backend support
Corral can show several contexts at once. A context is a named connection to one backend; changing the default context changes only where an unqualified command goes and never hides the rest of the fleet.
| Capability | local QEMU | KubeVirt | Incus | libvirt | Corral peer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aggregate inventory | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Start, stop, delete | yes | yes | yes | yes | relayed |
| Create | yes | yes | yes | yes | remote API |
| SSH | direct when address is known | direct, then console transport | incus exec/network | direct when address is known | direct first, relay fallback |
| Browser console | VNC | virtctl VNC | terminal | VNC/virt-viewer | direct first, relay fallback |
| Snapshots, migration, hotplug | backend-limited | yes | not yet unified | not yet unified | advertised by remote |
| Backend doctor | yes | yes | yes | yes | tracked in #135 |
Use corral context get, corral context use NAME, and the persistent
--context NAME / --backend NAME flags. Bare VM names work only when unique;
scripts should use the canonical ID printed by corral list.
First-party workflow plugins have a separate support matrix in first-party-plugins.md. Plugins must declare their supported backends; “installed” is not evidence that a workflow works on every inventory target.
Tailscale is a first-class endpoint discovery/exposure option, not a required network. KubeVirt ingress remains implementation-agnostic. Federation attempts advertised/direct guest endpoints first and uses Corral-to-Corral HTTP and WebSocket relay only when the network cannot reach the guest directly.