Quick Start

Download and uncompress a PC hard disk image with Linux installed (e.g. linux.img) and type:

qemu-system-x86_64 linux.img

Linux should boot and give you a prompt.

Users should be aware the above example elides a lot of the complexity of setting up a VM with x86_64 specific defaults and assumes the first non switch argument is a PC compatible disk image with a boot sector. For a non-x86 system where we emulate a broad range of machine types, the command lines are generally more explicit in defining the machine and boot behaviour. You will find more example command lines in the QEMU System Emulator Targets section of the manual.