Man page - quickemu(1)
Packages contains this manual
Manual
QUICKEMU
NAMESYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
OPTIONS
EXAMPLES
Introduction
Features
As featured on
Install requirements on Debian hosts
Install requirements on Fedora hosts
Install requirements on Gentoo
Install requirements on macOS hosts
Alternative Frontends Quickgui"> Alternative Frontends Quickgui
Creating Linux guests đ§
Ubuntu
Ubuntu daily-live images
Ubuntu Flavours
Other Operating Systems
Custom Linux guests Or you can download a Linux image and manuallycreate a VM configuration.⢠Download a .iso image of a Linux distribution⢠Create a VM configuration file; for example debian-bullseye.confguest_os="linux"disk_img="debian-bullseye/disk.qcow2"iso="debian-bullseye/firmware-11.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso"⢠Use quickemu to start the virtual machine:quickemu --vm debian-bullseye.conf⢠Complete the installation as normal.⢠Post-install:⢠Install the SPICE agent (spice-vdagent) in the guest to enablecopy/paste and USB redirection.⢠Install the SPICE WebDAV agent (spice-webdavd) in the guest toenable file sharing.Supporting old Linux distros"> Custom Linux guests Or you can download a Linux image and manuallycreate a VM configuration.⢠Download a .iso image of a Linux distribution⢠Create a VM configuration file; for example debian-bullseye.confguest_os="linux"disk_img="debian-bullseye/disk.qcow2"iso="debian-bullseye/firmware-11.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso"⢠Use quickemu to start the virtual machine:quickemu --vm debian-bullseye.conf⢠Complete the installation as normal.⢠Post-install:⢠Install the SPICE agent (spice-vdagent) in the guest to enablecopy/paste and USB redirection.⢠Install the SPICE WebDAV agent (spice-webdavd) in the guest toenable file sharing.Supporting old Linux distros
Creating macOS Guests  đ Installing macOS in a VM can be a bit finicky,if you encounter problems, check the Discussions  for solutions or askfor help there đquickget automatically downloads a macOS recovery image and creates avirtual machine configuration.quickget macos big-surquickemu --vm macos-big-sur.confmacOS mojave, catalina, big-sur, monterey, ventura and sonoma aresupported.⢠Use cursor keys and enter key to select the macOS Base System⢠From macOS Utilities⢠Click Disk Utility and Continue⢠Select QEMU HARDDISK Media (~103.08GB) from the list (on Big Surand above use Apple Inc. VirtIO Block Device) and click Erase.⢠Enter a Name: for the disk⢠If you are installing macOS Mojave or later (Catalina, Big Sur,Monterey, Ventura and Sonoma), choose any of the APFS options asthe filesystem. MacOS Extended may not work.⢠Click Erase.⢠Click Done.⢠Close Disk Utility⢠From macOS Utilities⢠Click Reinstall macOS and Continue⢠Complete the installation as you normally would.⢠On the first reboot use cursor keys and enter key to select macOSInstaller⢠On the subsequent reboots use cursor keys and enter key to selectthe disk you named⢠Once you have finished installing macOS you will be presented with anthe out-of-the-box first-start wizard to configure various optionsand set up your username and password⢠OPTIONAL: After you have concluded the out-of-the-box wizard, you maywant to enable the TRIM feature that the computer industry createdfor SSD disks. This feature in our macOS installation will allowQuickEmu to compact (shrink) your macOS disk image whenever youdelete files inside the Virtual Machine. Without this step yourmacOS disk image will only ever get larger and will not shrink evenwhen you delete lots of data inside macOS.⢠To enable TRIM, open the Terminal application and type thefollowing command followed by pressing enter to tell macos to usethe TRIM command on the hard disk when files are deleted:sudo trimforce enableYou will be prompted to enter your account's password to gain theprivilege needed. Once you've entered your password and pressed enterthe command will request confirmation in the form of two questions thatrequire you to type y (for a "yes" response) followed by enter toconfirm.If you press enter without first typing y the system will consider thata negative response as though you said "no":IMPORTANT NOTICE: This tool force-enables TRIM for all relevant attached devices, even though such devices may not have been validated for data integrity while using TRIM. Use of this tool to enable TRIM may result in unintended data loss or data corruption. It should not be used in a commercial operating environment or with important data. Before using this tool, you should back up all of your data and regularly back up data while TRIM is enabled. This tool is provided on an "as is" basis. APPLE MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THIS TOOL OR ITS USE ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH YOUR DEVICES, SYSTEMS, OR SERVICES. BY USING THIS TOOL TO ENABLE TRIM, YOU AGREE THAT, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, USE OF THE TOOL IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND THAT THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO SATISFACTORY QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, ACCURACY AND EFFORT IS WITH YOU.Are you sure you with to proceed (y/N)?And a second confirmation once you've confirmed the previous one:Your system will immediately reboot when this is complete.Is this OK (y/N)?As the last message states, your system will automatically reboot assoon as the command completes.The default macOS configuration looks like this:guest_os="macos"img="macos- big-sur/RecoveryImage.img"disk_img="macos- big-sur/disk.qcow2"macos_release=" big-sur"⢠guest_os="macos" instructs Quickemu to optimise for macOS.⢠macos_release=" big-sur" instructs Quickemu to optimise for aparticular macOS release.⢠For example VirtIO Network and Memory Ballooning are available inBig Sur and newer, but not previous releases.⢠And VirtIO Block Media (disks) are supported/stable in Catalina andnewer.macOS compatibility"> Creating macOS Guests  đ Installing macOS in a VM can be a bit finicky,if you encounter problems, check the Discussions  for solutions or askfor help there đquickget automatically downloads a macOS recovery image and creates avirtual machine configuration.quickget macos big-surquickemu --vm macos-big-sur.confmacOS mojave, catalina, big-sur, monterey, ventura and sonoma aresupported.⢠Use cursor keys and enter key to select the macOS Base System⢠From macOS Utilities⢠Click Disk Utility and Continue⢠Select QEMU HARDDISK Media (~103.08GB) from the list (on Big Surand above use Apple Inc. VirtIO Block Device) and click Erase.⢠Enter a Name: for the disk⢠If you are installing macOS Mojave or later (Catalina, Big Sur,Monterey, Ventura and Sonoma), choose any of the APFS options asthe filesystem. MacOS Extended may not work.⢠Click Erase.⢠Click Done.⢠Close Disk Utility⢠From macOS Utilities⢠Click Reinstall macOS and Continue⢠Complete the installation as you normally would.⢠On the first reboot use cursor keys and enter key to select macOSInstaller⢠On the subsequent reboots use cursor keys and enter key to selectthe disk you named⢠Once you have finished installing macOS you will be presented with anthe out-of-the-box first-start wizard to configure various optionsand set up your username and password⢠OPTIONAL: After you have concluded the out-of-the-box wizard, you maywant to enable the TRIM feature that the computer industry createdfor SSD disks. This feature in our macOS installation will allowQuickEmu to compact (shrink) your macOS disk image whenever youdelete files inside the Virtual Machine. Without this step yourmacOS disk image will only ever get larger and will not shrink evenwhen you delete lots of data inside macOS.⢠To enable TRIM, open the Terminal application and type thefollowing command followed by pressing enter to tell macos to usethe TRIM command on the hard disk when files are deleted:sudo trimforce enableYou will be prompted to enter your account's password to gain theprivilege needed. Once you've entered your password and pressed enterthe command will request confirmation in the form of two questions thatrequire you to type y (for a "yes" response) followed by enter toconfirm.If you press enter without first typing y the system will consider thata negative response as though you said "no":IMPORTANT NOTICE: This tool force-enables TRIM for all relevant attached devices, even though such devices may not have been validated for data integrity while using TRIM. Use of this tool to enable TRIM may result in unintended data loss or data corruption. It should not be used in a commercial operating environment or with important data. Before using this tool, you should back up all of your data and regularly back up data while TRIM is enabled. This tool is provided on an "as is" basis. APPLE MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THIS TOOL OR ITS USE ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH YOUR DEVICES, SYSTEMS, OR SERVICES. BY USING THIS TOOL TO ENABLE TRIM, YOU AGREE THAT, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, USE OF THE TOOL IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND THAT THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO SATISFACTORY QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, ACCURACY AND EFFORT IS WITH YOU.Are you sure you with to proceed (y/N)?And a second confirmation once you've confirmed the previous one:Your system will immediately reboot when this is complete.Is this OK (y/N)?As the last message states, your system will automatically reboot assoon as the command completes.The default macOS configuration looks like this:guest_os="macos"img="macos- big-sur/RecoveryImage.img"disk_img="macos- big-sur/disk.qcow2"macos_release=" big-sur"⢠guest_os="macos" instructs Quickemu to optimise for macOS.⢠macos_release=" big-sur" instructs Quickemu to optimise for aparticular macOS release.⢠For example VirtIO Network and Memory Ballooning are available inBig Sur and newer, but not previous releases.⢠And VirtIO Block Media (disks) are supported/stable in Catalina andnewer.macOS compatibility
macOS App Store
Creating Windows guests  đŞ quickget can download Windows 10  and Windows11  automatically and create an optimised virtual machine configuration.This configuration also includes the VirtIO drivers for Windows .Windows 8.1 is also supported but doesn't feature any automatedinstallation or driver optimisation.quickget can also download https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcen-ter/download-windows-10-enter- prise Windows 10 LTSC  and Windows Server https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-serv-er-2012-r2 2012-r2 , https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20162016 , https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20192019 , and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20222022 . No automated installation is supported for these releases.quickget windows 11quickemu --vm windows-11.conf⢠Complete the installation as you normally would.⢠All relevant drivers and services should be installed automatically.⢠A local administrator user account is automatically created, withthese credentials:⢠Username: Quickemu⢠Password: quickemuFurther information is available from the project https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/wiki/04-Create-Win-dows-virtual-machines wiki Configuration"> Creating Windows guests  đŞ quickget can download Windows 10  and Windows11  automatically and create an optimised virtual machine configuration.This configuration also includes the VirtIO drivers for Windows .Windows 8.1 is also supported but doesn't feature any automatedinstallation or driver optimisation.quickget can also download https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcen-ter/download-windows-10-enter- prise Windows 10 LTSC  and Windows Server https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-serv-er-2012-r2 2012-r2 , https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20162016 , https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20192019 , and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20222022 . No automated installation is supported for these releases.quickget windows 11quickemu --vm windows-11.conf⢠Complete the installation as you normally would.⢠All relevant drivers and services should be installed automatically.⢠A local administrator user account is automatically created, withthese credentials:⢠Username: Quickemu⢠Password: quickemuFurther information is available from the project https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/wiki/04-Create-Win-dows-virtual-machines wiki Configuration
Desktop shortcuts
References
AUTHORS
BUGS
SEE ALSO
AUTHORS
NAME
quickemu - A quick VM builder and manager
SYNOPSIS
quickemu [ OPTION ]...
DESCRIPTION
quickemu will create and run highly optimised desktop virtual machines for Linux, macOS and Windows
OPTIONS
|
--vm |
vm configuration file |
You can also
pass optional parameters
--access
Enable remote spice access support. 'local' (default), 'remote', 'clientipaddress'
--braille
Enable braille support. Requires SDL.
--delete-disk
Delete the disk image and EFI variables
--delete-vm
Delete the entire VM and its configuration
--display
Select display backend. 'sdl' (default), 'gtk', 'none', 'spice' or 'spice-app'
--fullscreen
Starts VM in full screen mode (Ctl+Alt+f to exit)
--ignore-msrs-always
Configure KVM to always ignore unhandled machine-specific registers
|
--kill |
Kill the VM process if it is running |
--offline
Override all network settings and start the VM offline
--shortcut
Create a desktop shortcut
--snapshot apply <tag>
Apply/restore a snapshot.
--snapshot create <tag>
Create a snapshot.
--snapshot delete <tag>
Delete a snapshot.
--snapshot info
Show disk/snapshot info.
--status-quo
Do not commit any changes to disk/snapshot.
--viewer <viewer>
Choose an alternative viewer. @Options: 'spicy' (default), 'remote-viewer', 'none'
--width <width>
Set VM screen width; requires '--height'
--height <height>
Set VM screen height; requires '--width'
--ssh-port <port>
Set SSH port manually
--spice-port <port>
Set SPICE port manually
--public-dir <path>
Expose share directory. @Options: '' (default: xdg-user-dir PUBLICSHARE), '', 'none'
--monitor <type>
Set monitor connection type. @Options: 'socket' (default), 'telnet', 'none'
--monitor-telnet-host <ip/host>
Set telnet host for monitor. (default: 'localhost')
--monitor-telnet-port <port>
Set telnet port for monitor. (default: '4440')
--monitor-cmd <cmd>
Send command to monitor if available. (Example: system_powerdown)
--serial <type>
Set serial connection type. @Options: 'socket' (default), 'telnet', 'none'
--serial-telnet-host <ip/host>
Set telnet host for serial. (default: 'localhost')
--serial-telnet-port <port>
Set telnet port for serial. (default: '6660')
--keyboard <type>
Set keyboard. @Options: 'usb' (default), 'ps2', 'virtio'
--keyboard_layout <layout>
Set keyboard layout: 'en-us' (default)
--mouse <type>
Set mouse. @Options: 'tablet' (default), 'ps2', 'usb', 'virtio'
--usb-controller <type>
Set usb-controller. @Options: 'ehci' (default), 'xhci', 'none'
--sound-card <type>
Set sound card. @Options: 'intel-hda' (default), 'ac97', 'es1370', 'sb16', 'none'
--extra_args <arguments>
Pass additional arguments to qemu
--version
Print version
EXAMPLES
quickemu --vm ubuntu-mate-22.04.conf
Launches the VM specified in the file ubuntu-mate-22.04.conf
Introduction
Quickemu is a wrapper for the excellent QEMU that automatically "does the right thing" when creating virtual machines. No requirement for exhaustive configuration options. You decide what operating system you want to run and Quickemu takes care of the rest đ¤
|
⢠|
quickget automatically downloads the upstream OS and creates the configuration đ |
||
|
⢠|
quickemu enumerates your hardware and launches the virtual machine with the optimum configuration best suited to your computer âĄ ď¸ |
The original objective of the project was to https://github.com/quicke- mu-project/quickemu/wiki/02-Create-Linux-vir- tual-machines enable quick testing of Linux distributions where the virtual machines and their configuration can be stored anywhere (such as external USB storage or your home directory) and no elevated permissions are required to run the virtual machines.
Today, Quickemu includes comprehensive support for https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/wiki/03-Create-macOS-vir- tual-machines macOS , https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/wi- ki/04-Create-Win- dows-virtual-machines Windows , most of the BSDs, novel non-Linux operating systems such as FreeDOS, Haiku, KolibriOS, OpenIndiana, ReactOS, and more.
Features
|
⢠|
Host support for Linux and macOS |
||
|
⢠|
macOS Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina & Mojave |
||
|
⢠|
Windows 10 and 11 including TPM 2.0 |
||
|
⢠|
Windows Server 2022 2019 2016 |
||
|
⢠|
Ubuntu and all the official Ubuntu flavours |
||
|
⢠|
Nearly 1000 operating system editions are supported! |
||
|
⢠|
Full SPICE support including host/guest clipboard sharing |
||
|
⢠|
VirtIO-webdavd file sharing for Linux and Windows guests |
||
|
⢠|
VirtIO-9p file sharing for Linux and macOS guests |
||
|
⢠|
QEMU Guest Agent support ; provides access to a system-level agent via standard QMP commands |
||
|
⢠|
Samba file sharing for Linux, macOS and Windows guests ( if smbd is installed on the host ) |
||
|
⢠|
VirGL acceleration |
||
|
⢠|
USB device pass-through |
||
|
⢠|
Smartcard pass-through |
||
|
⢠|
Automatic SSH port forwarding to guests |
||
|
⢠|
Network port forwarding |
||
|
⢠|
Full duplex audio |
||
|
⢠|
Braille support |
||
|
⢠|
EFI (with or without SecureBoot) and Legacy BIOS boot |
As featured on
Linux Matters podcast! The presenters of Linux Matters đ§ đď¸ are the creators of each of the principle Quickemu projects. We discussed Quickemu's 2024 reboot in Episode 30 - Quickemu Rising From the Bashes .
Linux Matters Podcast
When installing from source, you will need to install the following requirements manually:
|
⢠|
QEMU ( 6.0.0 or newer ) with GTK, SDL, SPICE & VirtFS support |
|||
|
⢠|
bash ( 4.0 or newer ) |
|||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
util-linux ; including uuidgen |
|||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
For Ubuntu, Arch and NixOS hosts, the ppa , AUR or https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tree/master/pkgs/development/quickemu nix packaging will take care of the dependencies. For other host distributions or operating systems it will be necessary to install the above requirements or their equivalents.
These examples may save a little typing:
Install requirements on Debian hosts
This also applies to derivatives:
sudo apt-get install bash coreutils curl genisoimage grep jq mesa-utils ovmf pciutils procps python3 qemu sed socat spice-client-gtk swtpm-tools unzip usbutils util-linux xdg-user-dirs xrandr zsync
Install requirements on Fedora hosts
sudo dnf install bash coreutils curl edk2-tools genisoimage grep jq mesa-demos pciutils procps python3 qemu sed socat spice-gtk-tools swtpm unzip usbutils util-linux uuidgen-runtime xdg-user-dirs xrandr zsync
Install requirements on Gentoo
Please note that you may have to use sys-firmware/edk2-ovmf instead of sys-firmware/edk2-ovmf-bin - depending on how your system is configured.
sudo emerge
--ask --noreplace app-emulation/qemu \
app-shells/bash \
sys-apps/coreutils \
net-misc/curl \
sys-firmware/edk2-ovmf-bin \
sys-apps/gawk \
sys-apps/grep \
x11-apps/mesa-progs \
app-misc/jq \
sys-apps/pciutils \
sys-process/procps \
app-cdr/cdrtools \
sys-apps/usbutils \
sys-apps/util-linux \
sys-apps/sed \
net-misc/socat \
app-emulation/spice \
app-crypt/swtpm \
x11-misc/xdg-user-dirs \
x11-apps/xrandr \
net-misc/zsync \
app-arch/unzip
Install requirements on macOS hosts
Install the Quickemu requirements using brew:
brew install bash cdrtools coreutils jq python3 qemu usbutils samba socat swtpm zsync
Now clone the project:
git clone
https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu
cd quickemu
Alternative Frontends Quickgui Alternative Frontends Quickgui">
While quickemu and quickget are designed for the terminal, a graphical user interface is also available:
|
⢠|
Quickgui by Mark Johnson and Yannick Mauray . |
To install Quickgui on Ubuntu:
sudo
add-apt-repository ppa:yannick-mauray/quickgui
sudo apt update
sudo apt install quickgui
Many thanks to Luke Wesley-Holley and Philipp Kiemle for creating the Quickemu icons đ¨
Creating Linux guests đ§
Ubuntu
quickget will automatically download an Ubuntu release and create the virtual machine configuration.
quickget ubuntu
22.04
quickemu --vm ubuntu-22.04.conf
|
⢠|
Complete the installation as normal. |
|||
|
⢠|
Post-install: |
â˘
|
Install the SPICE agent (spice-vdagent) in the guest to enable copy/paste and USB redirection |
â˘
|
sudo apt install spice-vdagent |
|||
|
⢠|
Install the SPICE WebDAV agent (spice-webdavd) in the guest to enable file sharing. |
â˘
|
sudo apt install spice-webdavd |
Ubuntu daily-live images
quickget can also download/refresh daily-live images via zsync for Ubuntu developers and testers.
quickget ubuntu
daily-live
quickemu --vm ubuntu-daily-live.conf
You can run quickget ubuntu daily-live to refresh your daily development image as often as you like, it will even automatically switch to a new series.
Ubuntu Flavours
All the official Ubuntu flavours are supported, just replace ubuntu with your preferred flavour.
The project https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/wiki/02-Cre- ate-Linux-vir- tual-machines wiki may have further information.
|
⢠|
edubuntu (Edubuntu) |
|||
|
⢠|
kubuntu (Kubuntu) |
|||
|
⢠|
lubuntu (Lubuntu) |
|||
|
⢠|
ubuntu-budgie (Ubuntu Budgie) |
|||
|
⢠|
ubuntucinnamon (Ubuntu Cinnamon) |
|||
|
⢠|
ubuntukylin (Ubuntu Kylin) |
|||
|
⢠|
ubuntu-mate (Ubuntu MATE) |
|||
|
⢠|
ubuntu-server (Ubuntu Server) |
|||
|
⢠|
ubuntustudio (Ubuntu Studio) |
|||
|
⢠|
ubuntu (Ubuntu) |
|||
|
⢠|
ubuntu-unity (Ubuntu Unity) |
|||
|
⢠|
xubuntu (Xubuntu) |
You can also use quickget with advanced options :
--download
<os> <release> [edition] : Download image; no VM
configuration
--create-config <os> [path/url] [flags] : Create VM
config for an OS image
--open-homepage <os> : Open homepage for the OS
--show [os] : Show OS information
--version : Show version
--help : Show this help message
--disable-unattended : Force quickget not to set up an
unattended installation
--url [os] [release] [edition] : Show image URL(s)
--check [os] [release] [edition] : Check image URL(s)
--list : List all supported systems
--list-csv : List everything in csv format
--list-json : List everything in json format
Here are some typical uses
# show an OS
ISO download URL for {os} {release} [edition]
quickget --url fedora 38 Silverblue
# test if an OS ISO is available for {os} {release}
[edition]
quickget --check nixos unstable plasma5
# open an OS distribution homepage in a browser
quickget --open-homepage ubuntu-mate
# Only download image file into current directory, without
creating VM
quickget --download elementary 7.1
The --url, --check, and --download options are fully functional for all operating systems, including Windows and macOS.
Further information is available from the project https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/wiki/06-Advanced-quick- get-features wiki
Other Operating Systems
quickget also supports:
|
⢠|
alma (AlmaLinux) |
|||
|
⢠|
alpine (Alpine Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
android (Android x86) |
|||
|
⢠|
antix (Antix) |
|||
|
⢠|
archcraft (Archcraft) |
|||
|
⢠|
archlinux (Arch Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
arcolinux (Arco Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
artixlinux (Artix Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
athenaos (Athena OS) |
|||
|
⢠|
batocera (Batocera) |
|||
|
⢠|
bazzite (Bazzite) |
|||
|
⢠|
biglinux (BigLinux) |
|||
|
⢠|
blendos (BlendOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
bodhi (Bodhi) |
|||
|
⢠|
bunsenlabs (BunsenLabs) |
|||
|
⢠|
cachyos (CachyOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
centos-stream (CentOS Stream) |
|||
|
⢠|
chimeralinux (Chimera Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
crunchbang++ (Crunchbangplusplus) |
|||
|
⢠|
debian (Debian) |
|||
|
⢠|
deepin (Deepin) |
|||
|
⢠|
devuan (Devuan) |
|||
|
⢠|
dragonflybsd (DragonFlyBSD) |
|||
|
⢠|
easyos (EasyOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
elementary (elementary OS) |
|||
|
⢠|
endeavouros (EndeavourOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
endless (Endless OS) |
|||
|
⢠|
fedora (Fedora) |
|||
|
⢠|
freebsd (FreeBSD) |
|||
|
⢠|
freedos (FreeDOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
garuda (Garuda Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
gentoo (Gentoo) |
|||
|
⢠|
ghostbsd (GhostBSD) |
|||
|
⢠|
gnomeos (GNOME OS) |
|||
|
⢠|
guix (Guix) |
|||
|
⢠|
haiku (Haiku) |
|||
|
⢠|
holoiso (HoloISO) |
|||
|
⢠|
kali (Kali) |
|||
|
⢠|
kdeneon (KDE Neon) |
|||
|
⢠|
kolibrios (KolibriOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
linuxlite (Linux Lite) |
|||
|
⢠|
linuxmint (Linux Mint) |
|||
|
⢠|
lmde (Linux Mint Debian Edition) |
|||
|
⢠|
mageia (Mageia) |
|||
|
⢠|
manjaro (Manjaro) |
|||
|
⢠|
mxlinux (MX Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
netboot (netboot.xyz) |
|||
|
⢠|
netbsd (NetBSD) |
|||
|
⢠|
nitrux (Nitrux) |
|||
|
⢠|
nixos (NixOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
nwg-shell (nwg-shell) |
|||
|
⢠|
openbsd (OpenBSD) |
|||
|
⢠|
openindiana (OpenIndiana) |
|||
|
⢠|
opensuse (openSUSE) |
|||
|
⢠|
oraclelinux (Oracle Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
parrotsec (Parrot Security) |
|||
|
⢠|
peppermint (PeppermintOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
popos (Pop!_OS) |
|||
|
⢠|
porteus (Porteus) |
|||
|
⢠|
primtux (PrimTux) |
|||
|
⢠|
pureos (PureOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
reactos (ReactOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
rebornos (RebornOS) |
|||
|
⢠|
rockylinux (Rocky Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
siduction (Siduction) |
|||
|
⢠|
slackware (Slackware) |
|||
|
⢠|
slax (Slax) |
|||
|
⢠|
slint (Slint) |
|||
|
⢠|
slitaz (SliTaz) |
|||
|
⢠|
solus (Solus) |
|||
|
⢠|
sparkylinux (SparkyLinux) |
|||
|
⢠|
spirallinux (SpiralLinux) |
|||
|
⢠|
tails (Tails) |
|||
|
⢠|
tinycore (Tiny Core Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
trisquel (Trisquel-) |
|||
|
⢠|
truenas-core (TrueNAS Core) |
|||
|
⢠|
truenas-scale (TrueNAS Scale) |
|||
|
⢠|
tuxedo-os (Tuxedo OS) |
|||
|
⢠|
vanillaos (Vanilla OS) |
|||
|
⢠|
void (Void Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
vxlinux (VX Linux) |
|||
|
⢠|
zorin (Zorin OS) |
Custom Linux guests Or you can download a Linux image and manuallycreate a VM configuration.⢠Download a .iso image of a Linux distribution⢠Create a VM configuration file; for example debian-bullseye.confguest_os="linux"disk_img="debian-bullseye/disk.qcow2"iso="debian-bullseye/firmware-11.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso"⢠Use quickemu to start the virtual machine:quickemu --vm debian-bullseye.conf⢠Complete the installation as normal.⢠Post-install:⢠Install the SPICE agent (spice-vdagent) in the guest to enablecopy/paste and USB redirection.⢠Install the SPICE WebDAV agent (spice-webdavd) in the guest toenable file sharing.Supporting old Linux distros Custom Linux guests Or you can download a Linux image and manuallycreate a VM configuration.⢠Download a .iso image of a Linux distribution⢠Create a VM configuration file; for example debian-bullseye.confguest_os="linux"disk_img="debian-bullseye/disk.qcow2"iso="debian-bullseye/firmware-11.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso"⢠Use quickemu to start the virtual machine:quickemu --vm debian-bullseye.conf⢠Complete the installation as normal.⢠Post-install:⢠Install the SPICE agent (spice-vdagent) in the guest to enablecopy/paste and USB redirection.⢠Install the SPICE WebDAV agent (spice-webdavd) in the guest toenable file sharing.Supporting old Linux distros">
If you want to run an old Linux , from 2016 or earlier, change the guest_os to linux_old. This will enable the vmware-svga graphics driver which is better supported on older distros.
Creating macOS Guests đ Installing macOS in a VM can be a bit finicky,if you encounter problems, check the Discussions for solutions or askfor help there đquickget automatically downloads a macOS recovery image and creates avirtual machine configuration.quickget macos big-surquickemu --vm macos-big-sur.confmacOS mojave, catalina, big-sur, monterey, ventura and sonoma aresupported.⢠Use cursor keys and enter key to select the macOS Base System⢠From macOS Utilities⢠Click Disk Utility and Continue⢠Select QEMU HARDDISK Media (~103.08GB) from the list (on Big Surand above use Apple Inc. VirtIO Block Device) and click Erase.⢠Enter a Name: for the disk⢠If you are installing macOS Mojave or later (Catalina, Big Sur,Monterey, Ventura and Sonoma), choose any of the APFS options asthe filesystem. MacOS Extended may not work.⢠Click Erase.⢠Click Done.⢠Close Disk Utility⢠From macOS Utilities⢠Click Reinstall macOS and Continue⢠Complete the installation as you normally would.⢠On the first reboot use cursor keys and enter key to select macOSInstaller⢠On the subsequent reboots use cursor keys and enter key to selectthe disk you named⢠Once you have finished installing macOS you will be presented with anthe out-of-the-box first-start wizard to configure various optionsand set up your username and password⢠OPTIONAL: After you have concluded the out-of-the-box wizard, you maywant to enable the TRIM feature that the computer industry createdfor SSD disks. This feature in our macOS installation will allowQuickEmu to compact (shrink) your macOS disk image whenever youdelete files inside the Virtual Machine. Without this step yourmacOS disk image will only ever get larger and will not shrink evenwhen you delete lots of data inside macOS.⢠To enable TRIM, open the Terminal application and type thefollowing command followed by pressing enter to tell macos to usethe TRIM command on the hard disk when files are deleted:sudo trimforce enableYou will be prompted to enter your account's password to gain theprivilege needed. Once you've entered your password and pressed enterthe command will request confirmation in the form of two questions thatrequire you to type y (for a "yes" response) followed by enter toconfirm.If you press enter without first typing y the system will consider thata negative response as though you said "no":IMPORTANT NOTICE: This tool force-enables TRIM for all relevant attached devices, even though such devices may not have been validated for data integrity while using TRIM. Use of this tool to enable TRIM may result in unintended data loss or data corruption. It should not be used in a commercial operating environment or with important data. Before using this tool, you should back up all of your data and regularly back up data while TRIM is enabled. This tool is provided on an "as is" basis. APPLE MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THIS TOOL OR ITS USE ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH YOUR DEVICES, SYSTEMS, OR SERVICES. BY USING THIS TOOL TO ENABLE TRIM, YOU AGREE THAT, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, USE OF THE TOOL IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND THAT THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO SATISFACTORY QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, ACCURACY AND EFFORT IS WITH YOU.Are you sure you with to proceed (y/N)?And a second confirmation once you've confirmed the previous one:Your system will immediately reboot when this is complete.Is this OK (y/N)?As the last message states, your system will automatically reboot assoon as the command completes.The default macOS configuration looks like this:guest_os="macos"img="macos- big-sur/RecoveryImage.img"disk_img="macos- big-sur/disk.qcow2"macos_release=" big-sur"⢠guest_os="macos" instructs Quickemu to optimise for macOS.⢠macos_release=" big-sur" instructs Quickemu to optimise for aparticular macOS release.⢠For example VirtIO Network and Memory Ballooning are available inBig Sur and newer, but not previous releases.⢠And VirtIO Block Media (disks) are supported/stable in Catalina andnewer.macOS compatibility Creating macOS Guests đ Installing macOS in a VM can be a bit finicky,if you encounter problems, check the Discussions for solutions or askfor help there đquickget automatically downloads a macOS recovery image and creates avirtual machine configuration.quickget macos big-surquickemu --vm macos-big-sur.confmacOS mojave, catalina, big-sur, monterey, ventura and sonoma aresupported.⢠Use cursor keys and enter key to select the macOS Base System⢠From macOS Utilities⢠Click Disk Utility and Continue⢠Select QEMU HARDDISK Media (~103.08GB) from the list (on Big Surand above use Apple Inc. VirtIO Block Device) and click Erase.⢠Enter a Name: for the disk⢠If you are installing macOS Mojave or later (Catalina, Big Sur,Monterey, Ventura and Sonoma), choose any of the APFS options asthe filesystem. MacOS Extended may not work.⢠Click Erase.⢠Click Done.⢠Close Disk Utility⢠From macOS Utilities⢠Click Reinstall macOS and Continue⢠Complete the installation as you normally would.⢠On the first reboot use cursor keys and enter key to select macOSInstaller⢠On the subsequent reboots use cursor keys and enter key to selectthe disk you named⢠Once you have finished installing macOS you will be presented with anthe out-of-the-box first-start wizard to configure various optionsand set up your username and password⢠OPTIONAL: After you have concluded the out-of-the-box wizard, you maywant to enable the TRIM feature that the computer industry createdfor SSD disks. This feature in our macOS installation will allowQuickEmu to compact (shrink) your macOS disk image whenever youdelete files inside the Virtual Machine. Without this step yourmacOS disk image will only ever get larger and will not shrink evenwhen you delete lots of data inside macOS.⢠To enable TRIM, open the Terminal application and type thefollowing command followed by pressing enter to tell macos to usethe TRIM command on the hard disk when files are deleted:sudo trimforce enableYou will be prompted to enter your account's password to gain theprivilege needed. Once you've entered your password and pressed enterthe command will request confirmation in the form of two questions thatrequire you to type y (for a "yes" response) followed by enter toconfirm.If you press enter without first typing y the system will consider thata negative response as though you said "no":IMPORTANT NOTICE: This tool force-enables TRIM for all relevant attached devices, even though such devices may not have been validated for data integrity while using TRIM. Use of this tool to enable TRIM may result in unintended data loss or data corruption. It should not be used in a commercial operating environment or with important data. Before using this tool, you should back up all of your data and regularly back up data while TRIM is enabled. This tool is provided on an "as is" basis. APPLE MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THIS TOOL OR ITS USE ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH YOUR DEVICES, SYSTEMS, OR SERVICES. BY USING THIS TOOL TO ENABLE TRIM, YOU AGREE THAT, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, USE OF THE TOOL IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND THAT THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO SATISFACTORY QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, ACCURACY AND EFFORT IS WITH YOU.Are you sure you with to proceed (y/N)?And a second confirmation once you've confirmed the previous one:Your system will immediately reboot when this is complete.Is this OK (y/N)?As the last message states, your system will automatically reboot assoon as the command completes.The default macOS configuration looks like this:guest_os="macos"img="macos- big-sur/RecoveryImage.img"disk_img="macos- big-sur/disk.qcow2"macos_release=" big-sur"⢠guest_os="macos" instructs Quickemu to optimise for macOS.⢠macos_release=" big-sur" instructs Quickemu to optimise for aparticular macOS release.⢠For example VirtIO Network and Memory Ballooning are available inBig Sur and newer, but not previous releases.⢠And VirtIO Block Media (disks) are supported/stable in Catalina andnewer.macOS compatibility">
There are some considerations when running macOS via Quickemu.
|
⢠|
Supported macOS releases: |
â˘
|
Mojave |
||||
|
⢠|
Catalina |
|||
|
⢠|
Big Sur |
|||
|
⢠|
Monterey |
|||
|
⢠|
Ventura |
|||
|
⢠|
Sonoma |
|||
|
⢠|
quickemu will automatically download the required OpenCore bootloader and OVMF firmware from OSX-KVM .
|
⢠|
Optimised by default, but no GPU acceleration is available. |
â˘
|
Host CPU vendor is detected and guest CPU is optimised accordingly. |
|||
|
⢠|
VirtIO Block Media is used for the system disk where supported. |
||
|
⢠|
VirtIO usb-tablet is used for the mouse. |
||
|
⢠|
VirtIO Network (virtio-net) is supported and enabled on macOS Big Sur and newer, but earlier releases use vmxnet3. |
||
|
⢠|
VirtIO Memory Ballooning is supported and enabled on macOS Big Sur and newer but disabled for other support macOS releases. |
||
|
⢠|
USB host and SPICE pass-through is:
|
⢠|
UHCI (USB 2.0) on macOS Catalina and earlier. |
|||
|
⢠|
XHCI (USB 3.0) on macOS Big Sur and newer. |
|||
|
⢠|
Display resolution can be changed via quickemu using --width and --height command line arguments.
|
⢠|
Full Duplex audio requires VoodooHDA OC or pass-through a USB audio-device to the macOS guest VM . |
â˘
|
NOTE! Gatekeeper and https://developer.apple.com/documentation/se- curity/dis- abling_and_enabling_system_integrity_protection System Integrity Protection (SIP) need to be disabled to install VoodooHDA OC |
|||
|
⢠|
File sharing between guest and host is available via virtio-9p and SPICE webdavd . |
||
|
⢠|
Copy/paste via SPICE agent is not available on macOS . |
macOS App Store
If you see "Your device or computer could not be verified" when you try to login to the App Store, make sure that your wired ethernet device is en0. Use ifconfig in a terminal to verify this.
If the wired ethernet device is not en0, then then go to System Preferences -> Network , delete all the network devices and apply the changes. Next, open a terminal and run the following:
sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist
Now reboot, and the App Store should work.
There may be further advice and information about macOS guests in the project https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/wiki/03-Create-ma- cOS-vir- tual-machines#automatically-create-macos-guests wiki .
Creating Windows guests đŞ quickget can download Windows 10 and Windows11 automatically and create an optimised virtual machine configuration.This configuration also includes the VirtIO drivers for Windows .Windows 8.1 is also supported but doesn't feature any automatedinstallation or driver optimisation.quickget can also download https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcen-ter/download-windows-10-enter- prise Windows 10 LTSC and Windows Server https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-serv-er-2012-r2 2012-r2 , https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20162016 , https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20192019 , and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20222022 . No automated installation is supported for these releases.quickget windows 11quickemu --vm windows-11.conf⢠Complete the installation as you normally would.⢠All relevant drivers and services should be installed automatically.⢠A local administrator user account is automatically created, withthese credentials:⢠Username: Quickemu⢠Password: quickemuFurther information is available from the project https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/wiki/04-Create-Win-dows-virtual-machines wiki Configuration Creating Windows guests đŞ quickget can download Windows 10 and Windows11 automatically and create an optimised virtual machine configuration.This configuration also includes the VirtIO drivers for Windows .Windows 8.1 is also supported but doesn't feature any automatedinstallation or driver optimisation.quickget can also download https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcen-ter/download-windows-10-enter- prise Windows 10 LTSC and Windows Server https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-serv-er-2012-r2 2012-r2 , https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20162016 , https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20192019 , and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-20222022 . No automated installation is supported for these releases.quickget windows 11quickemu --vm windows-11.conf⢠Complete the installation as you normally would.⢠All relevant drivers and services should be installed automatically.⢠A local administrator user account is automatically created, withthese credentials:⢠Username: Quickemu⢠Password: quickemuFurther information is available from the project https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/wiki/04-Create-Win-dows-virtual-machines wiki Configuration">
Here are the usage instructions:
Usage
quickemu --vm ubuntu.conf <arguments>
Arguments
--access : Enable remote spice access support. 'local'
(default), 'remote', 'clientipaddress'
--braille : Enable braille support. Requires SDL.
--delete-disk : Delete the disk image and EFI variables
--delete-vm : Delete the entire VM and its configuration
--display : Select display backend. 'sdl' (default),
'cocoa', 'gtk', 'none', 'spice' or 'spice-app'
--fullscreen : Starts VM in full screen mode (Ctl+Alt+f to
exit)
--ignore-msrs-always : Configure KVM to always ignore
unhandled machine-specific registers
--kill : Kill the VM process if it is running
--offline : Override all network settings and start the VM
offline
--shortcut : Create a desktop shortcut
--snapshot apply <tag> : Apply/restore a snapshot.
--snapshot create <tag> : Create a snapshot.
--snapshot delete <tag> : Delete a snapshot.
--snapshot info : Show disk/snapshot info.
--status-quo : Do not commit any changes to disk/snapshot.
--viewer <viewer> : Choose an alternative viewer.
@Options: 'spicy' (default), 'remote-viewer', 'none'
--width <width> : Set VM screen width; requires
'--height'
--height <height> : Set VM screen height; requires
'--width'
--ssh-port <port> : Set SSH port manually
--spice-port <port> : Set SPICE port manually
--public-dir <path> : Expose share directory.
@Options: '' (default: xdg-user-dir PUBLICSHARE),
'<directory>', 'none'
--monitor <type> : Set monitor connection type.
@Options: 'socket' (default), 'telnet', 'none'
--monitor-telnet-host <ip/host> : Set telnet host for
monitor. (default: 'localhost')
--monitor-telnet-port <port> : Set telnet port for
monitor. (default: '4440')
--monitor-cmd <cmd> : Send command to monitor if
available. (Example: system_powerdown)
--serial <type> : Set serial connection type.
@Options: 'socket' (default), 'telnet', 'none'
--serial-telnet-host <ip/host> : Set telnet host for
serial. (default: 'localhost')
--serial-telnet-port <port> : Set telnet port for
serial. (default: '6660')
--keyboard <type> : Set keyboard. @Options: 'usb'
(default), 'ps2', 'virtio'
--keyboard_layout <layout> : Set keyboard layout:
'en-us' (default)
--mouse <type> : Set mouse. @Options: 'tablet'
(default), 'ps2', 'usb', 'virtio'
--usb-controller <type> : Set usb-controller.
@Options: 'ehci' (default), 'xhci', 'none'
--sound-card <type> : Set sound card. @Options:
'intel-hda' (default), 'ac97', 'es1370', 'sb16',
'usb-audio', 'none'
--sound-duplex <type> : Set sound card duplex.
@Options: 'hda-micro' (default: speaker/mic), 'hda-duplex'
(line-in/line-out), 'hda-output' (output-only)
--extra_args <arguments> : Pass additional arguments
to qemu
--version : Print version
Desktop shortcuts
Desktop shortcuts can be created for a VM, the shortcuts are saved in ~/.local/share/applications. Here is an example of how to create a shortcut.
quickemu --vm ubuntu-22.04-desktop.conf --shortcut
References
Useful reference that assisted the development of Quickemu.
|
⢠|
General |
â˘
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
macOS
Windows
TPM
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
https://www.tecklyfe.com/how-to-create-a-windows-11-virtual-ma- chine-in-qemu/ |
|||
|
⢠|
9p & virtiofs
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
||||
|
⢠|
AUTHORS
Written by Martin Wimpress.
BUGS
Submit bug reports online at: https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/issues
SEE ALSO
Full sources at: https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu
quickemu_conf(5), quickget(1), quickgui(1)
AUTHORS
Martin Wimpress.