View source for From QEMU to BigEndian FreeBSD

This tutorial takes the reader from the bare minimum to launch a virtual machine with QEMU to a full installation of big-endian FreeBSD.

=== The short version: ===

Download the most recent version of big-endian FreeBSD from 

https://download.freebsd.org/releases/powerpc/powerpc64/ISO-IMAGES/

Create a raw disk file to be the installation destination (in this case, 120GB):

<pre>
# qemu-img create fbsd.raw 120G
Formatting 'fbsd.raw', fmt=raw size=128849018880
# ls -sl
total 924700
     4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 128849018880 Jun 28 13:31 fbsd.raw
924696 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root    952018944 Jun 25 05:04 FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-powerpc-powerpc64-disc1.iso
</pre>

Using the example of FreeBSD 14.3 as the iso-based installer, fbsd.raw as the destination storage device, four threads per CPU core with four cores, 8GB of RAM, no IPv6, and 2222 as the ssh port into the guest:

<pre>
# qemu-system-ppc64 --enable-kvm -M pseries,cap-nested-hv=true,cap-ibs=workaround -cpu host -smp cores=4,threads=4,sockets=1 -m 8G -nographic -drive file=fbsd.raw,format=raw,if=virtio,id=drive0 -drive file=FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-powerpc-powerpc64-disc1.iso,media=cdrom,if=virtio,id=drive1 -nic user,ipv6=off,model=e1000,mac=52:54:98:76:54:32,hostfwd=tcp::2222-:22
</pre>

[[File:FreeBSD_Installer.png|center|frame|FreeBSD Installer]]

Choose MBR for partition type.


=== The long version: ===

This tutorial draws from the following web sites:

https://www.qemu.org/docs/master/system/invocation.html

https://www.qemu.org/docs/master/tools/qemu-img.html

https://www.qemu.org/docs/master/system/ppc/powernv.html




No devices added (default SLOF boot):

<pre>
0 > dev /   ok
0 > ls  
7e644530 :  /
7e644b40 :  |-- ibm,persistent-memory
7e644da0 :  |-- hypervisor
7e644f00 :  |-- chosen
7e645310 :  |-- rtas
7e646638 :  |-- event-sources
7e6467f0 :  |   |-- hot-plug-events
7e646948 :  |   +-- epow-events
7e646ae8 :  |-- cpus
7e646db0 :  |   |-- PowerPC,POWER9@0
7e6477e8 :  |   |-- PowerPC,POWER9@4
7e648220 :  |   |-- PowerPC,POWER9@8
7e648c58 :  |   +-- PowerPC,POWER9@c
7e649738 :  |-- pci@800000020000000
7e64bd18 :  |   |-- vga@0
7e64c230 :  |   +-- usb-xhci@1
7e68f7f8 :  |       |-- usb-keyboard@1
7e6902b8 :  |       +-- usb-mouse@2
7e64c908 :  |-- vdevice
7e64cb88 :  |   |-- vty@71000000
7e64cda8 :  |   |-- nvram@71000001
7e64d018 :  |   |-- l-lan@71000002
7e64d3e8 :  |   +-- v-scsi@71000003
7e673ba8 :  |       +-- disk
7e64d8a8 :  |-- memory@0
7e64daa0 :  |-- interrupt-controller
7e650be0 :  |-- aliases
7e650ce8 :  |-- options
7e650da8 :  |-- openprom
7e650eb0 :  |-- packages
7e650f78 :  |   |-- deblocker
7e651a18 :  |   |-- disk-label
7e6560b8 :  |   |-- fat-files
7e658830 :  |   |-- rom-files
7e659250 :  |   |-- ext2-files
7e65bcc8 :  |   |-- obp-tftp
7e65c098 :  |   +-- iso-9660
7e660ae0 :  +-- mmu ok
0 > 
</pre>

With CDROM and hard drive:

<pre>
Ready! 
0 > dev /   ok
0 > ls  
7e644530 :  /
7e644b40 :  |-- ibm,persistent-memory
7e644da0 :  |-- hypervisor
7e644f00 :  |-- chosen
7e645310 :  |-- rtas
7e646638 :  |-- event-sources
7e6467f0 :  |   |-- hot-plug-events
7e646948 :  |   +-- epow-events
7e646ae8 :  |-- cpus
7e646db0 :  |   |-- PowerPC,POWER9@0
7e6477e8 :  |   |-- PowerPC,POWER9@4
7e648220 :  |   |-- PowerPC,POWER9@8
7e648c58 :  |   +-- PowerPC,POWER9@c
7e649738 :  |-- pci@800000020000000
7e64bd18 :  |   |-- vga@0
7e64c230 :  |   |-- usb-xhci@1
7e692660 :  |   |   |-- usb-keyboard@1
7e693120 :  |   |   +-- usb-mouse@2
7e64c860 :  |   |-- scsi@2             <-- Added device
7e64ce18 :  |   +-- scsi@3             <-- Added device
7e64d478 :  |-- vdevice
7e64d6f8 :  |   |-- vty@71000000
7e64d918 :  |   |-- nvram@71000001
7e64db88 :  |   |-- l-lan@71000002
7e64df58 :  |   +-- v-scsi@71000003
7e674718 :  |       +-- disk
7e64e418 :  |-- memory@0
7e64e610 :  |-- interrupt-controller
7e651750 :  |-- aliases
7e651858 :  |-- options
7e651918 :  |-- openprom
7e651a20 :  |-- packages
7e651ae8 :  |   |-- deblocker
7e652588 :  |   |-- disk-label
7e656c28 :  |   |-- fat-files
7e6593a0 :  |   |-- rom-files
7e659dc0 :  |   |-- ext2-files
7e65c838 :  |   |-- obp-tftp
7e65cc08 :  |   +-- iso-9660
7e661650 :  +-- mmu ok
</pre>


With the network card:

<pre>
0 > dev /    ok
0 > ls  
7e644530 :  /
7e644b40 :  |-- ibm,persistent-memory
7e644da0 :  |-- hypervisor
7e644f00 :  |-- chosen
7e645310 :  |-- rtas
7e646638 :  |-- event-sources
7e6467f0 :  |   |-- hot-plug-events
7e646948 :  |   +-- epow-events
7e646ae8 :  |-- cpus
7e646db0 :  |   |-- PowerPC,POWER9@0
7e6477e8 :  |   |-- PowerPC,POWER9@4
7e648220 :  |   |-- PowerPC,POWER9@8
7e648c58 :  |   +-- PowerPC,POWER9@c
7e649738 :  |-- pci@800000020000000
7e64bd18 :  |   |-- ethernet@0          <-- Added device
7e64c280 :  |   |-- vga@1
7e64c798 :  |   |-- usb-xhci@2
7e6933f8 :  |   |   |-- usb-keyboard@1
7e693eb8 :  |   |   +-- usb-mouse@2
7e64cdc8 :  |   |-- scsi@3
7e64d380 :  |   +-- scsi@4
7e64d9e0 :  |-- vdevice
7e64dc60 :  |   |-- vty@71000000
7e64de80 :  |   |-- nvram@71000001
7e64e0f0 :  |   +-- v-scsi@71000002
7e6742b8 :  |       +-- disk
7e64e5b0 :  |-- memory@0
7e64e7a8 :  |-- interrupt-controller
7e6518e8 :  |-- aliases
7e6519f0 :  |-- options
7e651ab0 :  |-- openprom
7e651bb8 :  |-- packages
7e651c80 :  |   |-- deblocker
7e652720 :  |   |-- disk-label
7e656dc0 :  |   |-- fat-files
7e659538 :  |   |-- rom-files
7e659f58 :  |   |-- ext2-files
7e65c9d0 :  |   |-- obp-tftp
7e65cda0 :  |   +-- iso-9660
7e6617e8 :  +-- mmu ok
</pre>

<pre>
% uname -a
FreeBSD BEFreeBSD 14.3-RELEASE FreeBSD 14.3-RELEASE releng/14.3-n271432-8c9ce319fef7 GENERIC powerpc
</pre>


=== Post-boot blues ===

<pre>
mountroot: waiting for device /dev/vtbd1s2a...
Mounting from ufs:/dev/vtbd1s2a failed with error 19.

Loader variables:
  vfs.root.mountfrom=ufs:/dev/vtbd1s2a
  vfs.root.mountfrom.options=rw
</pre>