diff --git a/virtmanager/src/crosvm.rs b/virtmanager/src/crosvm.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..057b791
--- /dev/null
+++ b/virtmanager/src/crosvm.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+// Copyright 2021, The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+//! Functions for running instances of `crosvm`.
+
+use crate::config::VmConfig;
+use crate::Cid;
+use anyhow::Error;
+use log::{debug, error, info};
+use std::process::{Child, Command};
+
+const CROSVM_PATH: &str = "/apex/com.android.virt/bin/crosvm";
+
+/// Information about a particular instance of a VM which is running.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct VmInstance {
+    /// The crosvm child process.
+    child: Child,
+    /// The CID assigned to the VM for vsock communication.
+    pub cid: Cid,
+}
+
+impl VmInstance {
+    /// Create a new `VmInstance` for the given process.
+    fn new(child: Child, cid: Cid) -> VmInstance {
+        VmInstance { child, cid }
+    }
+
+    /// Start an instance of `crosvm` to manage a new VM. The `crosvm` instance will be killed when
+    /// the `VmInstance` is dropped.
+    pub fn start(config: &VmConfig, cid: Cid) -> Result<VmInstance, Error> {
+        let child = run_vm(config, cid)?;
+        Ok(VmInstance::new(child, cid))
+    }
+}
+
+impl Drop for VmInstance {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        debug!("Dropping {:?}", self);
+        // TODO: Talk to crosvm to shutdown cleanly.
+        if let Err(e) = self.child.kill() {
+            error!("Error killing crosvm instance: {}", e);
+        }
+        // We need to wait on the process after killing it to avoid zombies.
+        match self.child.wait() {
+            Err(e) => error!("Error waiting for crosvm instance to die: {}", e),
+            Ok(status) => info!("Crosvm exited with status {}", status),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Start an instance of `crosvm` to manage a new VM.
+fn run_vm(config: &VmConfig, cid: Cid) -> Result<Child, Error> {
+    config.validate()?;
+
+    let mut command = Command::new(CROSVM_PATH);
+    // TODO(qwandor): Remove --disable-sandbox.
+    command.arg("run").arg("--disable-sandbox").arg("--cid").arg(cid.to_string());
+    // TODO(jiyong): Don't redirect console to the host syslog
+    command.arg("--serial=type=syslog");
+    if let Some(bootloader) = &config.bootloader {
+        command.arg("--bios").arg(bootloader);
+    }
+    if let Some(initrd) = &config.initrd {
+        command.arg("--initrd").arg(initrd);
+    }
+    if let Some(params) = &config.params {
+        command.arg("--params").arg(params);
+    }
+    for disk in &config.disks {
+        command.arg(if disk.writable { "--rwdisk" } else { "--disk" }).arg(&disk.image);
+    }
+    if let Some(kernel) = &config.kernel {
+        command.arg(kernel);
+    }
+    info!("Running {:?}", command);
+    // TODO: Monitor child process, and remove from VM map if it dies.
+    Ok(command.spawn()?)
+}