Testing with QEMU

To test a system with QEMU, we recommend that you first build a ramdisk containing it, say myimage.img. We suppose your system (i.e., the user-space program) is stored in /my/system in the ramdisk.

You also need to build a recent Linux kernel, say linux.bin.

To launch QEMU, use the following command line:

qemu-system-x86_64
   -kernel linux.bin
   -initrd myimage.img
   -append "rdinit=/my/system"

We recommend the following options for QEMU:

# make QEMU faster by using KVM
-enable-kvm

# use newer simulated hardware
-machine q35

# make pointer handling better by simulating a tablet
-usbdevice "tablet"

# redirect the guest Linux console on the host terminal
-serial stdio
-append "console=ttyS0"

# enable better sound device
-soundhw "hda"

# make the guest Linux output more quiet
-append "quiet"