Run your VMs on Kubernetes, on the servers and storage you already own.
AetherVirt is the landing point for teams leaving VMware. Virtual machines become Kubernetes objects next to your containers and GPU workloads, and your admins keep the operations they rely on: golden images, snapshots, live migration, console access and per-VM backup policies, all in one auditable console.
Built for platform teams who run both containers and VMs
Most organizations run a mix of cloud-native applications and traditional virtual machines, often on separate tools with separate access models and separate blind spots. AetherVirt collapses that divide: a single control plane that speaks Kubernetes natively, understands KubeVirt virtual machines as first-class citizens, and gives operators one place to see, secure, and act on everything running in the cluster.
Unify operations
Manage Deployments, Pods, Jobs, StatefulSets, and KubeVirt VMs from one console — no tool-switching.
See everything, instantly
Cluster health, topology, capacity, and security posture are visible the moment you log in.
Operate with confidence
RBAC-backed, audited actions across GPUs, storage, and networking reduce operational risk.
The VM operations your admins already rely on, now on Kubernetes
Moving virtual machines onto Kubernetes should not mean retraining every VM administrator or rewriting runbooks from scratch. AetherVirt keeps the everyday VM tasks where an administrator expects to find them, in a graphical console, while KubeVirt and Kubernetes do the scheduling underneath.
| Everyday VM task | Where it lives in AetherVirt |
|---|---|
| Provision from a standard build | Golden images paired with flavors, so every VM starts from an approved baseline |
| Duplicate a known-good machine | One-click clone, tracked in the console |
| Protect a change before it happens | VM snapshots, with restore from the same view |
| Move a running VM off a host | Live migration as a tracked operation with progress reporting |
| Reach a VM that has dropped off the network | In-browser console access, no hypervisor management network needed |
| Control guest access | Managed SSH keys, governed by the same RBAC as every other action |
| Schedule recovery points | Backup and restore policies applied per VM |
| Prepare a host for maintenance | Node readiness and role inventory, then migrate workloads off before draining |
| Answer “who changed this?” | Audit log entry for every VM action, alongside container actions |
Keep the infrastructure you have already paid for
Existing storage
VM disks are PVCs on any CSI-compatible backend, so arrays with a CSI driver stay in service instead of being replaced.
Existing servers
Run on-premises, at edge sites or on cloud-hosted Kubernetes, wherever your capacity already sits.
Existing networks
Services, Gateway API, MetalLB and firewall policies expose VMs without a separate change process for VM connectivity.
Existing identity
SSO sign-in, so VM permissions follow the groups your directory already manages.
Bring VMs across in stages, not in one weekend
Consolidating a VM estate onto Kubernetes works best as a sequence of small, reversible steps. This is the path we recommend when we scope an AetherVirt rollout with a platform team.
Take inventory
List every VM and sort it: keep as a VM, containerize later, or retire. Most estates carry more of the third group than expected.
Pilot one namespace
Start with low-risk VMs. Set up golden images, flavors, RBAC roles and backup policies once, then reuse them for every later wave.
Move in waves
Group VMs by application and move each group with its dependencies, so a service is never split across two platforms for long.
Consolidate operations
Once the last wave lands, VMs and containers share one console, one access model and one audit trail. The separate VM tooling can be retired.
How AetherVirt's Kubernetes control plane fits into your stack
Operators authenticate to the AetherVirt console. The API enforces RBAC, runs safe asynchronous operations, and records audit events while orchestrating workloads across one or more Kubernetes clusters — the multi-cluster Kubernetes management foundation the rest of the platform is built on.
Operators authenticate to the AetherVirt console. The API enforces RBAC, runs safe asynchronous operations, and records audit events while orchestrating workloads across one or more Kubernetes clusters.
Everything a platform team needs, in one console
Multi-cluster management, RBAC, storage and networking are covered natively — see the Kubernetes control plane architecture behind them.
Multi-cluster inventory
Health, capacity, node roles, security stack status.
Container apps
Deployments, Pods, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs, templates.
Virtualization
KubeVirt VMs, images, flavors, templates, migrations, SSH keys.
VM day-2 operations
Console access, snapshots, backup & restore policies.
GPU & AI
Node GPU views, MIG awareness, AI workload templates.
Storage insight
CSI capacity, PVC/PV management, IOPS & utilization charts.
Networking
Services, networks, firewall policies, Gateway API, MetalLB.
Elastic scaling
HPA / VPA workflows for services under load.
Security
Users/RBAC, admission policies, vulnerability scan reporting.
Runtime security
eBPF-based runtime policies, alerts, investigation workflows.
Observability
Topology graphs, timeline, events, metrics-backed alerting.
Governance
Full audit logging and permission-aware UI actions.
What operators see on day one
Multi-cluster health, CPU/memory capacity, and security posture at a glance.
Live relationships across workloads, pods, and storage within a namespace.
For platform teams
Standardize how apps and VMs are created, observed, and governed across every environment.
For application owners
Self-serve common create flows with clear namespace and cluster context — no ticket queues.
For security teams
Align admission control, scanning, runtime signals, and audit trails with operator workflows.
One console for every layer of the stack
AetherVirt treats KubeVirt virtual machines as first-class Kubernetes objects — visible in the same namespaces, governed by the same RBAC, and observed with the same tooling as containers. Storage utilization and security posture sit alongside them as executive-ready dashboards.
VM lifecycle
Create, clone, snapshot, migrate, and restore with built-in progress tracking.
Golden images
Standardize on approved images and flavors for every new VM.
Capacity planning
Real PVC/PV utilization data prevents storage-related outages.
Policy-driven security
Admission coverage and runtime risk visible per cluster.
GPU & AI ready
Node-level GPU visibility and MIG-aware allocation for accelerated workloads.
Multi-tenancy and infrastructure, without the guesswork
As clusters grow, so does the number of teams, namespaces, and nodes sharing them. AetherVirt gives platform teams a single, permission-aware view of namespace usage and node health, backed by full audit logging of every operator action.
Namespaces — per-team resource usage, pod and VM counts, and quota context.
Nodes — readiness, roles, runtime, and OS inventory per cluster.
Technical summary
AetherVirt provides a future-ready virtualization platform — one console to run containers and virtual machines, built for platform teams who run both. It brings everything a platform team needs into one console, extending across every layer of the stack with support for multi-tenancy and infrastructure visibility, without the guesswork — along with full support for GPU workloads on Kubernetes.
| Deployment targets | On-premises data centers, edge sites, and cloud-hosted Kubernetes clusters |
|---|---|
| Workload types | Container workloads (Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs) and KubeVirt virtual machines |
| Access control | Role-based access control (RBAC) with SSO or local authentication |
| Observability | Cluster dashboards, topology graphs, timeline, events, and metrics-backed alerting |
| Security | Admission policy management, vulnerability scan reporting, runtime security monitoring |
| Storage & networking | CSI-compatible storage with PVC/PV tracking; Services, Gateway API, MetalLB |
| Auditability | Full audit logging of operator actions across clusters and namespaces |
Frequently asked questions about AetherVirt
What is AetherVirt?
AetherVirt is a Kubernetes management platform that gives platform teams a single console to run containers, KubeVirt virtual machines and GPU workloads across on-premises, edge and cloud clusters.
What is KubeVirt?
KubeVirt is an open-source Kubernetes extension that lets you run and manage traditional virtual machines alongside containers using the same Kubernetes APIs. AetherVirt builds a management console on top of KubeVirt — read the complete guide to KubeVirt for more detail.
Can AetherVirt manage virtual machines and containers?
Yes. AetherVirt treats KubeVirt VMs as first-class Kubernetes objects, so containers and VMs share the same namespaces, RBAC, observability and audit trail in one console.
Can AetherVirt be our VMware alternative?
For teams consolidating onto Kubernetes, yes. AetherVirt runs VMs through KubeVirt on the same KVM/QEMU foundation most enterprise hypervisors use, and covers the everyday VM operations: golden images, clones, snapshots, live migration, console access, SSH keys and per-VM backup policies. VMs share RBAC, observability and the audit log with your containers, and your storage stays in service through its CSI driver. Talk to us about which of your workloads fit first.
Do our VM administrators need to learn Kubernetes first?
Not for day-to-day work. Creating VMs from golden images, cloning, snapshots, live migration, console access and SSH keys are all run from the AetherVirt console, and the permission-aware UI only shows each administrator the actions they are allowed to take. See the virtualization management overview.
Do we have to buy new storage to run VMs on AetherVirt?
No. VM disks are PersistentVolumeClaims, so any backend with a CSI driver can hold them. Capacity, provisioned versus used space and IOPS then appear in the same storage dashboard as your container volumes.
How do we move an existing VM estate onto AetherVirt?
In stages: inventory and classify the VMs, pilot a low-risk namespace, move applications in waves, then consolidate operations into one console. The adoption path describes each step.
Does AetherVirt support GPU workloads?
Yes. AetherVirt provides node-level GPU visibility and MIG-aware allocation so GPU and AI workloads can be scheduled and managed alongside standard workloads.
Does AetherVirt support multiple Kubernetes clusters?
Yes. AetherVirt is a multi-cluster Kubernetes management platform, showing health, capacity and node roles across every connected cluster from one inventory view — see what multi-cluster management requires for more detail.
Does AetherVirt support on-premises Kubernetes?
Yes. AetherVirt is deployable across on-premises data centers, edge sites and cloud-hosted Kubernetes clusters.
Does AetherVirt support edge deployments?
Yes, edge Kubernetes clusters are one of AetherVirt's three supported deployment targets alongside on-premises and cloud.
How does AetherVirt handle RBAC?
AetherVirt applies role-based access control with SSO or local authentication to every container and VM action, and the UI itself hides actions a user does not have permission to perform.
Does AetherVirt provide audit logging?
Yes. Every operator action across clusters and namespaces is recorded in a full audit log for compliance and governance.