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Here's how it works. KDE is finally getting a native virtual machine manager called "Karton" David Uzondu Neowin * May 18, 2025 18:12 EDT with 2 comments Karton logo If you spend most of your time in GNOME, you've probably used something like GNOME Boxes to spin up virtual machines without much hassle. We actually gave it a shoutout in our list of essential Linux apps for newcomers this year. KDE users, however, have often found themselves relying on tools such as virt-manager or even GNOME Boxes itself. While functional, these don't always feel perfectly at home within the Plasma desktop, and the old qt-virt-manager, a Qt-based alternative, has seen its development stall for years. Now, a new Virtual Machine Manager is in the works for KDE Plasma. The project, named Karton, has roots dating back to Aaron Rainbolt's original effort to build a QEMU frontend using its command line interface. Later, KDE developer Harald Sitter took over and developed it as a Google Summer of Code project. Currently, Karton is actively developed by Derek Lin, a University of Waterloo student participating in Google Summer of Code 2025. His primary aim is to deliver a virtual machine manager that truly belongs in the KDE ecosystem. To feel right at home in KDE, Karton is being built with Qt Quick and Kirigami. It uses the libvirt API to handle virtual machines and could eventually work across different platforms. Right now, development is focused on getting the core parts in place. Lin is working on a new domain installer that ditches direct virt-install calls in favor of libosinfo, which helps detect OS images and generate the right libvirt XML for setting up virtual machines more precisely. He's still refining device configuration and working on broader hypervisor support. Another key part of the work is building a custom SPICE viewer using Qt Quick from scratch: If you're curious, here's the list of specific deliverables Lin i ncluded in his GSoC proposal, though he notes the proposal itself is a bit outdated: + Install and configure virtual machines through libvirt's XML format instead of virt-install CLI o Add ability to configure commonly used options in UI o Allows for more fine-tuned control of virtual machine options + Implement a custom SPICE viewer to allow users to interact with and view the active virtual machine (instead of virt-viewer + Virtual machine snapshots to restore/backup previous states + Intuitive UI for displaying virtual machines o Making a user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing GUI by addressing community feedback o Referencing MacOS UTM list layout and a preview of the VM o Making UI convergent (mobile-friendly) + Retrieving virtual machine status updates using the libvirt API virEventRegisterImpl function instead of using the default built-in event loop. o Allows it to be integrated with custom Qt event loops o Reduces current latency with loading virtual machine list page + Adding a browse tool which lists commonly installed operating systems + GPU/memory usage graph as done in virt-manager + Feature to switch between connecting to QEMU hypervisor with session (user) and system (root). o GNOME Boxes seems to only support "session", however adding support for "system" could be useful for non-KVM/ Linux backends like bhyve (FreeBSD) or Hyper-V For those interested in the timeline, Lin's GSoC proposal says the official GSoC coding starts June 2, 2025. The goal is to have a working app ready by the midterm evaluation around July 14, 2025, with the final submission due September 1, 2025. Tags * Kde * Karton * Virtual machine * Virtualization * Gnome boxes * Kde plasma * Google summer of code * Gsoc * Linux Like Post Share Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed Unofficial Office Icons Previous Article Microsoft is testing redesigned Office icons, and you can already download them Related Stories Kde logo KDE is bringing a better Audio Volume widget, an HDR calibration wizard & more to Plasma 6.4 David Uzondu * May 17, 2025 with 0 comment s Windows 10 logo on gray with a text saying Shutting down A Linux-backed project shows how to save unsupported Windows 10 PCs by installing Linux Sayan Sen * May 6, 2025 with 35 comment s A screenshot of KDE Plasma 630 KDE Plasma 6.3.0 released with better color accuracy, improved graphics, and more David Uzondu * Feb 11, 2025 with 11 comment s A sad smiley face indicating a BSOD VirtualBox fixes Windows 11 24H2 BSOD, improves Windows driver installs, NVMe, and more Sayan Sen * Jan 22, 2025 with 0 comment s Subscribe to our Newsletter [ ]Go Community Activity Refresh * Broken HTML Tag on Log In in Site & Forum Issues * Acronyms.... in Jokes & Funny Stuff * [Official] Doctor Who Thread in The Media Room * This is a discussion about Pro/Con of installing Operating system or Forcing an upgrade. in Hardware Hangout * Neowin's GNU/Linux 2025 Desktop Thread in Linux * What are you listening to? in Wall of Sound * Shortcut for desktop in Microsoft (Windows) * Scooters? in General Discussion * Microsoft-Teams: do you use it in your day-to-day-work!? in General Discussion * Docker on Linux - how to get started with it!? in Linux Software Stories LibreWolf LibreWolf 138.0.4-1 Cjam is a fast no-reencode MP3 editor for Windows Cjam lets you cut, join, and edit MP3 files without re-encoding A Firefox logo with a gradient in the background Firefox 138.0.4 Caesium Image Compressor Caesium Image Compressor 2.8.5 Trending Stories A Windows 11 logo next to a gear emoji Microsoft quietly rolls out new Advanced Settings for Windows 11, here is how to enable it [Update] Windows 10 and Windows 11 logo side by side KB5059607, KB5059806, KB5059442: Microsoft quietly fixed Windows 11 24H2 VBS upgrade bug windows 11 and windows 10 logos side by side in red Microsoft shares official guide for fixing every Windows 11/10 update download/install error Keychron B6 Pro Keychron B6 Pro Review: a considerably cheaper alternative to Logitech MX Keys S Join the conversation! 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