu-agent-version-interval duration     Interval between consecutive qemu agent calls for version command (default 5m0s)
      --qemu-fsfreeze-status-interval duration   Interval between consecutive qemu agent calls for fsfreeze status command (default 5s)
      --qemu-timeout duration                    Amount of time to wait for qemu (default 3m0s)
      --run-as-nonroot                           Run virtqemud with the 'virt' user
      --simulate-crash                           Causes virt-launcher to immediately crash. This is used by functional tests to simulate crash loop scenarios.
      --uid string                               UID of the VirtualMachineInstance
      --upgrade-ordinal-ifaces                   Enable upgrade of ordinal ifaces naming scheme
  -v, --v int                                    log level for V logs (default 2)
Options (26)
OptionDescriptionSource
--allow-emulationAllow use of software emulation as fallbackhelp
--container-disk-dir stringBase directory for container disk data (default "/var/run/kubevirt/container-disks")help
--disk-memory-limit intMemory limit for disk verification (default 2097152000)help
--ephemeral-disk-dir stringBase directory for ephemeral disk data (default "/var/run/kubevirt-ephemeral-disks")help
--grace-period-seconds intGrace period to observe before sending SIGTERM to vmi process (default 30)help
--hook-sidecars uintNumber of requested hook sidecars, virt-launcher will wait for all of them to become availablehelp
--hotplug-disk-dir stringBase directory for hotplug disk data (default "/var/run/kubevirt/hotplug-disks/")help
--hypervisor stringHypervisor to be used by the VMI (default "kvm")help
--image-volumeGenerated with ImageVolume instead of containerDiskhelp
--kubevirt-share-dir stringShared directory between virt-handler and virt-launcher (default "/var/run/kubevirt")help
--libvirt-hook-server-and-clientEnable pre-migration hooks on the target virt-launcher podhelp
--libvirt-log-filters stringSet custom log filters for libvirthelp
--name stringName of the VirtualMachineInstancehelp
--namespace stringNamespace of the VirtualMachineInstancehelp
--ovmf-path stringThe directory that contains the EFI roms (like OVMF_CODE.fd) (default "/usr/share/OVMF")help
--qemu-agent-file-interval durationInterval between consecutive qemu agent calls for file command (default 5m0s)help
--qemu-agent-sys-interval durationInterval between consecutive qemu agent calls for sys commands (default 2m0s)help
--qemu-agent-user-interval durationInterval between consecutive qemu agent calls for user command (default 10s)help
--qemu-agent-version-interval durationInterval between consecutive qemu agent calls for version command (default 5m0s)help
--qemu-fsfreeze-status-interval durationInterval between consecutive qemu agent calls for fsfreeze status command (default 5s)help
--qemu-timeout durationAmount of time to wait for qemu (default 3m0s)help
--run-as-nonrootRun virtqemud with the 'virt' userhelp
--simulate-crashCauses virt-launcher to immediately crash.help
--uid stringUID of the VirtualMachineInstancehelp
--upgrade-ordinal-ifacesEnable upgrade of ordinal ifaces naming schemehelp
-v, --v intlog level for V logs (default 2)help

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.