Previous: Installing FreeBSD with Qemu and Aqemu

Preparing the FreeBSD system for Qemu

1. If you will be using only the command line version of QEMU:

  • When installing FreeBSD, you can select any distribution from the Choose Distributions menu of the installation program. That is, you can choose anything from Minimal (which installs the smallest configuration possible) up to All (which installs all system sources, binaries, and X Window System).

  • After the install, you can use the Packages menu of the installation program to install QEMU. Alternately, on an existing FreeBSD system, you can insert the DVD and type sysinstall. Select Configure then Packages, then CD/DVD from the menu. Once the package INDEX is loaded, select emulators, highlight qemu and press enter to select it, then press tab and enter to select OK. Arrow over to Install and press enter. Exit out of the remaining menus once the installation is complete.

  • Note: Do not select aqemu if you only plan to use the command line version of QEMU. See section 2. if you plan to use QEMU from a GUI environment.

2. If you will be using AQEMU from a GUI environment:

  • When installing FreeBSD, select a distribution which includes X Windows from the Choose Distributions menu of the installation program. The X-Developer, X-Kern-Developer, X-User or All distributions will install X for you. Note: If you choose to install X on an existing FreeBSD system, insert the DVD and type sysinstall. Select Configure then Packages, then CD/DVD from the menu. Once the package INDEX is loaded, select x11, highlight xorg and press enter to select it, then press tab and enter to select OK. Arrow over to Install and press enter. Exit out of the remaining menus once the installation is complete.

  • After the install, you can use the Packages menu of the installation program to install AQEMU. Alternately, on an existing FreeBSD system, you can insert the DVD and type sysinstall. Select Configure then Packages, then CD/DVD from the menu. Once the package INDEX is loaded, select emulators, highlight aqemu and press enter to select it, then press tab and enter to select OK. Arrow over to Install and press enter. Exit out of the remaining menus once the installation is complete.

  • X will install a default window manager (twm), but it will not start automatically. The first time you want to run X, type Xorg -configure to configure X, then startx whenever you want to start X. (Note: Make sure your mouse is operational before starting X.) If you want X to start automatically, see the X Display Manager section of the FreeBSD Handbook. If you want to enable the fvwm or fluxbox window manager, edit the .xinitrc file. Here is an example .xinitrc file that starts up a single xterm window with the fvwm window manager:

    xterm &
    fvwm
    #fluxbox
    

See the Desktop Environments section of the FreeBSD Handbook for more information.

Next: Using Qemu from the command line