16.6 Installing RISC-V FreeBSD with QEMU (on x86 Windows Host)

QEMU (abbreviated from Quick Emulator) is an open-source general-purpose machine emulator and virtualizer.

The experimental environment in this section is based on Windows 11 24H2 (host machine, x86-64 architecture), FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE (virtual machine, RISC-V architecture), and QEMU 20241220. All operation steps have been verified in this environment.

Downloading QEMU for Windows

Please visit the QEMU official download page at https://www.qemu.org/download/ to download and install the QEMU installer for Windows hosts (64-bit version).

The specific QEMU download address:

QEMU Binaries for Windows (64 bit), please download the latest installer from the list. At the time of writing, the latest version is qemu-w64-setup-20241220.exe, with a size of 174 MB.

After downloading, install QEMU on Windows.

RISC-V FreeBSD Disk Image

After QEMU is installed, you need to download the RISC-V architecture FreeBSD disk image.

RISC-V FreeBSD disk image (using FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE as an example):

https://download.freebsd.org/releases/VM-IMAGES/14.2-RELEASE/riscv64/Latest/FreeBSD-14.2-RELEASE-riscv-riscv64-zfs.raw.xz

After downloading, decompress it for later use.

Related File Structure

After installation, the related files are distributed in the following directory structure.

/usr/
└── local/
    └── share/
        ├── opensbi/
        │   └── lp64/
        │       └── generic/
        │           └── firmware/
        │               └── fw_jump.elf # OpenSBI firmware
        └── u-boot/
            └── u-boot-qemu-riscv64/
                └── u-boot.bin # U-Boot boot loader

OpenSBI

Obtain OpenSBI (RISC-V Open Source Supervisor Binary Interface), which functions similarly to boot firmware and is responsible for M-mode firmware work in the RISC-V boot process.

Installing OpenSBI

The following commands need to be executed on a FreeBSD system (which can be another FreeBSD machine, a virtual machine, or FreeBSD in WSL). After installation, copy the firmware files to the Windows host for use.

Install using pkg:

# pkg install opensbi

Or install using Ports:

# cd /usr/ports/sysutils/opensbi/
# make install clean

Extracting fw_jump.elf

# /etc/periodic/weekly/310.locate # Refresh the locate database
# locate fw_jump.elf
/usr/local/share/opensbi/lp64/generic/firmware/fw_jump.elf

Extract fw_jump.elf for use on Windows.

U-Boot

Obtain U-Boot (Universal Boot Loader) on a FreeBSD system; it functions similarly to GRUB 2.

Installing U-Boot

Install using pkg:

# pkg install u-boot-qemu-riscv64

Or install using Ports:

# cd /usr/ports/sysutils/u-boot-qemu-riscv64/
# make install clean

Extracting the u-boot.bin File

# /etc/periodic/weekly/310.locate # Refresh the database
# locate u-boot.bin
/usr/local/share/u-boot/u-boot-qemu-riscv64/u-boot.bin

Extract u-boot.bin for use on Windows.

Configuring QEMU

Create a new text file qemu.bat on the desktop and write the following content:

cd /d "C:\Program Files\qemu"
.\qemu-system-riscv64.exe ^
    -machine virt ^
    -smp 4 ^
    -cpu rv64 ^
    -m 4G ^
    -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd ^
    -drive file="C:\Users\ykla\Desktop\FreeBSD-14.2-RELEASE-riscv-riscv64-zfs.raw",if=none,id=hd ^
    -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net ^
    -netdev user,id=net,hostfwd=tcp::8022-:22 ^
    -bios "C:\Users\ykla\Desktop\fw_jump.elf" ^
    -kernel "C:\Users\ykla\Desktop\u-boot.bin" ^
    -append "root=LABEL=rootfs" ^
    -nographic

Parameter descriptions:

Parameter	Description
^	Windows batch script line continuation character, allowing a long command to span multiple lines
smp	Number of CPUs
cpu	CPU architecture
m	Memory size
hostfwd=tcp::8022-:22	Forward host port 8022 to virtual machine port 22 (SSH)

In the above example, please replace *C:\Users\ykla\Desktop* with the actual path.

After saving the file, double-click to run the script.

QEMU installing FreeBSD

Enter the username root to log in directly; there is no default password.

Whether using PowerShell or CMD, the output will display garbled characters (for example, when executing the ee command or pressing the Tab key).

Additionally, this image does not have SSH service configured for regular users by default, so you cannot directly connect to the FreeBSD device via SSH.

Create a regular user (if not already created, note to add it to the wheel group):

# adduser

Configuring the sshd Service

Configure the sshd service as follows:

# service sshd enable # Add boot entry
# service sshd start # Start the sshd service

After this, you can connect via SSH from Windows (IP is localhost):

ssh -p 8022 ykla@localhost

You can then connect to the local ykla user via SSH on port 8022 (as specified in the qemu.bat file).

Troubleshooting and Unfinished Business

Cannot Display Graphical Interface

The current version does not yet support graphical interface; related content is to be supplemented.

References

• zg. Create FreeBSD virtual machine using qemu. Run the VM using xhyve.[EB/OL]. [2026-03-26]. https://gist.github.com/zg/38a3afa112ddf7de4912aafc249ec82f. Provides technical methods for expanding FreeBSD virtual machines under QEMU.
• Nativus. Setting Up a RISC-V Environment on QEMU for Windows x64 (Debian Linux)[EB/OL]. (2022-10-12)[2026-03-26]. https://naiv.fun/Ops/83.html. Provides conceptual explanations and an overall framework for setting up a RISC-V environment.
• smist08. RISC-V Emulation Revisited[EB/OL]. (2023-04-28)[2026-03-26]. https://smist08.wordpress.com/2023/04/28/risc-v-emulation-revisited. Detailed introduction to various configuration parameters and implementation details for RISC-V virtualization in QEMU.