Install PhyOS on QEMU/KVM

Overview

This guide walks you through running PhyOS 5 as a virtual machine from the PhyOS QCOW2 image. QCOW2 is QEMU’s own disk format, so there is no installer to run and no conversion step - you attach the disk to a new virtual machine and power it on.

The guide covers four platforms: plain QEMU, libvirt, Proxmox VE, and OpenShift Virtualization.

Prerequisites

For PhyOS installation

One of: QEMU 6.2 or later with KVM, libvirt with virt-install, Proxmox VE 7 or later, or OpenShift Virtualization
OVMF UEFI firmware installed on the host
Host capacity for 4 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, and a 64 GB disk
About 10 GB of free disk space for the download and the extracted image
A network that provides DHCP and outbound internet access
Internet connection
Access to the PhyStack console

Install PhyOS

Download the image once, then follow the section for your platform.

Download and extract the PhyOS QCOW2 image

Download the latest PhyOS QCOW2 image
Extract the archive:
Terminal window
```
tar -xzf phyos.qcow2.tar.gz
```
Rename the extracted file to phyos.qcow2 so the commands below can be copied as they are

The extracted image has a 64 GB virtual size and grows as it is used.

Run with QEMU

Make sure OVMF firmware is installed on the host

Start the virtual machine:

qemu-system-x86_64 -machine q35,accel=kvm -m 4096 -smp 4 -bios /usr/share/OVMF/OVMF.fd -drive file=phyos.qcow2,format=qcow2,if=virtio -netdev user,id=n0 -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=n0

PhyOS boots to the connection screen in the QEMU window

Create a virtual machine with libvirt

Copy the image into your libvirt images directory:
Terminal window
```
mv phyos.qcow2 /var/lib/libvirt/images/
```

Create the virtual machine:

virt-install --name phyos --memory 4096 --vcpus 4 --osinfo generic --boot uefi,firmware.feature0.name=secure-boot,firmware.feature0.enabled=no --disk path=/var/lib/libvirt/images/phyos.qcow2,format=qcow2,bus=virtio --network network=default,model=virtio --graphics vnc --import --noautoconsole

Connect to the console with virt-viewer or Virtual Machine Manager

--boot uefi on its own usually selects a Secure Boot firmware build, so keep the firmware feature flags shown above.

Create a virtual machine on Proxmox VE

Find a storage ID:
Terminal window
```
pvesm status
```

Create the virtual machine:

qm create VMID --machine q35 --bios ovmf --ostype l26 --memory 4096 --cores 4 --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0

Add an EFI disk:

qm set VMID --efidisk0 STORAGE:1,efitype=4m,pre-enrolled-keys=0

Import the image as the boot disk:

qm set VMID --scsihw virtio-scsi-single --scsi0 STORAGE:0,import-from=/root/phyos.qcow2

Set the boot order:
Terminal window
```
qm set VMID --boot order=scsi0
```
Start the virtual machine from the Proxmox web interface

Replace VMID with your virtual machine’s ID and STORAGE with the storage name from step 1.

Create a virtual machine on OpenShift Virtualization

Upload the image as a DataVolume:

virtctl image-upload dv phyos-disk --size=64Gi --image-path=phyos.qcow2

Create a VirtualMachine that uses the resulting DataVolume as its disk
Set Boot mode to UEFI

Or set it in the virtual machine spec:

spec:
  template:
    spec:
      domain:
        firmware:
          bootloader:
            efi:
              secureBoot: false

Start the virtual machine and open its console

Connect device to PhyStack

After PhyOS boots:

You should see the PhyOS splash screen
The device will display a connection screen
Note the Serial Number displayed in the top-left corner of the screen
In the PhyStack portal, navigate to the device connection section
Enter the Serial Number in the Device Serial field
Click the Connect device button
The device will appear under Installations → Devices

Troubleshooting

QEMU and KVM installation issues

The virtual machine shows a Secure Boot verification message

The firmware build in use has Secure Boot enabled
Recreate the virtual machine with Secure Boot turned off, as shown in the section for your platform

The virtual machine drops to a UEFI shell or reports no bootable device

The virtual machine is running BIOS firmware
Use -bios with an OVMF image on QEMU, or --boot uefi with libvirt, or set BIOS to OVMF (UEFI) on Proxmox

OVMF.fd is not found

The firmware path varies by distribution
See the note in the QEMU section for common locations

Proxmox allocated the full 64 GB

The image was imported into LVM-thin storage, which stores raw volumes only
Import into file-based storage instead to keep the disk sparse

oc create rejects the VirtualMachine

A bare efi: {} enables Secure Boot, which also requires the SMM feature
Set secureBoot: false in the virtual machine spec

virtctl image-upload never completes

The storage class uses the WaitForFirstConsumer binding mode
Add --force-bind to the upload command

The virtual machine has no network

Attach the virtual machine to a network that provides DHCP and outbound internet access

Device-specific notes

Virtual hardware

4 virtual processors, 4096 MB of memory, the QCOW2 image as a virtio or virtio-scsi disk, and a virtio network adapter.

Firmware

UEFI with OVMF firmware and Secure Boot turned off, on every platform in this guide.

Storage

The image has a 64 GB virtual size and stays sparse on file-based storage.

Display output

Use your platform’s console: the QEMU window, virt-viewer, the Proxmox noVNC console, or the OpenShift virtual machine console.

Important notes

Boot the image with UEFI firmware and Secure Boot turned off
Attach the virtual machine to a network that provides DHCP and outbound internet access
On Proxmox, import into file-based storage to keep the disk sparse
Keep the extracted .qcow2 if you plan to create more devices