Over the years, I have done quite a few articles on emulators and Virtual Machines (VMs). This program is a variant that seems to do a good job.
The major difference on this one is that you do not need the Operating System (OS) to install. You select which OS you want, including which version, and it downloads the files. In that manner, it reminds of Docker.
QuickEMU and QuickGet are used as the basis for the program. QuickGet is used to get the images (ISO) to run the OS you select. QuickEMU is a Command-Line Interface (CLI) to run the image and emulate the chosen OS. QuickGUI is used to run as a front-end in a Graphical User Interface (GUI).
This is all based on Quick Emulator (QEMU) which is used for virtualization.
Installation
I will cover installing both programs, just in case you prefer to work from the CLI only.
It is important to note that the programs only work on Linux systems that are Ubuntu based.
So, to install the QuickEMU software:
You can install QuickGUI with:
Once you install these, you can continue.
Upgrading
The repositories, at this time, only have QuickEMU version 4.94. You can test this by opening a terminal and typing the command:
If the response is 4.9.5, then you may upgrade. You can download the code from GitHub at 'https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/archive/refs/heads/master.zip'. Extract the zip file and enter the folder in the terminal. Try the command:
In my case, the version came back as 4.9.5. To copy the files over the older ones, I use the command:
QuickGUI
We will start here, since this seems the easiest way to see how the program works.
In the menu, find the icon for 'QuickGUI' and start the program.
When the program starts, as shown in Figure 1, select 'Manage existing machines'. You should see a line at the top 'Directory where the machines are stored:'. Click on this. The default is your Home folder, but you will not want your image files stored here, so make a folder in your Home, such as 'QuickEMU', in which to store your images. Once done, click on the 'X' in the top left corner to close the manager and go back to the main screen for QuickGUI.
FIGURE 1
Now, we can get an image to start a machine. Click on 'Create new machines'. You should now see a window like in Figure 2 where you can choose an OS version and then click on 'Download' to get the image.
FIGURE 2
On my system, I will download Fedora 40 (XFCE) as a test.
Sometimes during a download, the message will constantly say that it is 'Waiting for download to start'. If you check the folder for the new OS, see the ISO file is there, and it is usually changing size, so it is downloading the file.
When the download finishes, you should see a button that says 'Dismiss'. You can click this to close the download window and go back to the 'Downloader' window. Press 'X' to go back to the main screen and select 'Manage existing machines'. There should be a line here with the newly downloaded OS, as shown in Figure 3. If you go to the download folder you specified and then to the folder corresponding to your downloaded OS, there should be an ISO file of the installer.
FIGURE 3
Just press the 'Play' (triangle) button to start the virtual machine. You may need to maximize the window, but the install should start. It creates a virtual disk that is 16 GB by default to install the OS on, and after installation, QuickGUI should boot from the 'disk.qcow2' file. The file is not of a fixed size, but grows up to 16 GB in size as you add more files to it. The default RAM size for the virtual machine is 2 GB. QuickEMU sets the default number of CPU cores to 1.
Altering Default Hardware
It is possible to change the default hardware set for a virtual machine to use.
Inside the folder you set as the download folder for placing the images are configuration files for each image you downloaded. Let's look at the 'fedora-40-Xfce.conf' I downloaded:
Here, you can see that the first line opens 'quickemu' and it eventually gets the rest of the lines as information on the virtual machine. The Guest OS is Linux and the Disk image location is given. The folders are all from the base folder where it places the files. In my case, the base folder is '/home/jarret/QuickEMU'. The last line is the location of the ISO file and its name.
If a virtual machine requires more drive space, RAM or CPU cores than the default, then there should be lines here to specify the change. Possible changes are:
You can add these lines if they do not exist to override the default values. You can change the values as you need, as long as the hardware exists and is available for use. For example, I could add the line 'disk_size="30G"' to get more disk space in Fedora, before I start the install. There must be 30 GB of drive space available. Keep in mind that the drive sizes can grow, to what you specify, and only be large enough to hold the existing files on the virtual hard disk. If your system has 8 GB of RAM, you cannot set a virtual machine to use the whole 8 GB of RAM since you already have an existing OS running and using part of it.
If you close the window for a virtual machine, you can go back to the QuickGUI and click on the screen icon to reopen the window. Use the Stop button (square) to force the stopping of a virtual machine. There is also a trash can icon to remove a virtual machine. When removing a virtual machine, you have the option to remove the disk image or the whole Virtual Machine.
QuickEMU
You can use the Command-Line Interface (CLI), but I mainly use the CLI for checking when the GUI doesn't work. Since no errors are listed when a virtual machine fails, it is possible to get better troubleshooting information.
For example, on my system, 'Bodhi 7.0.0 Standard' does not start, but I'm not sure why. From a terminal I can run:
All I need to do is point to the configuration file of the virtual machine I want to run. The output is shown in Figure 4.
FIGURE 4
The problem is that I do not have a full 8 GB of RAM allocated for use by the virtual machine. Unfortunately, this machine only has a physical 8 GB of RAM, so this is my limitation.
Anytime you get an error, try the QuickEMU method of starting the VM and see what the error is so you can fix it, if possible,
Conclusion
This is a faster way to create a VM instead of VirtualBox or others.
You can always use the downloaded image file for VirtualBox if it is compatible.
The major difference on this one is that you do not need the Operating System (OS) to install. You select which OS you want, including which version, and it downloads the files. In that manner, it reminds of Docker.
QuickEMU and QuickGet are used as the basis for the program. QuickGet is used to get the images (ISO) to run the OS you select. QuickEMU is a Command-Line Interface (CLI) to run the image and emulate the chosen OS. QuickGUI is used to run as a front-end in a Graphical User Interface (GUI).
This is all based on Quick Emulator (QEMU) which is used for virtualization.
Installation
I will cover installing both programs, just in case you prefer to work from the CLI only.
It is important to note that the programs only work on Linux systems that are Ubuntu based.
So, to install the QuickEMU software:
Code:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:flexiondotorg/quickemu
sudo apt install quickemu -yYou can install QuickGUI with:
Code:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannick-mauray/quickgui
sudo apt install quickgui -yOnce you install these, you can continue.
Upgrading
The repositories, at this time, only have QuickEMU version 4.94. You can test this by opening a terminal and typing the command:
Code:
quickemu --versionIf the response is 4.9.5, then you may upgrade. You can download the code from GitHub at 'https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu/archive/refs/heads/master.zip'. Extract the zip file and enter the folder in the terminal. Try the command:
Code:
./quickemu --versionIn my case, the version came back as 4.9.5. To copy the files over the older ones, I use the command:
Code:
sudo cp quick* /usr/bin/QuickGUI
We will start here, since this seems the easiest way to see how the program works.
In the menu, find the icon for 'QuickGUI' and start the program.
When the program starts, as shown in Figure 1, select 'Manage existing machines'. You should see a line at the top 'Directory where the machines are stored:'. Click on this. The default is your Home folder, but you will not want your image files stored here, so make a folder in your Home, such as 'QuickEMU', in which to store your images. Once done, click on the 'X' in the top left corner to close the manager and go back to the main screen for QuickGUI.
FIGURE 1
Now, we can get an image to start a machine. Click on 'Create new machines'. You should now see a window like in Figure 2 where you can choose an OS version and then click on 'Download' to get the image.
FIGURE 2
On my system, I will download Fedora 40 (XFCE) as a test.
Sometimes during a download, the message will constantly say that it is 'Waiting for download to start'. If you check the folder for the new OS, see the ISO file is there, and it is usually changing size, so it is downloading the file.
When the download finishes, you should see a button that says 'Dismiss'. You can click this to close the download window and go back to the 'Downloader' window. Press 'X' to go back to the main screen and select 'Manage existing machines'. There should be a line here with the newly downloaded OS, as shown in Figure 3. If you go to the download folder you specified and then to the folder corresponding to your downloaded OS, there should be an ISO file of the installer.
FIGURE 3
Just press the 'Play' (triangle) button to start the virtual machine. You may need to maximize the window, but the install should start. It creates a virtual disk that is 16 GB by default to install the OS on, and after installation, QuickGUI should boot from the 'disk.qcow2' file. The file is not of a fixed size, but grows up to 16 GB in size as you add more files to it. The default RAM size for the virtual machine is 2 GB. QuickEMU sets the default number of CPU cores to 1.
Altering Default Hardware
It is possible to change the default hardware set for a virtual machine to use.
Inside the folder you set as the download folder for placing the images are configuration files for each image you downloaded. Let's look at the 'fedora-40-Xfce.conf' I downloaded:
Code:
#!/usr/bin/quickemu --vm
guest_os="linux"
disk_img="fedora-40-Xfce/disk.qcow2"
iso="/home/jarret/QuickEMU/fedora-40-Xfce/Fedora-Xfce-Live-x86_64-40-1.14.iso"Here, you can see that the first line opens 'quickemu' and it eventually gets the rest of the lines as information on the virtual machine. The Guest OS is Linux and the Disk image location is given. The folders are all from the base folder where it places the files. In my case, the base folder is '/home/jarret/QuickEMU'. The last line is the location of the ISO file and its name.
If a virtual machine requires more drive space, RAM or CPU cores than the default, then there should be lines here to specify the change. Possible changes are:
Code:
cpu_cores="2"
ram="4G"
disk_size="30G"You can add these lines if they do not exist to override the default values. You can change the values as you need, as long as the hardware exists and is available for use. For example, I could add the line 'disk_size="30G"' to get more disk space in Fedora, before I start the install. There must be 30 GB of drive space available. Keep in mind that the drive sizes can grow, to what you specify, and only be large enough to hold the existing files on the virtual hard disk. If your system has 8 GB of RAM, you cannot set a virtual machine to use the whole 8 GB of RAM since you already have an existing OS running and using part of it.
If you close the window for a virtual machine, you can go back to the QuickGUI and click on the screen icon to reopen the window. Use the Stop button (square) to force the stopping of a virtual machine. There is also a trash can icon to remove a virtual machine. When removing a virtual machine, you have the option to remove the disk image or the whole Virtual Machine.
QuickEMU
You can use the Command-Line Interface (CLI), but I mainly use the CLI for checking when the GUI doesn't work. Since no errors are listed when a virtual machine fails, it is possible to get better troubleshooting information.
For example, on my system, 'Bodhi 7.0.0 Standard' does not start, but I'm not sure why. From a terminal I can run:
Code:
quickemu -vm ~/QuickEMU/macos-mojave.confAll I need to do is point to the configuration file of the virtual machine I want to run. The output is shown in Figure 4.
FIGURE 4
The problem is that I do not have a full 8 GB of RAM allocated for use by the virtual machine. Unfortunately, this machine only has a physical 8 GB of RAM, so this is my limitation.
Anytime you get an error, try the QuickEMU method of starting the VM and see what the error is so you can fix it, if possible,
Conclusion
This is a faster way to create a VM instead of VirtualBox or others.
You can always use the downloaded image file for VirtualBox if it is compatible.
