QEMU emulator version 11.1.3 (v11.1.3)
Copyright (c) 2003-2026 Fabrice Bellard and the QEMU Project developers
usage: qemu-system-x86_64 [options] [disk_image]
'disk_image' is a raw hard disk image for IDE hard disk 0
Standard options:
-h or -help display this help and exit
-version display version information and exit
-machine [type=]name[,prop=value[,...]]
selects emulated machine ('-machine help' for list)
property accel=accel1[:accel2[:...]] selects accelerator
supported accelerators are kvm, xen, hvf, nitro, nvmm, whpx, mshv or tcg (default: tcg)
vmport=on|off|auto controls emulation of vmport (default: auto)
dump-guest-core=on|off include guest memory in a core dump (default=on)
mem-merge=on|off controls memory merge support (default: on)
aes-key-wrap=on|off controls support for AES key wrapping (default=on)
dea-key-wrap=on|off controls support for DEA key wrapping (default=on)
suppress-vmdesc=on|off disables self-describing migration (default=off)
nvdimm=on|off controls NVDIMM support (default=off)
confidential-guest-support=<id> specifies confidential guest support object (default=none)
memory-encryption=<id> (memory-encryption is the alias of confidential-guest-support, recommend to use confidential-guest-support)
hmat=on|off controls ACPI HMAT support (default=off)
spcr=on|off controls ACPI SPCR support (default=on)
aux-ram-share=on|off allocate auxiliary guest RAM as shared (default: off)
memory-backend='backend-id' specifies explicitly provided backend for main RAM (default=none)
cxl-fmw.0.targets.0=firsttarget,cxl-fmw.0.targets.1=secondtarget,cxl-fmw.0.size=size[,cxl-fmw.0.interleave-granularity=granularity]
sgx-epc.0.memdev=memid,sgx-epc.0.node=numaid
smp-cache.0.cache=cachename,smp-cache.0.topology=topologylevel
-M as -machine
-cpu cpu select CPU ('-cpu help' for list)
-accel [accel=]accelerator[,prop=value[,...]]
select accelerator (kvm, xen, hvf, nitro, nvmm, whpx, mshv or tcg; use 'help' for a list)
igd-passthru=on|off (enable Xen integrated Intel graphics passthrough, default=off)
kernel-irqchip=on|off|split controls accelerated irqchip support (default=on)
kvm-shadow-mem=size of KVM shadow MMU in bytes
one-insn-per-tb=on|off (one guest instruction per TCG translation block)
split-wx=on|off (enable TCG split w^x mapping)
tb-size=n (TCG translation block cache size)
dirty-ring-size=n (KVM dirty ring GFN count, default 0)
eager-split-size=n (KVM Eager Page Split chunk size, default 0, disabled. ARM only)
notify-vmexit=run|internal-error|disable,notify-window=n (enable notify VM exit and set notify window, x86 only)
thread=single|multi (enable multi-threaded TCG)
device=path (KVM device path, default /dev/kvm)
-smp [[cpus=]n][,maxcpus=maxcpus][,drawers=drawers][,books=books][,sockets=sockets]
[,dies=dies][,clusters=clusters][,modules=modules][,cores=cores]
[,threads=threads]
set the number of initial CPUs to 'n' [default=1]
maxcpus= maximum number of total CPUs, including
offline CPUs for hotplug, etc
drawers= number of drawers on the machine board
books= number of books in one drawer
sockets= number of sockets in one book
dies= number of dies in one socket
clusters= number of clusters in one die
modules= number of modules in one cluster
cores= number of cores in one module
threads= number of threads in one core
Note: Different machines may have different subsets of the CPU topology
parameters supported, so the actual meaning of the supported parameters
will vary accordingly. For example, for a machine type that supports a
three-level CPU hierarchy of sockets/cores/threads, the parameters will
sequentially mean as below:
sockets means the number of sockets on the machine board
cores means the number of cores in one socket
threads means the number of threads in one core
For a particular machine type board, an expected CPU topology hierarchy
can be defined through the supported sub-option. Unsupported parameters
can also be provided in addition to the sub-option, but their values
must be set as 1 in the purpose of correct parsing.
-numa node[,mem=size][,cpus=firstcpu[-lastcpu]][,nodeid=node][,initiator=node]
-numa node[,memdev=id][,cpus=firstcpu[-lastcpu]][,nodeid=node][,initiator=node]
-numa dist,src=source,dst=destination,val=distance
-numa cpu,node-id=node[,socket-id=x][,core-id=y][,thread-id=z]
-numa hmat-lb,initiator=node,target=node,hierarchy=memory|first-level|second-level|third-level,data-type=access-latency|read-latency|write-latency[,latency=lat][,bandwidth=bw]
-numa hmat-cache,node-id=node,size=size,level=level[,associativity=none|direct|complex][,policy=none|write-back|write-through][,line=size]
-add-fd fd=fd,set=set[,opaque=opaque]
Add 'fd' to fd 'set'
-set group.id.arg=value
set <arg> parameter for item <id> of type <group>
i.e. -set drive.$id.file=/path/to/image
-global driver.property=value
-global driver=driver,property=property,value=value
set a global default for a driver property
-boot [order=drives][,once=drives][,menu=on|off]
[,splash=sp_name][,splash-time=sp_time][,reboot-timeout=rb_time][,strict=on|off]
'drives': floppy (a), hard disk (c), CD-ROM (d), network (n)
'sp_name': the file's name that would be passed to bios as logo picture, if menu=on
'sp_time': the period that splash picture last if menu=on, unit is ms
'rb_timeout': the timeout before guest reboot when boot failed, unit is ms
-m [size=]megs[,slots=n,maxmem=size]
configure guest RAM
size: initial amount of guest memory
slots: number of hotplug slots (default: none)
maxmem: maximum amount of guest memory (default: none)
Note: Some architectures might enforce a specific granularity
-mem-path FILE provide backing storage for guest RAM
-mem-prealloc preallocate guest memory (use with -mem-path)
-k language use keyboard layout (for example 'fr' for French)
-audio [driver=]driver[,prop=value[,...]]
specifies default audio backend when `audiodev` is not
used to create a machine or sound device; options are the same as for -audiodev
-audio [driver=]driver,model=value[,prop=value[,...]]
specifies the audio backend and device to use;
apart from 'model', options are the same as for -audiodev.
use '-audio model=help' to show possible devices.
-audiodev [driver=]driver,id=id[,prop=value[,...]]
specifies the audio backend to use
Use ``-audiodev help`` to list the available drivers
id= identifier of the backend
timer-period= timer period in microseconds
in|out.mixing-engine= use mixing engine to mix streams inside QEMU
in|out.fixed-settings= use fixed settings for host audio
in|out.frequency= frequency to use with fixed settings
in|out.channels= number of channels to use with fixed settings
in|out.format= sample format to use with fixed settings
valid values: s8, s16, s32, u8, u16, u32, f32
in|out.voices= number of voices to use
in|out.buffer-length= length of buffer in microseconds
-audiodev none,id=id,[,prop=value[,...]]
dummy driver that discards all output
-audiodev oss,id=id[,prop=value[,...]]
in|out.dev= path of the audio device to use
in|out.buffer-count= number of buffers
in|out.try-poll= attempt to use poll mode
try-mmap= try using memory mapped access
exclusive= open device in exclusive mode
dsp-policy= set timing policy (0..10), -1 to use fragment mode
-audiodev spice,id=id[,prop=value[,...]]
-audiodev dbus,id=id[,prop=value[,...]]
-audiodev wav,id=id[,prop=value[,...]]
path= path of wav file to record
-device driver[,prop=value[,...]]
add device (based on driver)
prop=value,... sets driver properties
use '-device help' to print all possible drivers
use '-device driver,help' to print all possible properties
-name string1[,process=string2][,debug-threads=on|off]
set the name of the guest
string1 sets the window title and string2 the process name
When debug-threads is enabled, individual threads are given a separate name
NOTE: The thread names are for debugging and not a stable API.
-uuid %08x-%04x-%04x-%04x-%012x
specify machine UUID
Block device options:
-fda/-fdb file use 'file' as floppy disk 0/1 image
-hda/-hdb file use 'file' as hard disk 0/1 image
-hdc/-hdd file use 'file' as hard disk 2/3 image
-cdrom file use 'file' as CD-ROM image
-blockdev [driver=]driver[,node-name=N][,discard=ignore|unmap]
[,cache.direct=on|off][,cache.no-flush=on|off]
[,read-only=on|off][,auto-read-only=on|off]
[,force-share=on|off][,detect-zeroes=on|off|unmap]
[,driver specific parameters...]
configure a block backend
-drive [file=file][,if=type][,bus=n][,unit=m][,media=d][,index=i]
[,cache=writethrough|writeback|none|directsync|unsafe][,format=f]
[,snapshot=on|off][,rerror=ignore|stop|report]
[,werror=ignore|stop|report|enospc][,id=name]
[,aio=threads|native|io_uring]
[,readonly=on|off][,copy-on-read=on|off]
[,discard=ignore|unmap][,detect-zeroes=on|off|unmap]
[[,bps=b]|[[,bps_rd=r][,bps_wr=w]]]
[[,iops=i]|[[,iops_rd=r][,iops_wr=w]]]
[[,bps_max=bm]|[[,bps_rd_max=rm][,bps_wr_max=wm]]]
[[,iops_max=im]|[[,iops_rd_max=irm][,iops_wr_max=iwm]]]
[[,iops_size=is]]
[[,group=g]]
use 'file' as a drive image
-mtdblock file use 'file' as on-board Flash memory image
-sd file use 'file' as SecureDigital card image
-snapshot write to temporary files instead of disk image files
-fsdev local,id=id,path=path,security_model=mapped-xattr|mapped-file|passthrough|none
[,writeout=immediate][,readonly=on][,fmode=fmode][,dmode=dmode][,max_xattr=max]
[[,throttling.bps-total=b]|[[,throttling.bps-read=r][,throttling.bps-write=w]]]
[[,throttling.iops-total=i]|[[,throttling.iops-read=r][,throttling.iops-write=w]]]
[[,throttling.bps-total-max=bm]|[[,throttling.bps-read-max=rm][,throttling.bps-write-max=wm]]]
[[,throttling.iops-total-max=im]|[[,throttling.iops-read-max=irm][,throttling.iops-write-max=iwm]]]
[[,throttling.iops-size=is]]
-fsdev synth,id=id[,max_xattr=max]
-virtfs local,path=path,mount_tag=tag,security_model=mapped-xattr|mapped-file|passthrough|none
[,id=id][,writeout=immediate][,readonly=on][,fmode=fmode][,dmode=dmode][,multidevs=remap|forbid|warn][,max_xattr=max]
-virtfs synth,mount_tag=tag[,id=id][,readonly=on][,max_xattr=max]
-iscsi [user=user][,password=password][,password-secret=secret-id]
[,header-digest=CRC32C|CR32C-NONE|NONE-CRC32C|NONE]
[,initiator-name=initiator-iqn][,id=target-iqn]
[,timeout=timeout]
iSCSI session parameters
USB convenience options:
-usb enable on-board USB host controller (if not enabled by default)
-usbdevice name add the host or guest USB device 'name'
Display options:
-display spice-app[,gl=on|off]
-display vnc=<display>[,<optargs>]
-display curses[,charset=<encoding>]
-display dbus[,addr=<dbusaddr>]
[,gl=on|core|es|off][,rendernode=<file>]
-display none
select display backend type
The default display is equivalent to
"-vnc localhost:0,to=99,id=default"
-nographic disable graphical output and redirect serial I/Os to console
-spice [port=port][,tls-port=secured-port][,x509-dir=<dir>]
[,x509-key-file=<file>][,x509-key-password=<file>]
[,x509-cert-file=<file>][,x509-cacert-file=<file>]
[,x509-dh-key-file=<file>][,addr=addr]
[,ipv4=on|off][,ipv6=on|off][,unix=on|off]
[,tls-ciphers=<list>]
[,tls-channel=main|display|cursor|inputs|record|playback]
[,plaintext-channel=main|display|cursor|inputs|record|playback]
[,sasl=on|off][,disable-ticketing=on|off]
[,password-secret=<secret-id>]
[,image-compression=auto_glz|auto_lz|quic|glz|lz|off]
[,jpeg-wan-compression=auto|never|always]
[,zlib-glz-wan-compression=auto|never|always]
[,streaming-video=off|all|filter][,disable-copy-paste=on|off]
[,disable-agent-file-xfer=on|off][,agent-mouse=on|off]
[,playback-compression=on|off][,seamless-migration=on|off]
[,video-codec=<codec>
[,max-refresh-rate=rate
[,gl=on|off][,rendernode=<file>]
enable spice
at least one of {port, tls-port} is mandatory
-vga [std|cirrus|vmware|qxl|xenfb|tcx|cg3|virtio|none]
select video card type
-full-screen start in full screen
-vnc <display> shorthand for -display vnc=<display>
i386 target only:
-win2k-hack use it when installing Windows 2000 to avoid a disk full bug
-no-fd-bootchk disable boot signature checking for floppy disks
-acpitable [sig=str][,rev=n][,oem_id=str][,oem_table_id=str][,oem_rev=n][,asl_compiler_id=str][,asl_compiler_rev=n][,{data|file}=file1[:file2]...]
ACPI table description
-smbios file=binary
load SMBIOS entry from binary file
-smbios type=0[,vendor=str][,version=str][,date=str][,release=%d.%d]
[,uefi=on|off][,vm=on|off]
specify SMBIOS type 0 fields
-smbios type=1[,manufacturer=str][,product=str][,version=str][,serial=str]
[,uuid=uuid][,sku=str][,family=str]
specify SMBIOS type 1 fields
-smbios type=2[,manufacturer=str][,product=str][,version=str][,serial=str]
[,asset=str][,location=str]
specify SMBIOS type 2 fields
-smbios type=3[,manufacturer=str][,version=str][,serial=str][,asset=str]
[,sku=str]
specify SMBIOS type 3 fields
-smbios type=4[,sock_pfx=str][,manufacturer=str][,version=str][,serial=str]
[,asset=str][,part=str][,max-speed=%d][,current-speed=%d]
[,processor-family=%d][,processor-id=%d]
specify SMBIOS type 4 fields
-smbios type=8[,external_reference=str][,internal_reference=str][,connector_type=%d][,port_type=%d]
specify SMBIOS type 8 fields
-smbios type=11[,value=str][,path=filename]
specify SMBIOS type 11 fields
-smbios type=17[,loc_pfx=str][,bank=str][,manufacturer=str][,serial=str]
[,asset=str][,part=str][,speed=%d]
specify SMBIOS type 17 fields
-smbios type=41[,designation=str][,kind=str][,instance=%d][,pcidev=str]
specify SMBIOS type 41 fields
Network options:
-netdev passt,id=str[,path=file][,quiet=on|off][,vhost-user=on|off]
[,mtu=mtu][,address=addr][,netmask=mask][,mac=addr][,gateway=addr]
[,interface=name][,outbound=address][,outbound-if4=name]
[,outbound-if6=name][,dns=addr][,search=list][,fqdn=name]
[,dhcp-dns=on|off][,dhcp-search=on|off][,map-host-loopback=addr]
[,map-guest-addr=addr][,dns-forward=addr][,dns-host=addr]
[,tcp=on|off][,udp=on|off][,icmp=on|off][,dhcp=on|off]
[,ndp=on|off][,dhcpv6=on|off][,ra=on|off][,freebind=on|off]
[,ipv4=on|off][,ipv6=on|off][,tcp-ports=spec][,udp-ports=spec]
[,param=list]
configure a passt network backend with ID 'str'
if 'path' is not provided 'passt' will be started according to PATH
by default, informational message of passt are not displayed (quiet=on)
to display this message, use 'quiet=off'
by default, passt will be started in socket-based mode, to enable vhost-mode,
use 'vhost-user=on'
for details on other options, refer to passt(1)
'param' allows to pass any option defined by passt(1)
-netdev user,id=str[,ipv4=on|off][,net=addr[/mask]][,host=addr]
[,ipv6=on|off][,ipv6-net=addr[/int]][,ipv6-host=addr]
[,restrict=on|off][,hostname=host][,dhcpstart=addr]
[,dns=addr][,ipv6-dns=addr][,dnssearch=domain][,domainname=domain]
[,tftp=dir][,tftp-server-name=name][,bootfile=f][,hostfwd=rule][,guestfwd=rule][,smb=dir[,smbserver=addr]]
configure a user mode network backend with ID 'str',
its DHCP server and optional services
-netdev tap,id=str[,fd=h][,fds=x:y:...:z][,ifname=name][,script=file][,downscript=dfile]
[,br=bridge][,helper=helper][,sndbuf=nbytes][,vnet_hdr=on|off][,vhost=on|off]
[,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,vhostforce=on|off][,queues=n]
[,poll-us=n]
configure a host TAP network backend with ID 'str'
connected to a bridge (default=br0)
use network scripts 'file' (default=/etc/qemu-ifup)
to configure it and 'dfile' (default=/etc/qemu-ifdown)
to deconfigure it
use '[down]script=no' to disable script execution
use network helper 'helper' (default=/usr/libexec/qemu-bridge-helper) to
configure it
use 'fd=h' to connect to an already opened TAP interface
use 'fds=x:y:...:z' to connect to already opened multiqueue capable TAP interfaces
use 'sndbuf=nbytes' to limit the size of the send buffer (the
default is disabled 'sndbuf=0' to enable flow control set 'sndbuf=1048576')
use vnet_hdr=off to avoid enabling the IFF_VNET_HDR tap flag
use vnet_hdr=on to make the lack of IFF_VNET_HDR support an error condition
use vhost=on to enable experimental in kernel accelerator
(only has effect for virtio guests which use MSIX)
use vhostforce=on to force vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests
use 'vhostfd=h' to connect to an already opened vhost net device
use 'vhostfds=x:y:...:z to connect to multiple already opened vhost net devices
use 'queues=n' to specify the number of queues to be created for multiqueue TAP
use 'poll-us=n' to specify the maximum number of microseconds that could be
spent on busy polling for vhost net
-netdev bridge,id=str[,br=bridge][,helper=helper]
configure a host TAP network backend with ID 'str' that is
connected to a bridge (default=br0)
using the program 'helper (default=/usr/libexec/qemu-bridge-helper)
-netdev l2tpv3,id=str,src=srcaddr,dst=dstaddr[,srcport=srcport][,dstport=dstport]
[,rxsession=rxsession],txsession=txsession[,ipv6=on|off][,udp=on|off]
[,cookie64=on|off][,counter][,pincounter][,txcookie=txcookie]
[,rxcookie=rxcookie][,offset=offset]
configure a network backend with ID 'str' connected to
an Ethernet over L2TPv3 pseudowire.
Linux kernel 3.3+ as well as most routers can talk
L2TPv3. This transport allows connecting a VM to a VM,
VM to a router and even VM to Host. It is a nearly-universal
standard (RFC3931). Note - this implementation uses static
pre-configured tunnels (same as the Linux kernel).
use 'src=' to specify source address
use 'dst=' to specify destination address
use 'udp=on' to specify udp encapsulation
use 'srcport=' to specify source udp port
use 'dstport=' to specify destination udp port
use 'ipv6=on' to force v6
L2TPv3 uses cookies to prevent misconfiguration as
well as a weak security measure
use 'rxcookie=0x012345678' to specify a rxcookie
use 'txcookie=0x012345678' to specify a txcookie
use 'cookie64=on' to set cookie size to 64 bit, otherwise 32
use 'counter=off' to force a 'cut-down' L2TPv3 with no counter
use 'pincounter=on' to work around broken counter handling in peer
use 'offset=X' to add an extra offset between header and data
-netdev socket,id=str[,fd=h][,listen=[host]:port][,connect=host:port]
configure a network backend to connect to another network
using a socket connection
-netdev socket,id=str[,fd=h][,mcast=maddr:port[,localaddr=addr]]
configure a network backend to connect to a multicast maddr and port
use 'localaddr=addr' to specify the host address to send packets from
-netdev socket,id=str[,fd=h][,udp=host:port][,localaddr=host:port]
configure a network backend to connect to another network
using an UDP tunnel
-netdev stream,id=str[,server=on|off],addr.type=inet,addr.host=host,addr.port=port[,to=maxport][,numeric=on|off][,keep-alive=on|off][,mptcp=on|off][,addr.ipv4=on|off][,addr.ipv6=on|off][,reconnect-ms=milliseconds]
-netdev stream,id=str[,server=on|off],addr.type=unix,addr.path=path[,abstract=on|off][,tight=on|off][,reconnect-ms=milliseconds]
-netdev stream,id=str[,server=on|off],addr.type=fd,addr.str=file-descriptor[,reconnect-ms=milliseconds]
configure a network backend to connect to another network
using a socket connection in stream mode.
-netdev dgram,id=str,remote.type=inet,remote.host=maddr,remote.port=port[,local.type=inet,local.host=addr]
-netdev dgram,id=str,remote.type=inet,remote.host=maddr,remote.port=port[,local.type=fd,local.str=file-descriptor]
configure a network backend to connect to a multicast maddr and port
use ``local.host=addr`` to specify the host address to send packets from
-netdev dgram,id=str,local.type=inet,local.host=addr,local.port=port[,remote.type=inet,remote.host=addr,remote.port=port]
-netdev dgram,id=str,local.type=unix,local.path=path[,remote.type=unix,remote.path=path]
-netdev dgram,id=str,local.type=fd,local.str=file-descriptor
configure a network backend to connect to another network
using an UDP tunnel
-netdev vhost-user,id=str,chardev=dev[,vhostforce=on|off]
configure a vhost-user network, backed by a chardev 'dev'
-netdev vhost-vdpa,id=str[,vhostdev=/path/to/dev][,vhostfd=h]
configure a vhost-vdpa network,Establish a vhost-vdpa netdev
use 'vhostdev=/path/to/dev' to open a vhost vdpa device
use 'vhostfd=h' to connect to an already opened vhost vdpa device
-netdev hubport,id=str,hubid=n[,netdev=nd]
configure a hub port on the hub with ID 'n'
-nic [tap|bridge|passt|user|l2tpv3|vhost-user|socket][,option][,...][mac=macaddr]
initialize an on-board / default host NIC (using MAC address
macaddr) and connect it to the given host network backend
-nic none use it alone to have zero network devices (the default is to
provided a 'user' network connection)
-net nic[,macaddr=mac][,model=type][,name=str][,addr=str][,vectors=v]
configure or create an on-board (or machine default) NIC and
connect it to hub 0 (please use -nic unless you need a hub)
-net [passt|user|tap|bridge|socket][,option][,option][,...]
old way to initialize a host network interface
(use the -netdev option if possible instead)
Character device options:
-chardev help
-chardev null,id=id[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev socket,id=id[,host=host],port=port[,to=to][,ipv4=on|off][,ipv6=on|off][,nodelay=on|off]
[,server=on|off][,wait=on|off][,telnet=on|off][,websocket=on|off][,reconnect-ms=milliseconds][,mux=on|off]
[,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off][,tls-creds=ID][,tls-authz=ID] (tcp)
-chardev socket,id=id,path=path[,server=on|off][,wait=on|off][,telnet=on|off][,websocket=on|off][,reconnect-ms=milliseconds]
[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off][,abstract=on|off][,tight=on|off] (unix)
-chardev udp,id=id[,host=host],port=port[,localaddr=localaddr]
[,localport=localport][,ipv4=on|off][,ipv6=on|off][,mux=on|off]
[,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev msmouse,id=id[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev vc,id=id[[,width=width][,height=height]][[,cols=cols][,rows=rows]]
[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off][,encoding=ENCODING]
-chardev ringbuf,id=id[,size=size][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev file,id=id,path=path[,input-path=input-file][,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev pipe,id=id,path=path[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev pty,id=id[,path=path][,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev stdio,id=id[,mux=on|off][,signal=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev serial,id=id,path=path[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev parallel,id=id,path=path[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev spicevmc,id=id,name=name[,debug=debug][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev spiceport,id=id,name=name[,debug=debug][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
-chardev dbus,id=id,name=name[,mux=on|off][,logfile=PATH][,logappend=on|off]
TPM device options:
-tpmdev passthrough,id=id[,path=path][,cancel-path=path]
use path to provide path to a character device; default is /dev/tpm0
use cancel-path to provide path to TPM's cancel sysfs entry; if
not provided it will be searched for in /sys/class/misc/tpm?/device
-tpmdev emulator,id=id,chardev=dev
configure the TPM device using chardev backend
Boot Image or Kernel specific:
-bios file set the filename for the BIOS
-pflash file use 'file' as a parallel flash image
-kernel bzImage use 'bzImage' as kernel image
-shim shim.efi use 'shim.efi' to boot the kernel
-append cmdline use 'cmdline' as kernel command line
-initrd file use 'file' as initial ram disk
-dtb file use 'file' as device tree image
Debug/Expert options:
-compat [deprecated-input=accept|reject|crash][,deprecated-output=accept|hide]
Policy for handling deprecated management interfaces
-compat [unstable-input=accept|reject|crash][,unstable-output=accept|hide]
Policy for handling unstable management interfaces
-fw_cfg [name=]<name>,file=<file>
add named fw_cfg entry with contents from file
-fw_cfg [name=]<name>,string=<str>
add named fw_cfg entry with contents from string
-serial dev redirect the serial port to char device 'dev'
-parallel dev redirect the parallel port to char device 'dev'
-monitor dev redirect the monitor to char device 'dev'
-qmp dev like -monitor but opens in 'control' mode
-qmp-pretty dev like -qmp but uses pretty JSON formatting
-mon [chardev=]name[,mode=readline|control][,pretty=on|off]
-debugcon dev redirect the debug console to char device 'dev'
-pidfile file write PID to 'file'
--preconfig pause QEMU before machine is initialized (experimental)
-S freeze CPU at startup (use 'c' to start execution)
-overcommit [mem-lock=on|off|on-fault][cpu-pm=on|off]
run qemu with overcommit hints
mem-lock=on|off|on-fault controls memory lock support (default: off)
cpu-pm=on|off controls cpu power management (default: off)
-gdb dev accept gdb connection on 'dev'. (QEMU defaults to starting
the guest without waiting for gdb to connect; use -S too
if you want it to not start execution.)
-s shorthand for -gdb tcp::1234
-d item1,... enable logging of specified items (use '-d help' for a list of log items)
-D logfile output log to logfile (default stderr)
-dfilter range,.. filter debug output to range of addresses (useful for -d cpu,exec,etc..)
-seed number seed the pseudo-random number generator
-L path set the directory for the BIOS, VGA BIOS and keymaps
-enable-kvm enable KVM full virtualization support
-xen-domid id specify xen guest domain id
-xen-attach attach to existing xen domain
libxl will use this when starting QEMU
-xen-domid-restrict restrict set of available xen operations
to specified domain id. (Does not affect
xenpv machine type).
-no-reboot exit instead of rebooting
-no-shutdown stop before shutdown
-action reboot=reset|shutdown
action when guest reboots [default=reset]
-action shutdown=poweroff|pause
action when guest shuts down [default=poweroff]
-action panic=pause|shutdown|exit-failure|none
action when guest panics [default=shutdown]
-action watchdog=reset|shutdown|poweroff|inject-nmi|pause|debug|none
action when watchdog fires [default=reset]
-loadvm [tag|id]
start right away with a saved state (loadvm in monitor)
-daemonize daemonize QEMU after initializing
-option-rom rom load a file, rom, into the option ROM space
-rtc [base=utc|localtime|<datetime>][,clock=host|rt|vm][,driftfix=none|slew]
set the RTC base and clock, enable drift fix for clock ticks (x86 only)
-icount [shift=N|auto][,align=on|off][,sleep=on|off][,rr=record|replay,rrfile=<filename>[,rrsnapshot=<snapshot>]]
enable virtual instruction counter with 2^N clock ticks per
instruction, enable aligning the host and virtual clocks
or disable real time cpu sleeping, and optionally enable
record-and-replay mode
-watchdog-action reset|shutdown|poweroff|inject-nmi|pause|debug|none
action when watchdog fires [default=reset]
-echr chr set terminal escape character instead of ctrl-a
-incoming tcp:[host]:port[,to=maxport][,ipv4=on|off][,ipv6=on|off]
-incoming rdma:host:port[,ipv4=on|off][,ipv6=on|off]
-incoming unix:socketpath
prepare for incoming migration, listen on
specified protocol and socket address
-incoming fd:fd
-incoming file:filename[,offset=offset]
-incoming exec:cmdline
accept incoming migration on given file descriptor
or from given external command
-incoming <channel>
accept incoming migration on the migration channel
-incoming defer
wait for the URI to be specified via migrate_incoming
-only-migratable allow only migratable devices
-nodefaults don't create default devices
-sandbox on[,obsolete=allow|deny][,elevateprivileges=allow|deny|children]
[,spawn=allow|deny][,resourcecontrol=allow|deny]
Enable seccomp mode 2 system call filter (default 'off').
use 'obsolete' to allow obsolete system calls that are provided
by the kernel, but typically no longer used by modern
C library implementations.
use 'elevateprivileges' to allow or deny the QEMU process ability
to elevate privileges using set*uid|gid system calls.
The value 'children' will deny set*uid|gid system calls for
main QEMU process but will allow forks and execves to run unprivileged
use 'spawn' to avoid QEMU to spawn new threads or processes by
blocking *fork and execve
use 'resourcecontrol' to disable process affinity and scheduler priority
-readconfig <file>
read config file
-no-user-config
do not load default user-provided config files at startup
-trace [[enable=]<pattern>][,events=<file>][,file=<file>]
specify tracing options
-plugin [file=]<file>[,<argname>=<argvalue>]
load a plugin
-run-with [async-teardown=on|off][,chroot=dir]
[,exit-with-parent=on|off][,user=username|uid:gid]
Set miscellaneous QEMU process lifecycle options:
async-teardown=on enables asynchronous teardown (Linux only)
exit-with-parent=on causes QEMU to exit if the parent
process of QEMU exits (Linux, FreeBSD, macOS only)
chroot=dir chroot to dir just before starting the VM
user=username switch to the specified user before starting the VM
user=uid:gid ditto, but use specified user-ID and group-ID instead
-msg [timestamp=on|off][,guest-name=on|off]
control error message format
timestamp=on enables timestamps (default: off)
guest-name=on enables guest name prefix but only if
-name guest option is set (default: off)
-dump-vmstate <file>
Output vmstate information in JSON format to file.
Use the scripts/vmstate-static-checker.py file to
check for possible regressions in migration code
by comparing two such vmstate dumps.
-enable-sync-profile
enable synchronization profiling
-perfmap generate a /tmp/perf-${pid}.map file for perf
-jitdump generate a jit-${pid}.dump file for perf
Generic object creation:
-object TYPENAME[,PROP1=VALUE1,...]
create a new object of type TYPENAME setting properties
in the order they are specified. Note that the 'id'
property must be set. These objects are placed in the
'/objects' path.
During emulation, the following keys are useful:
ctrl-alt-f toggle full screen
ctrl-alt-n switch to virtual console 'n'
ctrl-alt-g toggle mouse and keyboard grab
When using -nographic, press 'ctrl-a h' to get some help.
See <https://qemu.org/contribute/report-a-bug> for how to report bugs.
More information on the QEMU project at <https://qemu.org>.
Options (112)
| Option | Description | Source |
|---|
-h, -help | display this help and exit | help + man |
-version | display version information and exit | help + man |
-machine type=]name | selects emulated machine ('-machine help' for list) property accel=accel1[:accel2[:...]] selects accelerator supported accelerators are kvm, xen, hvf, nitro, nvmm, whpx, mshv or tcg (default: tcg)… | help |
-M | as -machine. | help + man |
-cpu cpu | Select CPU model (-cpu help for list and additional feature selection) | help + man |
-accel accel=]accelerator | select accelerator (kvm, xen, hvf, nitro, nvmm, whpx, mshv or tcg; | help |
-smp cpus=]n | [,dies=dies][,clusters=clusters][,modules=modules][,cores=cores] [,threads=threads] set the number of initial CPUs to 'n' [default=1] maxcpus= maximum number of total CPUs, including offline CPUs for… | help |
-numa node | [-numa cpu,node-id=node[,socket-id=x][,core-id=y][,thread-id=z]](#numa~4) | help + man |
-add-fd fd=fd | Add 'fd' to fd 'set' | help |
-set group.id.arg=value | set <arg> parameter for item <id> of type <group> i.e. -set drive.$id.file=/path/to/image | help + man |
-global driver.property=value | | help + man |
-boot order=drives | [,splash=sp_name][,splash-time=sp_time][,reboot-timeout=rb_time][,strict=on|off] 'drives': floppy (a), hard disk (c), CD-ROM (d), network (n) 'sp_name': the file's name that would be passed to bios… | help |
-m size=]megs | configure guest RAM size: initial amount of guest memory slots: number of hotplug slots (default: none) maxmem: maximum amount of guest memory (default: none) Note: Some architectures might enforce a… | help |
-mem-path FILE | Allocate guest RAM from a temporarily created file in path. | help + man |
-mem-prealloc | preallocate guest memory (use with -mem-path) | help + man |
-k language | Use keyboard layout language (for example fr for French). | help + man |
-audio driver=]driver | specifies default audio backend when `audiodev` is not used to create a machine or sound device; | help |
-audiodev driver=]driver | specifies the audio backend to use Use ``-audiodev help`` to list the available drivers id= identifier of the backend timer-period= timer period in microseconds in|out.mixing-engine= use mixing… | help |
-device driver | add device (based on driver) prop=value,... | help + man |
-name string1 | set the name of the guest string1 sets the window title and string2 the process name When debug-threads is enabled, individual threads are given a separate name NOTE: The thread names are for… | help + man |
-uuid %08x-%04x-%04x-%04x-%012x | specify machine UUID | help + man |
-cdrom file | Use file as CD-ROM image on the default bus of the emulated machine (which is IDE1 master on x86, so you cannot use -hdc and -cdrom at the same time there). | help + man |
-blockdev driver=]driver | [,cache.direct=on|off][,cache.no-flush=on|off] [,read-only=on|off][,auto-read-only=on|off] [,force-share=on|off][,detect-zeroes=on|off|unmap] [,driver specific parameters...] configure a block backend | help |
-drive file=file | [,cache=writethrough|writeback|none|directsync|unsafe][,format=f] [,snapshot=on|off][,rerror=ignore|stop|report] [,werror=ignore|stop|report|enospc][,id=name] [,aio=threads|native|io_uring]… | help + man |
-mtdblock file | use 'file' as on-board Flash memory image | help + man |
-sd file | use 'file' as SecureDigital card image | help + man |
-snapshot | Write to temporary files instead of disk image files. | help + man |
-fsdev local | [,writeout=immediate][,readonly=on][,fmode=fmode][,dmode=dmode][,max_xattr=max] [[,throttling.bps-total=b]|[[,throttling.bps-read=r][,throttling.bps-write=w]]]… | help + man |
-virtfs local | [,id=id][,writeout=immediate][,readonly=on][,fmode=fmode][,dmode=dmode][,multidevs=remap|forbid|warn][,max_xattr=max] | help |
-iscsi user=user | [,header-digest=CRC32C|CR32C-NONE|NONE-CRC32C|NONE] [,initiator-name=initiator-iqn][,id=target-iqn] [,timeout=timeout] iSCSI session parameters | help + man |
-usb | Enable USB emulation on machine types with an on-board USB host controller (if not enabled by default). | help + man |
-display spice-app | Select type of display to use. | help + man |
-nographic | Normally, if QEMU is compiled with graphical window support, it displays output such as guest graphics, guest console, and the QEMU monitor in a window. | help + man |
-spice port=port | [,x509-key-file=<file>][,x509-key-password=<file>] [,x509-cert-file=<file>][,x509-cacert-file=<file>] [,x509-dh-key-file=<file>][,addr=addr] [,ipv4=on|off][,ipv6=on|off][,unix=on|off]… | help |
-vga type | Select type of VGA card to emulate. | help + man |
-full-screen | Start in full screen. | help + man |
-vnc display | shorthand for -display vnc=<display> | help |
-win2k-hack | Use it when installing Windows 2000 to avoid a disk full bug. | help + man |
-no-fd-bootchk | Disable boot signature checking for floppy disks in BIOS. | help + man |
-acpitable sig=str | ACPI table description | help |
-smbios file=binary | Load SMBIOS entry from binary file. | help + man |
-netdev passt | Configure a network backend to connect to another QEMU virtual machine or a proxy using a datagram oriented socket file descriptor. | help + man |
-nic none | initialize an on-board / default host NIC (using MAC address macaddr) and connect it to the given host network backend | help + man |
-net nic | configure or create an on-board (or machine default) NIC and connect it to hub 0 (please use -nic unless you need a hub) | help |
-chardev help | A void device. | help + man |
-tpmdev passthrough | (Linux-host only) Enable access to the host's TPM using the passthrough driver. | help + man |
-bios file | Set the filename for the BIOS. | help + man |
-pflash file | use 'file' as a parallel flash image | help + man |
-initrd file | use 'file' as initial ram disk | help + man |
-dtb file | Use file as a device tree binary (dtb) image and pass it to the kernel on boot. | help + man |
-compat deprecated-input=accept|reject|crash | Policy for handling deprecated management interfaces | help |
-fw_cfg name=]<name | add named fw_cfg entry with contents from file | help |
-serial dev | Redirect the virtual serial port to host character device dev. | help + man |
-parallel dev | Redirect the virtual parallel port to host device dev (same devices as the serial port). | help + man |
-monitor dev | Redirect the monitor to host device dev (same devices as the serial port). | help + man |
-qmp dev | Like -monitor but opens in 'control' mode. | help + man |
-mon chardev=]name | | help |
-debugcon dev | Redirect the debug console to host device dev (same devices as the serial port). | help + man |
-pidfile file | Store the QEMU process PID in file. | help + man |
--preconfig | Pause QEMU for interactive configuration before the machine is created, which allows querying and configuring properties that will affect machine initialization. | help + man |
-S | Do not start CPU at startup (you must type 'c' in the monitor). | help + man |
-overcommit mem-lock=on|off|on-fault][cpu-pm=on|off | run qemu with overcommit hints mem-lock=on|off|on-fault controls memory lock support (default: off) cpu-pm=on|off controls cpu power management (default: off) | help + man |
-gdb dev | Accept a gdb connection on device dev (see the GDB usage <#gdb-usage> chapter in the System Emulation Users Guide). | help + man |
-s | Shorthand for -gdb <tcp::1234>, i.e. open a gdbserver on TCP port 1234 (see the GDB usage <#gdb-usage> chapter in the System Emulation Users Guide). | help + man |
-d item1 | enable logging of specified items (use '-d help' for a list of log items) | help |
-D logfile | Output log in logfile instead of to stderr | help + man |
-dfilter range | filter debug output to range of addresses (useful for -d cpu,exec,etc..) | help |
-seed number | Force the guest to use a deterministic pseudo-random number generator, seeded with number. | help + man |
-L path | Set the directory for the BIOS, VGA BIOS and keymaps. | help + man |
-enable-kvm | Enable KVM full virtualization support. | help + man |
-xen-domid id | Specify xen guest domain id (XEN only). | help + man |
-xen-attach | attach to existing xen domain libxl will use this when starting QEMU | help + man |
-xen-domid-restrict | restrict set of available xen operations to specified domain id. | help |
-no-reboot | Exit instead of rebooting. | help + man |
-no-shutdown | Don't exit QEMU on guest shutdown, but instead only stop the emulation. | help + man |
-action reboot=reset|shutdown | The action parameter serves to modify QEMU's default behavior when certain guest events occur. | help + man |
-loadvm tag|id | start right away with a saved state (loadvm in monitor) | help + man |
-daemonize | Daemonize the QEMU process after initialization. | help + man |
-rtc base=utc|localtime|<datetime | set the RTC base and clock, enable drift fix for clock ticks (x86 only) | help |
-icount shift=N|auto | enable virtual instruction counter with 2^N clock ticks per instruction, enable aligning the host and virtual clocks or disable real time cpu sleeping, and optionally enable record-and-replay mode | help |
-watchdog-action action | The action controls what QEMU will do when the watchdog timer expires. | help + man |
-echr chr | Change the escape character used for switching to the monitor when using monitor and serial sharing. | help + man |
-incoming tcp:[host]:port | Prepare for incoming migration, listen on a given unix socket. | help + man |
-only-migratable | Only allow migratable devices. | help + man |
-nodefaults | Don't create default devices. | help + man |
-sandbox on | [,spawn=allow|deny][,resourcecontrol=allow|deny] Enable seccomp mode 2 system call filter (default 'off'). | help |
-readconfig file | Read device configuration from file. | help + man |
-no-user-config | The -no-user-config option makes QEMU not load any of the user-provided config files on sysconfdir. | help + man |
-trace enable=]<pattern | specify tracing options | help |
-plugin file=]<file | load a plugin | help |
-run-with async-teardown=on|off | [,exit-with-parent=on|off][,user=username|uid:gid] Set miscellaneous QEMU process lifecycle options: async-teardown=on enables asynchronous teardown (Linux only) exit-with-parent=on causes QEMU to… | help |
-msg timestamp=on|off | control error message format timestamp=on enables timestamps (default: off) guest-name=on enables guest name prefix but only if | help |
-dump-vmstate file | Dump json-encoded vmstate information for current machine type to file in file | help + man |
-enable-sync-profile | Enable synchronization profiling. | help + man |
-perfmap | Generate a map file for Linux perf tools that will allow basic profiling information to be broken down into basic blocks. | help + man |
-jitdump | Generate a dump file for Linux perf tools that maps basic blocks to symbol names, line numbers and JITted code. | help + man |
-object TYPENAME | Set up a monitor running the Human Monitor Protocol, connected to the chardev chardev_id. | help + man |
-fda file | (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-fdb file | Use file as floppy disk 0/1 image (see the Disk Images <#disk-images> chapter in the System Emulation Users Guide). (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-hda file | (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-hdb file | (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-hdc file | (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-hdd file | Use file as hard disk 0, 1, 2 or 3 image on the default bus of the emulated machine (this is for example the IDE bus on most x86 machines, but it can also be SCSI, virtio or something else on other… (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-usbdevice devname | Add the USB device devname, and enable an on-board USB controller if possible and necessary (just like it can be done via -machine usb=on). (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-kernel bzImage | Use bzImage as kernel image. (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-shim shim.efi | Use 'shim.efi' to boot the kernel (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-append cmdline | Use cmdline as kernel command line (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-u -P | telnet options: (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-qmp-pretty dev | Like -qmp but uses pretty JSON formatting. (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-option-rom file | Load the contents of file as an option ROM. (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-prom-env variable=value | Set OpenBIOS nvram variable to given value (PPC, SPARC only). (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
-semihosting | Enable Semihosting <#semihosting> mode (ARM, M68K, Xtensa, MIPS, RISC-V only). (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.