virt-xml Command Examples

Edit libvirt Domain XML files with explicit command-line options. Note: 'domain' refers to the name, UUID or ID for the existing VMs (See: tldr virsh). More information: https://github.com/virt-manager/virt-manager/blob/main/man/virt-xml.rst.

• List all the suboptions for a specific option:

virt-xml --{{option}}=?

• List all the suboptions for disk, network, and boot:

virt-xml --disk=? --network=? --boot=?

• Edit a value for a specific domain:

virt-xml {{domain}} --edit --{{option}} {{suboption}}={{new_value}}

• Change the description for a specific domain:

virt-xml {{domain}} --edit --metadata description="{{new_description}}"

• Enable/Disable the boot device menu for a specific domain:

virt-xml {{domain}} --edit --boot bootmenu={{on|off}}

• Attach host USB hub to a running VM (See: tldr lsusb):

virt-xml {{domain}} --update --add-device --hostdev {{bus}}.{{device}}