An administrative authority for virtual machines can send one or more delegated policy settings to a virtual machine manager. The virtual machine manager can in turn send management instructions that include the one or more policy settings to one or more virtual machine hosts. As such, a user's request for a virtual machine at a virtual machine host can be granted or denied based on the delegated policy settings. The policy settings can be updated periodically, and can include additional information about starting, stopping, expiring, saving, or even deleting virtual machines by particular users, as well as users accessing from particular locations. In addition, an agent operating at the virtual machine host can monitor and report virtual machine activity, to ensure unauthorized virtual machines are quickly stopped and reviewed until authorized.