QEMU – Machine Emulator

QEMU is a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer. When used with KVM, it can provide near-native performance virtualization, making it the foundation for many cloud platforms.

Key Features

• Full Emulation: Run any OS on any architecture
• KVM Integration: Hardware-accelerated virtualization
• Snapshot Support: Save and restore VM state
• Live Migration: Move VMs between hosts
• Device Emulation: USB, network, storage devices

Installation

Install QEMU/KVM on Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install qemu-kvm libvirt-daemon-system virtinst
sudo usermod -aG libvirt $USER
sudo usermod -aG kvm $USER

Usage Examples

Basic QEMU operations:

# Create disk image
qemu-img create -f qcow2 disk.qcow2 20G

# Boot from ISO
qemu-system-x86_64 -m 2048 -cdrom ubuntu.iso -boot d disk.qcow2

# Run with KVM acceleration
qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 4096 -cpu host disk.qcow2

Benefits

QEMU enables flexible virtualization from development to production. Its versatility supports everything from embedded system development to cloud infrastructure.

Download QEMU