QE - powerful and easy to use command line virtual machine launcher based on Qemu

I use it myself, so expect minor bugs and hidden features. If you find something, feel free to open issue or create pull request.

Examples

Run virtual machine image file from CLI. Just like this:

qe w11.vmdk

The same for live iso:

qe Fedora-KDE-Live-x86_64-40-1.14.iso

Quickly create an image and start VM installation from iso with just a single command:

# ubuntu.qcow2 will be created with default size if not exists
qe ubuntu.qcow2 ~/Downloads/ubuntu-24.04-beta-desktop-amd64.iso

Generate Qemu command to save or edit later, with -n option:

qe windows-server-2022.vhd -n
# qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -smp 2 -m 4G -bios /usr/share/ovmf/x64/OVMF.fd -drive file=windows-server-2022.vhd,format=vpc,index=0,media=disk -display sdl

Avoid changing VM file with -s (--snapshot) option and do all your crazy experiments!

qe arch.qcow2 -s

Use qemu-system-x86_64 arguments as well as script's own:

qe kali.qcow2 -s -net none

Pack your file or folder to iso and mount with image:

# ./volatility3.iso will be created with folder contents and mounted
qe Fedora-KDE-Live-x86_64-40-1.14.iso -i ./volatility3

Run your HDD/SSD/NVME as a virtual machine!

qe /dev/sda --snapshot

UEFI is the default! But you can run in legacy mode too:

qe MX.qcow2 --no-efi

Create and run Ventoy vtoyboot and vhdboot images to launch from your USB:

# UEFI and fixed image size as you need for Ventoy
qe w11.vhd.vtoy Win11_23H2_English_x64v2.iso -i ./drivers_and_software
mv w11.vhd.vtoy w11.vhd

Installation

#!/usr/bin/env bash

. /etc/os-release

# installing pre-requisites
if [[ "$ID" == "ubuntu" ]]; then
  sudo apt install -y \
    wget \
    qemu-kvm \
    genisoimage
elif [ "$ID" = "debian" ]; then
  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install -y \
    wget \
    qemu-{user,system{,-gui},utils} \
    genisoimage
elif [ "$ID" = "fedora" ]; then
  sudo dnf install -y \
    wget \
    edk2-ovmf \
    qemu-{kvm,tools} \
    genisoimage
elif [ "$ID_LIKE" = "arch" ]; then
  sudo pacman -Sy --noconfirm \
    wget \
    qemu-desktop \
    cdrkit
fi

# copying script itself
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/XelorR/qe/main/qe -O ~/.local/bin/qe
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/qe

Usage

Usage: qe [images] (script options) (other qemu params)

Wrapper for qemu to simplify VM launching from command line
It provides automatic image type detection, enables UEFI and acceleration if possible and provides some additional niceties, see below

Script options:

-p             forward ssh and http ports
-i --make-iso  makes and mounts ISO from folder of file
-l --no-efi    run without UEFI (default tries to find OVMF.fd)
-s --snapshot  run VM in without saving any changes
-n             generate command and print without running

-u             select USB device (not implemented yet, TODO)
-f             FAT folder, read only (not implemented yet, TODO)

--help         display help message

You can also use all available qemu-system-x86_64 parameters

TODO

• image creation if not exists
• config in json
• -display sdl if windows image
• fat folders
• usb device selection and passthrough
• move all handles to argparse instead of sys.argv
• MacOS support
• installation oneliner
• flexible port forwarding but keeping the defaults
• ?? packaging
• download OVMF.fd if not present
• ova files unpack and alias to vmdk
• config.json documentation
• support for multiple iso creation
• refactor
• tests!
• add network setup to connect several VM instances
• beautify --help
• add flag for fixed size images
• add flag to select image size on creation
• console only run