Understanding Virtualization Through QEMU

Virtual machines are widely used, but their underlying concepts are often hidden behind graphical tools like VirtualBox or VMware. This talk introduces virtualization through QEMU, focusing on a practical and transparent approach.

The session demonstrates how to create and run a virtual machine from scratch using QEMU’s command-line tools. It covers key concepts such as the difference between emulation and virtualization, creating disk images with qemu-imq and running virtual machines using qemu - system.

A live demonstration will show how to boot a virtual machine from an ISO image, explaining important command-line options and the VM lifecycle. The talk will also briefly discuss performance considerations, including the role of KVM, and when QEMU is an appropriate choice.

This session is aimed at beginners and intermediate developers who want a deeper, hands-on understanding of virtualization beyond GUI-based tools.

• Understand the difference between emulation and virtualization

• Learn how to create and manage virtual disk images using QEMU

• Gain hands-on knowledge of running virtual machines from the command line

• Understand the VM boot process using an ISO image

• Get familiar with key QEMU commands and options

• Learn when to use QEMU vs other virtualization tools