Download QEMU

Grab the source code for the latest releases and compile it yourself! Detailed compilation instructions can be found in the wiki for Linux, Win32 and macOS.

or stay on the bleeding edge with the git repository!

Build instructions

To download and build QEMU 8.1.1:

wget https://download.qemu.org/qemu-8.1.1.tar.xz
tar xvJf qemu-8.1.1.tar.xz
cd qemu-8.1.1
./configure
make

Source tarballs for official QEMU releases are signed by the release manager using this GPG public key.

pub   rsa2048 2013-10-18 [SC]
      CEACC9E15534EBABB82D3FA03353C9CEF108B584
uid           [ unknown] Michael Roth 
uid           [ unknown] Michael Roth 
uid           [ unknown] Michael Roth 
sub   rsa2048 2013-10-18 [E]

To download and build QEMU from git:

git clone https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu.git
cd qemu
git submodule init
git submodule update --recursive
./configure
make

The latest development happens on the master branch. The stable trees are located in branches named stable-X.YY branch, where X.YY is the release version.

QEMU is packaged by most Linux distributions:

• Arch: pacman -S qemu

• Debian/Ubuntu:
  • For full system emulation: apt-get install qemu-system
  • For emulating Linux binaries: apt-get install qemu-user-static

• Fedora: dnf install @virtualization

• Gentoo: emerge --ask app-emulation/qemu

• RHEL/CentOS: yum install qemu-kvm

• SUSE: zypper install qemu

Note: On most distributions, the above commands will install meta-packages that pull in other packages with emulator binaries for all available targets. Have a look at the package list of your distribution first if you only need a subset of the targets.

QEMU can be installed from Homebrew:

brew install qemu

QEMU can be installed from MacPorts:

sudo port install qemu

QEMU requires the most recent macOS version that is currently available. Support for the last previous version will be dropped two years after the current version has been released or when Apple drops support for it, whatever comes first.

Stefan Weil provides binaries and installers for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.

MSYS2:

QEMU can be installed using MSYS2 also. MSYS2 uses pacman to manage packages. First, follow the MSYS2 installation procedure. Then update the packages with pacman -Syu command. Now choose the proper command for your system as following:

• For 32 bit Windows 7 or above (in MINGW32):

pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-qemu

• For 64 bit Windows 7 or above (in MINGW64):

pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-qemu

• For 64 bit Windows 8.1 or above (in UCRT64):

pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-qemu

Some QEMU related tools can be found in separate packages. Please see the MSYS2’s mingw-w64-qemu page for more information. Any QEMU package related issues can be found in MINGW-packages repository.