gistfile1.txt

Ubuntu arm64 in QEMU on Mac host:

    qemu-system-aarch64 -m 4096M -cpu host -M virt,accel=hvf \
        -bios /opt/homebrew/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd \
        -serial stdio -device virtio-gpu -device virtio-keyboard \
        -device virtio-mouse -display default,show-cursor=on \
        -cdrom ubuntu-25.10-desktop-arm64.iso


Keyboard useable from Grub (requires qemu-xhci & usb-kbd):

    qemu-system-aarch64 -m 4096M -cpu host -M virt,accel=hvf \
        -bios /opt/homebrew/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd \
        -serial stdio -device virtio-gpu -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd \
        -device usb-mouse -display default,show-cursor=on \
        -cdrom ubuntu-25.10-desktop-arm64.iso

NetBSD aarch64 in QEMU on Mac host:

    curl -JLO https://nycdn.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/netbsd-10/latest/evbarm-aarch64/binary/gzimg/arm64.img.gz
    gunzip arm64.img.gz
    qemu-img resize arm64.img 10g
    curl -JLO https://nycdn.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/netbsd-10/latest/evbarm-aarch64/binary/kernel/netbsd-GENERIC64.img.gz
    qemu-system-aarch64 -m 512m -cpu host -M virt,accel=hvf \
        -drive if=none,file=arm64.img,id=hd0 -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd0 \
        -device virtio-rng-pci -kernel netbsd-GENERIC64.img -append "root=NAME=netbsd-root" \
        -netdev type=user,id=net0 -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net0,mac=00:11:22:33:44:55 \
        -display none -serial stdio

NetBSD (vm image w/o seperate kernel) aarch64 in QEMU on Mac hose:

    curl -JLO https://nycdn.netbsd.org/pub/arm/NetBSD-10.1-release/NetBSD-10-aarch64-generic.img.gz
    qemu-system-aarch64 -m 512m -cpu host -M virt,accel=hvf \
        -bios /opt/homebrew/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd \
        -drive if=none,file=NetBSD-10-aarch64-generic.img,id=hd0 \
        -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd0 \
        -device virtio-rng-pci -nographic -echr 26

Debian arm64 in QEMU on Mac host:

    curl -JLO https://cloud.debian.org/images/cloud/trixie/latest/debian-13-nocloud-arm64.qcow2
    qemu-system-aarch64 -m 512m -cpu host -M virt,accel=hvf \
        -bios /opt/homebrew/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd \
        -serial stdio -snapshot debian-13-nocloud-arm64.qcow2

Debian arm64 in QEMU on Mac host with r/w disk image:

    qemu-system-aarch64 -m 512m -cpu host -M virt,accel=hvf \
        -bios /opt/homebrew/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd \
        -serial stdio -display none \
        -drive if=none,file=debian-13-nocloud-arm64.qcow2,id=hd0 \
        -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd0

Fedora arm64 in QEMU on Mac host:

    Fedora was tricky, the cloud images need extra setup to create a
    user account, the other images need more than 512 MB of memory,
    the desktop image wants a specific kernel parameter to boot, using
    "-cpu host" does not work.

    curl -JLO https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/42/Spins/aarch64/images/Fedora-Minimal-42-1.1.aarch64.raw.xz
    unxz -v Fedora-Minimal-42-1.1.aarch64.raw.xz
    qemu-system-aarch64 -m 2g -cpu max -M virt \
        -bios /opt/homebrew/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd \
        -drive file=Fedora-Minimal-42-1.1.aarch64.raw,format=raw \
        -nographic -echr 26

OpenBSD:

    curl -JLO https://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/7.8/arm64/miniroot78.img
    qemu-img resize miniroot78.img 10g
    qemu-system-aarch64 -m 512m -cpu host -M virt,accel=hvf \
        -bios /opt/homebrew/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd \
        -drive file=miniroot78.img,format=raw \
        -nographic -echr 26

    # install

FreeBSD:

    curl -JLO https://download.freebsd.org/releases/VM-IMAGES/14.3-RELEASE/aarch64/Latest/FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-arm64-aarch64-zfs.qcow2.xz
    unxz FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-arm64-aarch64-zfs.qcow2.xz
    qemu-system-aarch64 -m 512m -cpu host -M virt,accel=hvf \
        -bios /opt/homebrew/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd \
        -drive file=FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-arm64-aarch64-zfs.qcow2 \
        -nographic -echr 26