KQEMU

KQEMU is the QEMU Accelerator Module that makes running QEMU on your PC way faster. It does this by letting most of the target application code run directly on your computer's processor. This means you get almost native performance, which is super handy when you want to run another Operating System, like Windows, on a Linux machine.

Compatibility and Requirements

KQEMU works with Linux x86 or x86_64 hosts that are using kernel versions 2.4.x or 2.6.x. There are some early versions available for Windows and FreeBSD too!

Why Choose KQEMU?

When you compare KQEMU with other virtualizers out there, both free and paid options, it stands out because it's free and delivers great performance without needing special changes to the guest Operating System. No other software can really beat that!

Getting Started with KQEMU on Linux

If you're looking to compile KQEMU on Linux, here’s how to do it:

1. First, make sure you have a recent version of QEMU (>= 0.8.1) with KQEMU support enabled—it usually is by default.


2. Next, unpack the KQEMU source files:



cd /tmp



tar zxvf kqemu-x.y.z.tar.gz

cd kqemu-x.y.z



3. Then configure and build it (typically no extra options needed):



./configure

make



4. You need to install it as the root user:



make install




This will put KQEMU in `/usr/local`.

Troubleshooting Compilation Issues

If you're using x86 Linux, compiling the QEMU Accelerator Kernel Module should happen automatically if you have all the right kernel headers installed. If something goes wrong, you can skip compiling it by adding `--disable-kqemu` during configuration.

Installation Notes for Older Kernels

If you're working with a 2.4 kernel instead of 2.6, make sure you've got your kernel sources set up correctly:

1. Install the kernel-source-xxx package.


2. Navigate to /usr/src/linux-xxx.


3. Clean up with make distclean.


4. Add your current configuration from /boot/config-vvv.


5. Edit the Makefile's EXTRAVERSION line to match your setup.

The installation isn't fully automatic because different distributions have their quirks.