To enable libvirtd please add libvirtd_enable="YES" to /etc/rc.conf. NOTE ON CONFIGURATION: The libvirt port does not come with networking configuration enabled. The 'default' network definition is available at: %%EXAMPLESDIR%%/networks/default.xml To enable this network please do the following: cp %%EXAMPLESDIR%%/networks/default.xml %%ETCDIR%%/qemu/networks To configure this network for autostart, execute the following: ln -s ../default.xml %%ETCDIR%%/qemu/networks/autostart/default.xml If you have libvirtd already running you'll need to restart it for changes to take effect.