Quickemu — Quickly Create Optimised Virtual Machines

Introduction

Quickemu wraps QEMU with intelligent defaults so you can spin up virtual machines in minutes rather than hours. It handles the complexity of QEMU's hundreds of options by auto-detecting hardware capabilities like KVM, EFI, VirtIO, and SPICE, then applying the right configuration for each guest operating system.

What Quickemu Does

• Downloads OS images automatically via the quickget companion tool for 300+ operating systems
• Configures QEMU with optimal settings for each guest OS (CPU, RAM, VirtIO, display)
• Enables SPICE display with clipboard sharing, USB redirection, and shared folders
• Supports GPU passthrough and VirGL for 3D acceleration in Linux guests
• Manages VM snapshots and disk images with thin provisioning via qcow2

Architecture Overview

Quickemu is a Bash script that generates QEMU command lines from simple .conf files. quickget fetches ISOs and creates the initial configuration. At runtime, Quickemu detects host capabilities (KVM, UEFI firmware, CPU topology) and assembles the optimal QEMU invocation. SPICE integration is handled via the vdagent and WebDAV channels for seamless host-guest interaction.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Requires QEMU, OVMF (UEFI firmware), and optionally SPICE tools on the host
• VM configuration lives in plain text .conf files editable with any text editor
• Adjust CPU cores, RAM, disk size, and display backend by editing the .conf file
• Enable port forwarding with port_forwards=("8080:80" "2222:22") in the config
• Shared directories mount automatically via SPICE WebDAV or 9p virtio

Key Features

• Supports 300+ operating systems including Windows, macOS, and dozens of Linux distributions
• macOS guest support with OpenCore and Apple Virtualization-compatible settings
• Automatic TPM 2.0 emulation for Windows 11 compatibility
• Thin-provisioned qcow2 disks grow on demand, saving host storage
• Full SPICE integration with copy-paste, file sharing, and USB passthrough

Comparison with Similar Tools

• VirtualBox — VirtualBox provides a GUI but runs slower than QEMU/KVM and lacks macOS guest support on Linux
• GNOME Boxes — Boxes is simpler but less configurable; Quickemu exposes more QEMU options while staying easy
• Multipass — Multipass focuses on Ubuntu VMs only; Quickemu supports 300+ operating systems
• Vagrant — Vagrant targets reproducible dev environments; Quickemu is for quick interactive VM creation
• Lima — Lima targets Linux VMs on macOS; Quickemu runs on Linux and covers more guest OSes

FAQ

Q: Does Quickemu require root privileges? A: No. Quickemu runs entirely in user space using KVM, which only requires your user to be in the kvm group.

Q: Can I run Windows 11 with Quickemu? A: Yes. Quickemu automatically configures TPM 2.0 emulation and Secure Boot for Windows 11 compatibility.

Q: How do I share files between host and guest? A: SPICE WebDAV sharing is enabled by default. In the guest, mount the WebDAV share or use the file manager integration.

Q: Is GPU passthrough supported? A: VirGL 3D acceleration works for Linux guests. Full GPU passthrough requires additional host configuration.

Sources

• https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu
• https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickget