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+Installing and Configuring NetBSD on Qemu in Debian
+###################################################
+
+:date: 2014-03-01 22:10
+:slug: netbsd-on-qemu
+:tags: debian, netbsd, qemu, vde, networking
+:author: copyninja
+:summary: An introduction to installing NetBSD on Qemu and enabling
+	  networking on a Debian host.
+
+First step will be getting a NetBSD ISO image for installation
+purpose. It can be downloaded from `here
+<http://www.netbsd.org/mirrors/torrents/#6.1.3-ports>`_.
+
+Next step will be creating a disk image for installing NetBSD. This is
+done using ``qemu-img`` tool like below
+
+.. code-block:: shell-session
+
+   $ qemu-img create -f raw netbsd-disk.img 10G
+
+Image format used is *raw* and size is specified as last
+arugment. Tune the size as per your need.
+
+To start the installation run the following command
+
+.. code-block:: shell-session
+
+   $ qemu-system-x86_64 -m 256M -hda netbsd-disk.img -cdrom \
+		NetBSD-6.1.3-amd64.iso -display curses -boot d \
+		-net nic -net user
+
+So this is using user mode networking so you won't be able to have
+internet access during installation. I couldn't figure out on how to
+get network working during installation so I configured network after
+installation.
+
+Once you run above command you will be given with 4 options as
+follows.
+
+1. install netbsd
+2. install netbsd with ACPI disabled
+3. install netbsd with ACPI and SMP disabled
+4. drop to boot shell
+
+Even though I first installed using the option 1 I couldn't get it
+boot after installation so had to reinstall with option 2 and it works
+fine. I'm not gonna explain each step of installation here because the
+installer is really simple and straight forward! I guess the NetBSD
+installer is the first simplest installer I have encountered from the
+day I started with Linux. Its simple but powerful and gets job done
+very easily, and I didn't read manual for installation before using
+it.
+
+
+Enabling Networking
+-------------------
+
+This section involves mixture of configuration in Debian host and
+inside NetBSD to get the network working. The wiki page of Debian on
+`Qemu <https://wiki.debian.org/QEMU#Networking>`_. helped me here.
+
+To share the network with Qemu there are 2 possiblities
+
+1. Bridged networking between host and guest using *bridge-utils*
+2. Using VDE *(Virtual Distributed Ethernet)*
+
+The option 1 which is explained in wiki linked above didn't work for
+me as I use CDC Ether based datacard for connecting to Internet which
+gets detected as *eth1* on my machine. When bridging happens between
+*tap0* and *eth1* I end up loosing Internet on my host machine. So I
+selected to use VDE instead.
+
+First install packages *vde2* and *uml-utilities* once done edit the
+*/etc/network/interfaces* file and add following lines::
+
+   auto vdetap
+   iface vdetap inet static
+      address 192.168.2.1
+      netmask 255.255.255.0
+      vde2-switch -t vdetap
+
+We can use *dnsmasq* as a DHCP server for the *vdetap* interface, but
+I'm not gonna explain the configuration of *dnsmasq* here. Run the
+below command to get vdetap up
+
+.. code-block:: shell-session
+
+   modprobe tun
+   ifup vdetap
+   /etc/init.d/dnsmasq restart 
+   newgrp vde2-net # run as user starting Qemu VM's
+
+I couldn't get successful output for *newgrp* command, I was getting
+some ``crypt: Invalid argument`` output. But I could still get
+network working on NetBSD so I considered to ignore that for now.
+
+Now start the NetBSD qemu instance running using following command
+
+.. code-block:: shell-session
+
+   $ qemu-system-x86_64 -m 256M -hda \
+		/mnt/kailash/BSDWorld/netbsd-disk.img \
+		-net nic -net vde,sock=/var/run/vde2/vdetap.ctl -display curses
+
+Once the system is up login using *root* user, NetBSD will warn you
+for this and suggest to create another user but for now ignore
+it. To find the network interface in NetBSD just run the usual
+*ifconfig* command. In my case interface is named *wm0*.
+
+First step will be configuring the IP address for your interface and
+setting up the gateway route. Run the below command for this purpose
+
+.. code-block:: shell-session
+
+   # ifconfig wm0 192.168.2.2 netmask 255.255.255.0
+   # route add default 192.168.2.1
+
+Note that I added gateway as IP address of vdetap on my host
+machine. Now try pinging the host and even you can try ssh to host
+system.
+
+But note that this is not persistent over the reboots and for some
+reason I didn't yet figure out how to make NetBSD get address over
+DHCP from my host machine. I will update once I figure it out. Now to
+make the connection address persistent over reboots you need to create
+a file by name */etc/ifconfg.<interface>*. Replace *interface* with a
+proper interface on your running NetBSD. In my case this file is
+*/etc/ifconfig.wm0* and has following content.::
+
+  192.168.2.2 netmask 0xffffff00 media autoselect
+
+Set the DNS server as host by adding file */etc/resolv.conf* with
+following content.::
+
+  nameserver 192.168.2.1
+
+With the above setup you will be able to get DNS resolution even after
+you reboot the Qemu instance but Internet connection will not work
+untill you run the ``route`` command I mentioned above. I still didn't
+figure out how to persist route but I will update it here once I
+figure it out.
+
+  Note that you won't be able to SSH as root to NetBSD (may be its
+  configured to not allow by default), so you would need to create a
+  normal user before trying to SSH from host to guest. Also make sure
+  you add the user to *wheel* group to allow him execute su command.
+
+So now I've NetBSD running on my laptop with mere 256M ram and its
+amazingly fast even at such low RAM. I've created a new user and can
+SSH into it from host machine and use it just like I use a
+server!. I will put up the notes of my BSD adventure here
+periodically.
+
+The feeling of using a BSD is amazing :-)