1796
Comment:
|
2237
fix qemu syntax
|
Deletions are marked like this. | Additions are marked like this. |
Line 37: | Line 37: |
$ qemu -cdrom mini.iso -hda hd_image.img -boot d | $ qemu -net user -cdrom mini.iso -hda hd_img.img -boot d |
Line 47: | Line 47: |
* "eject" is useful when you want to (virtually) change disk (for example you want to use another iso image) |
|
Line 58: | Line 55: |
= Floppy install = To test an installation from the floppy images, you first need to grab [http://people.debian.org/~joeyh/d-i/images/daily/floppy/boot.img boot.img] and [http://people.debian.org/~joeyh/d-i/images/daily/floppy/root.img root.img] and use the files as if they were floppy disks: {{{ $ qemu -user-net -fda boot.img -hda hd_image.img -boot a }}} once you're asked to insert the root disk, just switch to "monitor" (ctrl-alt-2) and {{{ (qemu) change fda root.img }}} switch back to d-i (ctrl-alt-1) and press ENTER |
Resources
[http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/ Official page]
#qemu IRC channel on irc.freenode.net
Intro
Qemu can be used to simulate various hardware configurations and to easily test the debian installer in various conditions; it's great for testing "delicate" things like a partitioner, since disk devices are usually represented by files.
It can be used also to emulate other architectures: I tested amd64 and powerpc versions on the installer on my i386 host machine. At the moment (qemu-0.8.0) sparc and ARM are being worked on and have some basic support.
Here some possible d-i boot configurations:
- floppy installs
- installs from USB (??)
- lowmem installs
Basic setup
First of all, you need to create a file which will acts as an hard disk for the virtual machine:
$ qemu-img create hd_img.img 500M
You can then download an iso image of the installer, or create one yourself; you can then run a g-i session by running the following command:
$ qemu -net user -cdrom mini.iso -hda hd_img.img -boot d
Qemu monitor
Qemu has a "monitor" (ctrl-alt-2) which can be used to access various funcionalities such as:
- "screendump" which can be used to take a screenshot of
- the VM screen
- "sendkey" is very useful when you want to switch to VT2 during
- a g-i vession ("sendkey ctrl-alt-f2)
- "gdbserver" is useful for attaching gdb to a process running inside
- the VM
- "loadmem/savemem" used to save/restore the state of the VM, saves you alot
- of time when you have performed all the steps needed to reproduce a bug
Floppy install
To test an installation from the floppy images, you first need to grab [http://people.debian.org/~joeyh/d-i/images/daily/floppy/boot.img boot.img] and [http://people.debian.org/~joeyh/d-i/images/daily/floppy/root.img root.img] and use the files as if they were floppy disks:
$ qemu -user-net -fda boot.img -hda hd_image.img -boot a
once you're asked to insert the root disk, just switch to "monitor" (ctrl-alt-2) and
(qemu) change fda root.img
switch back to d-i (ctrl-alt-1) and press ENTER