xref: /qemu/docs/system/linuxboot.rst (revision 324b2298feab35533d44301cfdae332c086463cf)
1*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini.. _direct_005flinux_005fboot:
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3*324b2298SPaolo BonziniDirect Linux Boot
4*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini-----------------
5*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini
6*324b2298SPaolo BonziniThis section explains how to launch a Linux kernel inside QEMU without
7*324b2298SPaolo Bonzinihaving to make a full bootable image. It is very useful for fast Linux
8*324b2298SPaolo Bonzinikernel testing.
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10*324b2298SPaolo BonziniThe syntax is:
11*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini
12*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini.. parsed-literal::
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14*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini   |qemu_system| -kernel bzImage -hda rootdisk.img -append "root=/dev/hda"
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16*324b2298SPaolo BonziniUse ``-kernel`` to provide the Linux kernel image and ``-append`` to
17*324b2298SPaolo Bonzinigive the kernel command line arguments. The ``-initrd`` option can be
18*324b2298SPaolo Bonziniused to provide an INITRD image.
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20*324b2298SPaolo BonziniIf you do not need graphical output, you can disable it and redirect the
21*324b2298SPaolo Bonzinivirtual serial port and the QEMU monitor to the console with the
22*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini``-nographic`` option. The typical command line is:
23*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini
24*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini.. parsed-literal::
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26*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini   |qemu_system| -kernel bzImage -hda rootdisk.img \
27*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini                    -append "root=/dev/hda console=ttyS0" -nographic
28*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini
29*324b2298SPaolo BonziniUse Ctrl-a c to switch between the serial console and the monitor (see
30*324b2298SPaolo Bonzini:ref:`pcsys_005fkeys`).
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