Immutable (atomic) Fedora Linux distributions (eg. Silverblue, Kinoite) are among the most secure and reliable Linux distributions available. However, due to their nature and structure, it can be difficult to install and run applications that are not available in their software store.
Virtual Machine Manager (virt-manager) is a well-known, feature-packed, easy-to-use virtual machine manager for Linux. However, VirtManager does not come with its own virtualisation engine/software. Therefore, in order for VirtManager to work, you will need a machine emulator or virtualiser, such as QEMU.
The best way to use VirtManager on an immutable distribution is to define a user session for QEMU.
To do so, follow the steps below:
1 How to install Virt-Manager on Fedora Silverblue or Kinoite
Thankfully, there is a Flathub version of VirtManager which you can install directly from your software store. Search for Virtual Machine Manager and click Install.
We would recommend installing the Flathub version which is maintained and updated by Virt-Manager's main developers. By installing this version, you will always get the latest updates.
Alternatively, you can install it using the following command:
flatpak install flathub org.virt_manager.virt-manager2 Installation of the QEMO User Session Manager Extension
Then run the following command to install QEMU User Session extension for VirtManager:
flatpak install org.virt_manager.virt_manager.Extension.QemuNow open the installed VirtManager and click on File > Add Connection. Then select QEMU/KVM user session, as shown in the following screenshots. Make sure that the Auto Connect option is selected, and then click on connect.
You should now have a working Virtual Manager, and you can start adding and managing your virtual machines.
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