Fedora Virtualization

Install the Virtualization Stack

Fedora 43 Workstation fully supports QEMU/KVM virtualization with virt-manager. Make sure hardware virtualization (VT-x/AMD-V) is enabled in your BIOS/UEFI, then verify it with virt-host-validate. Install the full virtualization group with:

sudo dnf group install --with-optional virtualization

Or install just virt-manager if you prefer the minimal setup:

sudo dnf install virt-manager

Enable and Start libvirtd

Enable the libvirt daemon so it starts automatically on boot:

sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd

Add your user to the libvirt and kvm groups so you can manage VMs without running everything as root:

sudo usermod -aG libvirt,kvm $(whoami)

Log out and back in for the group changes to take effect. You can now launch virt-manager from the app menu or from the terminal:

virt-manager

Configure Clipboard Sharing with a Windows Guest

To enable copy and paste between your Fedora host and a Windows guest, you need a SPICE display configured and the SPICE Guest Tools installed inside Windows. Open your Windows VM in virt-manager, click the lightbulb icon (Show virtual hardware details), and confirm you have both a Display Spice entry and a Channel spice (spicevmc) entry in the left pane.

If either is missing, click Add Hardware at the bottom left and add:

  • A Display set to Spice server
  • A Channel with device type set to Spice agent (spicevmc)

Install SPICE Guest Tools in Windows

Start the Windows VM, open a browser inside it, and download the SPICE Guest Tools installer from the official site:

https://www.spice-space.org/download/windows/spice-guest-tools/spice-guest-tools-latest.exe

Run the installer inside Windows. It installs the necessary VirtIO drivers and the spice-vdagent service, which bridges the clipboard between the host and the guest. Once the installation is complete, shut down the Windows VM fully and close virt-manager.

Verify Clipboard Sharing

Restart virt-manager and boot the Windows VM. Clipboard sharing — both text and images — will now work bidirectionally using the standard keyboard shortcuts:

  • Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+V to paste in either direction
  • No additional configuration is required on the Fedora host side

If clipboard sharing is still not working after the install, ensure the spice-vdagent service is running inside Windows by opening the Windows Services manager and checking its status.