Using KVM and Qemu

Posted by ionut

May 12, 2008

1. check if you have a processor that supports virtualization:

egrep '^flags.*(svm|vmx)' /proc/cpuinfo

2. create the image to hold the guest OS (10G size in this case):

qemu-img create -f qcow opensuse.img 10G

3. insert KVM kernel modules in the kernel if you compiled them as modules

sudo modprobe kvm
sudo modprobe kvm-intel (for intel processors)
sudo modprobe kvm-amd  (for amd processors)

4. copy opensuse dvd/cd on your hard disk:

dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/home/user/opensuse.iso (for cd)
dd if=/dev/dvd of=/home/user/opensuse.iso (for dvd)

5. install the quest:

qemu-system-x86_64 -boot d -cdrom /home/user/opensuse.iso -hda opensuse.img

6. start your new installed system:

qemu-system-x86_64 opensuse.img

Do you want more?
* use -m parameter to specify the ammount of RAM for virtual machine (default 128MB)
* use -incoming [protocol:params] if you want to move your virtual machine
on the other machine
* check http://kvm.qumranet.com for documentation

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