windows-arm64 VM using qemu-system

Owned by Pierrick Bouvier
Last updated: Nov 30, 2024
4 min read

This page describes the process to run a windows-arm64 VM using qemu-system-aarch64.

Prerequisites

Windows ISO

Microsoft distribute official ISO for windows-arm64
Download Windows 11 Arm64

If you only want to boot the windows kernel and a limited user-space, you can use Microsoft Validation OS instead (see instructions here).

Virtio drivers

Virtio windows drivers (virtio-win-pkg-scripts/README.md at master · virtio-win/virtio-win-pkg-scripts) are needed to make your disk recognized by windows. Pick latest iso from link above.

In our example, latest version is 0.1.266.

EFI

Download latest EFI from Debian -- Details of package qemu-efi-aarch64 in sid . This will be used to boot windows image. Download package from “all” link, and extract it using:

ar x qemu-efi-aarch64*.deb tar xvf data.tar.xz mv ./usr/share/qemu-efi-aarch64/QEMU_EFI.fd .

Create disk

qemu-img create win11-arm64.img 100G

Check

You should now have those files available in current folder:

  • Win11_24H2_EnglishInternational_Arm64.iso

  • virtio-win-0.1.266.iso

  • QEMU_EFI.fd

  • win11-arm64.img

Run QEMU

qemu-system-aarch64 \ -M virt -m 8G -cpu max,pauth-impdef=on -smp 8 \ -bios ./QEMU_EFI.fd\ --accel tcg,thread=multi\ -device ramfb \ -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \ -nic user,model=virtio-net-pci \ -device usb-storage,drive=install \ -drive if=none,id=install,format=raw,media=cdrom,file=./Win11_24H2_EnglishInternational_Arm64.iso \ -device usb-storage,drive=virtio-drivers \ -drive if=none,id=virtio-drivers,format=raw,media=cdrom,file=./virtio-win-0.1.266.iso \ -drive if=virtio,id=system,format=raw,file=./win11-arm64.img

Notes:

  • --accel tcg,thread=multi is to speed up emulation

  • devices are added for graphics output (ramfb), keyboard/mouse (usb*) and network (-nic)

  • pauth-impdef=on speeds up pointer authentication Arm CPU Features — QEMU documentation

Run QEMU on aarch64 hardware

In case you have access to a linux-aarch64 machine:

  • replace --accel tcg with --accel kvm (or --accel hvf on MacOS)

  • replace cpu with -cpu=host

Note: It has been successfully booted on a 80-core aarch64 server, running Linux 6.0 and qemu-system 6.2.

Setup Windows

Setup will take between 1 and 2 hours on a high end x64 processor. It requires several manual steps.

Enter setup

Click on QEMU window and press enter when this appears

Installer is now loading…

Click on next, and Install now. Then select, “I don’t have a product key”.

The setup will now complain that your pc can’t run Windows 11.

Yes, this vm CAN run windows 11

It’s possible to force windows 11 installation by using those instructions (This PC can't run Windows 11 - Bypass/Fix ). We details them here:

  • Open a cmd prompt by using Shift + F10, and type regedit.

  • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup.

  • Right click on “Setup” folder, and select New → Key, named LabConfig

  • Right click on LabConfig, and select New → Dword (32-bit) Value. Create those 5 new values:

    • BypassCPUCheck

    • BypassRAMCheck

    • BypassSecureBootCheck

    • BypassStorageCheck

    • BypassTPMCheck

  • Set all their values to 1.

You should have something like this:

Now, close regedit, command prompt, go back to previous page (using top left arrow), and click again on “i don’t have a product key”. Windows is now happy to be installed on your VM

Find your disk

Keep on advancing, select a “Custom install”, and you should now hit this screen:

Select load driver, then browse, drive “virtio-win-…”, and viostor/w11/ARM64. Install driver found and your disk will appear.

Click next, take a coffee, and come back later.

Yes, you can install without any internet connection

After several screen/reboot, the installer will complain that no internet connection can be found.

By following this (How to Install and Set Up Windows 11 Without an Internet Connection ), we can skip this and continue installation.

In short: Open a command prompt (using Shift + F10), and type OOBE\BYPASSNRO

VM will reboot, and you can now continue installation without a network connection.

Now, continue with “limited setup”, add a user, and you should finally reach Windows Desktop.

Let’s get a network connection

The last bit is to connect the VM to Internet. For this open “Device manager” and update driver for Ethernet controller. Select folder E:\NetKVM.

Complete!

Setup is now complete, and your machine can access internet.