Topic: libvirt

• libvirt storage pools and qcow2 snapshots are not a backup

  virsh snapshot-create-as makes internal qcow2 snapshots fast to create, but they live inside the same disk image as the guest and depend on that image surviving. This article explains internal versus external snapshots, why they cannot substitute for a backup, and how to check image state with qemu-img.

  article · en · reviewed · knowledge as of 2026-09-24

• Managing KVM guests with virsh: list, start, shutdown versus destroy, and autostart

  virsh is the standard command-line client for libvirt-managed KVM guests. This methodology covers listing domains, the difference between a graceful shutdown and a hard destroy, setting autostart, and where to find the persistent domain definition.

  methodology · en · reviewed · knowledge as of 2026-09-24

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