Xen Project

A Linux Foundation Project

Open source virtualization for systems that demand isolation and control.

Xen is a hypervisor and open source project for teams building infrastructure, embedded platforms, security-sensitive systems, and virtualization products that need a clear layer of separation.

Built in the Open

A project you can evaluate in the open.

Governance, security handling, and testing resources are published so technical teams can inspect how the project works.

Governance

Open project model

Project roles, governance, and decision processes are available for review.

Governance
Security

Published response process

Security reporting and response expectations are documented for users and vendors.

Security policy
CI

Public testing resources

CI resources and status information are available for contributors and evaluators.

CI resources

Why Xen matters now

Modern platforms still need a strong virtualization layer.

For technical evaluators, Xen is most relevant where isolation, openness, long-term platform work, and security-sensitive engineering matter.

Isolation as a foundation

Xen is built around a hypervisor layer that separates guest systems from the underlying platform.

Explore the hypervisor

Open engineering model

Governance and contribution paths are visible to organizations and individual engineers.

Read governance

Security-sensitive platforms

Security policy, vulnerability reporting, and related project work are part of the evaluation path.

Review security policy

Where Xen excels

Built for engineers working close to the platform.

Xen is strongest when teams need to reason carefully about virtual machines, hardware, operating systems, and trust boundaries.

Cloud and infrastructure

Xen projects include the hypervisor and toolstack work used to build virtualization platforms.

View projects

Embedded and automotive

The Embedded & Automotive project describes Xen for systems that need isolation, real-time support, and fault tolerance.

Explore embedded work

Introspection and security tooling

HVMI focuses on real-time monitoring and protection for virtualized environments.

Explore HVMI

Specialized operating systems

MirageOS and Unikraft show how Xen ecosystem projects support focused, lightweight systems work.

See ecosystem projects

Architecture

A clear boundary for platform control.

Xen sits between hardware and guest systems. That position gives platform teams a place to make virtualization, isolation, and control decisions without treating the operating system as the whole boundary.

Guests

Virtualized systems stay above the hypervisor boundary.

Hardware

Platform integration stays visible to teams that need control.

Project areas

Explore the Xen project ecosystem.

Key project areas are available through direct links so teams can scan capabilities and go deeper where relevant.

Embedded & Automotive

Open source virtualization for embedded and automotive systems that need isolation, mixed workloads, hardware-aware boundaries, and long-term platform control.

Open project

HVMI

Explore Xen Project's Hypervisor Memory Introspection (HVMI). Learn how HVMI enhances security by providing real-time monitoring and protection for virtualized environments.

Open project

Hypervisor

Discover Xen Hypervisor, the open-source virtualization platform.

Open project

Mirage OS

MirageOS is a library operating system that constructs unikernels for secure, high-performance, low-energy footprint applications.

Open project

XAPI

The XAPI project is an enterprise-ready toolstack for use with the Xen Project hypervisor.

Open project

XCP-ng

XCP-ng (Xen Cloud Platform – new generation) is a turnkey virtualization platform built on the Xen Project Hypervisor and using the Xen API (XAPI). It is typically managed with Xen Orchestra, an agentless, multi-cluster web interface that provides management, monitoring, and backup capabilities.

Open project

Members

Sustained by organizations with a stake in open virtualization.

Members help sustain shared project infrastructure, events, trademark stewardship, and ecosystem coordination.

Open governance and community

Technical work happens in the open.

Xen contribution follows documented project processes. Engineers can find a practical starting point, and organizations can support the ecosystem through membership.

Next step

Support Xen's future, or help build it.

Organizations can support the project through membership. Engineers can start with the contributor resources.