Steps to Boot a PetaLinux Image on QEMU - 2021.2 English

PetaLinux provides QEMU support to enable testing of PetaLinux software image in a simulated environment without any hardware.

Use the following steps to test the PetaLinux reference design with QEMU:

1. Change to your project directory and boot the prebuilt Linux kernel image:

   $ petalinux-boot --qemu --prebuilt 3

   If you do not wish to use prebuilt capability for QEMU boot, see the Additional Options for Booting on QEMU.

   The --qemu option tells petalinux-boot to boot QEMU instead of real hardware.

   • The --prebuilt 1 performs a Level 1 (FPGA bitstream) boot. This option is not valid for QEMU.
   • A level 2 boot includes U-Boot.
   • A level 3 boot includes a prebuilt Linux image.

   To know more about different boot levels for prebuilt option, see Booting PetaLinux Prebuilt Images.