# KubeSwift, Kubernetes-Native VM Orchestration on Cloud Hypervisor > Source: > Published: 2026-07-08 17:48:08+00:00 KubeSwift runs virtual machines as Kubernetes workloads. You define a VM with a custom resource; controllers reconcile it into a pod; inside that pod, `swiftletd` launches a hypervisor. [Cloud Hypervisor](https://www.cloud-hypervisor.org/) is the hypervisor for nearly every workload — Linux and Windows guests, traditiona disk VMs and kernel boot (microVMs), PCIe GPU passthrough, snapshots, and live migration. QEMU is used for the moment as a secondary runtime only for HGX SXM (multi-GPU NVSwitch) topologies, where CUDA requires a full PCIe hierarchy that Cloud Hypervisor's flat model does not currently provide. We are tracking upstream for this capability. **Boot paths**— disk boot from cloud images (Linux and Windows) and direct kernel boot from OCI artifacts (sub-second microVMs).** GPU passthrough**— whole-GPU VFIO passthrough with two allocation backends: the native SwiftGPU model (discovery DaemonSet + profiles) or Kubernetes[DRA](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/gpu/dra-allocation.md)ResourceClaims. PCIe GPUs on Cloud Hypervisor; HGX SXM on QEMU.**Networking**— tap + bridge + DHCP with the guest IP surfaced in status; multi-NIC via Multus; SR-IOV NIC passthrough; OVN Backend supported: OVN-Kubernetes and multi-node L2 with IP-preserving cross-node live migration (kube-ovn primary-on-NAD — see).`docs/networking/ovn-l2-install.md` **Services**— expose guest ports as Kubernetes Services via`spec.network.ports` (ClusterIP/NodePort/LoadBalancer), a load-balanced Service across pool replicas via`SwiftGuestPool.spec.service` , and a VM→cluster egress reachability probe surfaced as`EgressReady` .**Storage**— per-guest root-disk cloning sized from a class; optional data disks (blank/sized, image-backed, or attached PVC); RWX+Block for live-migration-capable volumes.**Snapshots & clones**— disk-only (CSI) and memory+disk (local/S3) snapshots, scheduled snapshots, and`cloneFromSnapshot` for fast VM fan-out.**OCI registry artifacts**— golden VM images (`SwiftImage.spec.source.oci` +`swiftctl image publish` , cosign-signed with verify-on-pull) and VM snapshots / full-state cold migration (`SwiftSnapshot` `backend.type: oci` ) stored in any OCI registry, for cross-cluster and edge distribution.**Migration**— offline migration on any storage, and live migration (sub-second downtime) with optional mTLS transport and`kubectl drain` integration.**Fleets**—`SwiftGuestPool` gives ReplicaSet-style scaling with rolling updates, topology spread, and a PVC per replica.**Operations**—`swiftctl` for console/SSH/lifecycle/describe; Prometheus metrics and Grafana dashboards across every feature; cloud-init via NoCloud; security-hardened containers (drop-ALL, no privileged). | CRD | Short | API group | Scope | Purpose | |---|---|---|---|---| | SwiftGuest | `sg` | `swift.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | A VM instance | | SwiftGuestClass | `sgc` | `swift.kubeswift.io` | Cluster | CPU/memory/disk template | | SwiftGuestPool | `sgpool` | `swift.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | Fleet of identical VMs | | SwiftImage | `si` | `image.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | Disk image source | | SwiftSeedProfile | `ssp` | `seed.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | cloud-init (NoCloud) config | | SwiftKernel | `sk` | `kernel.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | Kernel + initramfs OCI artifact | | SwiftGPUProfile | `sgp` | `gpu.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | GPU passthrough request (native backend) | | SwiftGPUNode | `sgn` | `gpu.kubeswift.io` | Cluster | Per-node GPU inventory | | SwiftSnapshot | ssnap | `snapshot.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | VM snapshot (disk or memory+disk) | | SwiftRestore | srst | `snapshot.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | Restore from a snapshot | | SwiftSnapshotSchedule | — | `snapshot.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | Cron-scheduled snapshots + keep-N | | SwiftMigration | smig | `migration.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | Move a guest between nodes | | Cluster | `ksc` | `fleet.kubeswift.io` | Namespaced | Member cluster federated by the gateway hub | 13 CRDs, all `v1alpha1` . Start at the ** documentation index**. Common entry points: [Quickstart](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/quickstart.md)— boot your first VM[Architecture](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/architecture.md)— components, boot paths, status model[CRD reference](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/crds.md)·[API overview](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/api/overview.md)[GPU passthrough](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/gpu-passthrough.md)·[GPU via DRA](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/gpu/dra-allocation.md)[Networking operations](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/networking/operations-guide.md)[Snapshots](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/snapshots/csi-snapshots.md)·[Live migration](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/migration/overview.md)[swiftctl CLI](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/swiftctl.md)·[Observability](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/observability/README.md)[Install (Helm/OCI)](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/docs/install/helm-oci.md) ``` make build # Go binaries make build-images # container images make deploy # apply CRDs + deploy the controller go test ./... # Go tests cargo test # Rust tests (from rust/) ``` Pre-1.0; the `v1alpha1` API may change between releases. **Host requirement:** x86_64 Linux nodes with `/dev/kvm` (KVM). Licensed under the [GNU Affero General Public License v3.0](/kubeswift-io/kubeswift/blob/main/LICENSE) (AGPL-3.0).