Kimchi-ng: Web Management Panel for KVM That Doesn’t Try Too Hard
A lightweight, open-source UI for managing virtual machines — straight from the browser
What is Kimchi-ng?
It’s a modernized fork of the original Kimchi project, rebuilt to offer a more usable, more stable interface for managing KVM guests through libvirt. It’s fully web-based, doesn’t require a full-stack cloud deployment, and runs directly on a KVM host.
If tools like Proxmox feel like too much and `virsh` feels like too little — Kimchi-ng hits the middle ground.
A small team is running VMs on a standalone server.
They don’t want to deal with OpenStack, or oVirt, or nested cloud panels.
They just want to upload an ISO, create a guest, and click “start.”
Kimchi-ng gives them that — with nothing but a web browser.
Where It’s Being Used
– Internal dev/test environments where simplicity beats orchestration.
– Teams maintaining a few critical VMs without enterprise bloat.
– Local lab servers or edge boxes that just need an admin UI.
– Teaching environments showing virtualization basics without CLI overhead.
Key Characteristics
| Feature | What That Means in Practice |
| Libvirt-Based | Manages KVM guests using system libvirt bindings |
| Web-Based UI | No desktop client needed — full control via browser |
| ISO Upload and Storage Pool | Add ISOs and disks directly via the web interface |
| VM Lifecycle Control | Start, stop, delete, snapshot — all actions exposed in the GUI |
| Resource Monitoring | Basic per-VM CPU/memory/network stats in real time |
| Multi-User Support | Admin and read-only roles via local auth |
| Template System | Cloneable VM templates for fast provisioning |
| Thin Dependencies | Built on Python3, Flask, libvirt — no heavy backend |
| Local-Only or LAN Access | Can be firewalled or exposed selectively — no cloud tether |
| Open Source | Active community fork, installable from source |
What You Actually Need
– Linux host with KVM and libvirt installed (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS)
– Python 3.6+ environment
– Systemd, NGINX (optional for SSL proxy)
To install:
git clone https://github.com/kimchi-project/kimchi-ng.git
cd kimchi-ng
sudo ./install.sh
Default port: 8000
Then visit:
http://<your-server-ip>:8000
Admin user/password set during setup.
Basic HTTPS can be added with NGINX or Caddy reverse proxy.
What Admins Say After a Week
“We didn’t need Proxmox. Kimchi-ng let us manage VMs without touching the CLI.”
“For our dev cluster — it’s enough. VNC console, ISO upload, snapshots — all there.”
“It’s simple. Sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed.”
One Thing to Keep in Mind
Kimchi-ng isn’t built for managing thousands of VMs or integrating with a billing platform.
There’s no HA clustering. No REST API. No native container support.
But when the job is to manage a few VMs with minimal friction, and the preference is to do it through a browser — Kimchi-ng is more than capable.
