QEMU Virtualmachine Powershell Error

Hello @FreeMind,

It appears that a file that is needed can NOT be found !

The original download could have been corrupted somehow. Have you tried uninstalling and re-installing the program ?

FreeMind said:

1. installed qemu on windows 10
2. followed the instructions from here:
How to Install QEMU on Windows 11 QEMU Installation Guide + Use Qemu on Windows 11 + Boot ISO Image - YouTube
QEMU Installation Guide for Windows PC 2022 - YouTube
One is for w10 the other w11 but the instructions are identical, on their videos it works, on my system it doesn't.

When i execute the command they use, powershell responds by saying the command i use is basically invalid.
Any hints?

In PowerShell you do not execute things directly but instead need to specify either full or partial path to file being executed.

For instance:

OK:

Code:

.\sqmu-system-x86_64.exe -bood d -cdrom windows-21H2-X64.ISO -m 16384

Wrong:

Code:

sqmu-system-x86_64.exe -bood d -cdrom windows-21H2-X64.ISO -m 16384

Another issue of yours is you need to enclose path into quotes if it contains spaces:

OK:

Code:

cd "C:\Program Files\qemu"

Wrong:

Code:

cd C:\Program Files\qemu

See docs:
Disk Images — QEMU documentation

You need to create virtual disk first.
It's format should be VHDX.

You then probably need to specify path to file with -drive flag, for ex:

Code:

.\sqmu-system-x86_64.exe -bood d -cdrom windows-21H2-X64.ISO -m 16384 -drive file=c/path/to/virtualdisk.vhdx

prior to that you need to create virtual disk ofc: (ex. for 50GB virtual disk)

Code:

.\qemu-img create c/path/to/virtualdisk.vhdx 52428800

zebal said:

See docs:
Disk Images — QEMU documentation

You need to create virtual disk first.
It's format should be VHDX.

You then probably need to specify path to file with -drive flag, for ex:

Code:

.\sqmu-system-x86_64.exe -bood d -cdrom windows-21H2-X64.ISO -m 16384 -drive file=c/path/to/virtualdisk.vhdx

prior to that you need to create virtual disk ofc: (ex. for 50GB virtual disk)

Code:

.\qemu-img create c/path/to/virtualdisk.vhdx 52428800

Of all the options why did you select VHDX?
PS: Tought 1GB = 1024MB so 1024x50 = 51200, how id you get the 52428800?

A suffix is necessary to run the command,

Code:

.\qemu-img create C/Program Files/qemu/virtualdrive/virtualdisk.vhdx 52428800

Invalid image size specified. You may use k, M, G, T, P or E suffixes for kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, petabytes and exabytes.
So i tried,

Code:

.\qemu-img create C/Program Files/qemu/virtualdrive/virtualdisk.vhdx 52428800 -G

But this didn't work, unrecognized option '-G'

FreeMind said:

Of all the options why did you select VHDX?

Because that's the virtual disk format which Windows will surely recognize.
Other formats might not be recognized.

FreeMind said:

PS: Tought 1GB = 1024MB so 1024x50 = 51200, how id you get the 52428800?

The docs say:

where myimage.img is the disk image filename and mysize is its size in kilobytes.

Therefore you need to multiply 3 times.

FreeMind said:

A suffix is necessary to run the command,

Code:

.\qemu-img create C/Program Files/qemu/virtualdrive/virtualdisk.vhdx 52428800

So i tried,

Code:

.\qemu-img create C/Program Files/qemu/virtualdrive/virtualdisk.vhdx 52428800 -G

But this didn't work,

In my post #18 I've shown how to run commands which contain spaces.
Enclose the path into quotes.

I don't know if suffix is needed but it's good you've figured that out.

Keep in mind when you deal with so unpopular software the docs are your best friend, provided you don't skip anything and read line by line.

edit:
I'm sorry but it seems there is indeed one error:

method 1:

Code:

.\qemu-img create "/C/Program Files/qemu/virtualdrive/virtualdisk.vhdx" 52428800

if not working then, method 2:

Code:

.\qemu-img create "C:/Program Files/qemu/virtualdrive/virtualdisk.vhdx" 52428800

if not working then, method 3:

Code:

.\qemu-img create "C:\Program Files\qemu\virtualdrive\virtualdisk.vhdx" 52428800

I though you're running this in bash shell.

FreeMind said:

Yeah i've edited my last reply, the suffix didn't even work, unsure how to use it as there is example in the docs.

Do you have a link? because I can't find this.
Anyway I think suffix has to do with disk size, ex. if the number is specified in giga bytes then you need suffix, but the default is kilobytes so there is no need

FreeMind said:

If i was to ever use linux and install qemu there, which filesystem would i use instead of VHDX?

Linux should be able to recognize a variety of formats and file systems.
I don't know exactly but raw format should work.

FreeMind said:

The softwre might be unpopular compared to vmware or virtualbox but it's opensource, no proprietary BS. It has something to do with trust and freedom.

Shouldn't that make the whole thing alot better?

Agree, open source is cool, but you can't completely escape close source.
There is always something which is not "free".

edit:
run help to see valid switches:

Code:

.\qemu-system-x86_64.exe /?

if not working then:

Code:

.\qemu-system-x86_64.exe -?

if not working then:

Code:

.\qemu-system-x86_64.exe -h

if not working then:

Code:

.\qemu-system-x86_64.exe --help