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If only I understood how to use QEMU in practice. Are there any tutorials that come with all the parts necessary to get something actually running (and explain

If only I understood how to use QEMU in practice. Are there any tutorials that come with all the parts necessary to get something actually running (and explaining it), without me having to go off in search for missing components that I have no idea where to find?

bonzini 5y ago
QEMU is complicated. You're probably better off using virt-manager, it provides a GUI front-end and also improves on security by using libvirt (with support for SELinux or AppArmor).
btdmaster 5y ago
Drew DeVault has a nice introduction[1]. ArchWiki has coverage on the many options not mentioned[2]. [1] https://drewdevault.com/2018/09/10/Getting-started-with-qemu.html https://drewdevault.com/2018/09/10/Getting-started-with-qemu... [2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/QEMU https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/QEMU
stefanha 5y ago
It depends what you want to do. When QEMU is used for virtualization it's typically a component in a larger stack like GNOME Boxes or virt-manager, two UIs that rely on libvirt to run QEMU. When QEMU is used for emulating ARM boards or retro computing you can launch it from the command-line specifying just a few things like the path to a disk image file or the amount of RAM. There are a lot of command-line options and it can be overwhelming, but luckily they are usually not needed for these use cases. Documentation is here but it's easier to start with a QEMU command-line recommended by the software (e.g. exotic OSes) you want to try out: https://qemu-project.gitlab.io/qemu/ https://qemu-project.gitlab.io/qemu/
wyldfire 5y ago
A remarkably simpler use case is if you want to run Linux programs built for a different architecture (instead of using QEMU to boot into a system). QEMU can do this on its linux-userspace configuration. The only knob you really have to know about is QEMU_LD_PREFIX environment variable if your executable has dynamic dependencies (C library, e.g.).
kashyapc 5y ago
Along with the other good responses in this thread from bonzini and others, you might want to also check out this[1] response. It talks about useful command-line tools for KVM- and QEMU-based virt. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26993381 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26993381
swiley 5y ago
-kernel linux -initrd somebusybox.cpio -m 64 There you go.

bonzini 5y ago

QEMU is complicated. You're probably better off using virt-manager, it provides a GUI front-end and also improves on security by using libvirt (with support for SELinux or AppArmor).

btdmaster 5y ago

Drew DeVault has a nice introduction[1]. ArchWiki has coverage on the many options not mentioned[2]. [1] https://drewdevault.com/2018/09/10/Getting-started-with-qemu.html https://drewdevault.com/2018/09/10/Getting-started-with-qemu... [2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/QEMU https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/QEMU

stefanha 5y ago

It depends what you want to do. When QEMU is used for virtualization it's typically a component in a larger stack like GNOME Boxes or virt-manager, two UIs that rely on libvirt to run QEMU. When QEMU is used for emulating ARM boards or retro computing you can launch it from the command-line specifying just a few things like the path to a disk image file or the amount of RAM. There are a lot of command-line options and it can be overwhelming, but luckily they are usually not needed for these use cases. Documentation is here but it's easier to start with a QEMU command-line recommended by the software (e.g. exotic OSes) you want to try out: https://qemu-project.gitlab.io/qemu/ https://qemu-project.gitlab.io/qemu/

wyldfire 5y ago

A remarkably simpler use case is if you want to run Linux programs built for a different architecture (instead of using QEMU to boot into a system). QEMU can do this on its linux-userspace configuration. The only knob you really have to know about is QEMU_LD_PREFIX environment variable if your executable has dynamic dependencies (C library, e.g.).

kashyapc 5y ago

Along with the other good responses in this thread from bonzini and others, you might want to also check out this[1] response. It talks about useful command-line tools for KVM- and QEMU-based virt. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26993381 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26993381

swiley 5y ago

-kernel linux -initrd somebusybox.cpio -m 64 There you go.