EVE-NG (Emulated Virtual Environment — Next Generation) is a network emulator that runs virtual network devices inside QEMU/KVM and other hypervisors to build labs and topology simulations. QEMU images are the virtual-disk files used to run vendor IOS/IOS-XE/IOS-XR, NX-OS, PAN-OS, FortiOS, VyOS, Linux appliances, and other OSes inside EVE-NG. This guide exhaustively explains how to find, obtain, prepare, import, and troubleshoot QEMU images for EVE-NG, plus best practices and legal/security considerations.
Note: Licensing: many network OS images (Cisco, Juniper, Palo Alto, Fortinet, etc.) are proprietary; you must have appropriate rights to use vendor images. This guide describes technical steps only and does not provide links to copyrighted images.
Large QEMU images consume disk and RAM. Use optimized variants:
| Full Image | Better Alternative | Savings | |------------|--------------------|---------| | Cisco CSR1000v (4GB+) | Cisco IOSv (400MB) | ~90% disk | | Arista vEOS (2GB) | Arista cEOS (container) | Faster boot, less RAM | | Juniper vMX | Juniper vJunos-switch | Lower resource use for switching labs |
Also consider dynamically provisioned images (qcow2 backing files) to clone images without duplication. eveng qemu images download better
qemu-img create -f qcow2 -b base-image.qcow2 node-disk1.qcow2
fixpermissions after adding any image.Would you like a ready-to-use bash script that automates downloading, converting, and setting up a specific QEMU image (e.g., Cisco vIOS or FortiGate) for EVE-NG?
Finding and installing QEMU images for EVE-NG can be a complex process because the platform does not provide copyrighted vendor images directly. This review highlights the best practices and challenges for a "better" download and setup experience based on community standards and official documentation. The "Better" Way to Get Images
The most reliable and legal method is to source images directly from official vendor sites. This ensures you have the latest stable versions and proper licensing.
Cisco Images: Use an account to download Cisco vIOS (router) or vIOS Layer 2 (switch) images. Overview: EVE-NG, QEMU images, and downloading them EVE-NG
Palo Alto: Download KVM-based images (.qcow2) directly from the Palo Alto customer portal.
Arista & Fortinet: Both vendors offer free-to-download lab or trial images. For Arista, register for an account to access vEOS-lab images. For Fortinet, use the 15-day trial FortiOS QEMU images.
Open-Source Linux: You can use wget to pull cloud images (like Ubuntu or Debian) directly into your EVE-NG server. Setup Best Practices
Simply downloading the images isn't enough; they must be formatted and named correctly to work. Always download from official vendor source or EVE-NG
Strict Naming Convention: EVE-NG uses a precise QEMU Image Naming Table. For example, a Palo Alto image folder must start with paloalto-, and the internal file must be named hda.qcow2.
Correct Directory: All images must reside in /opt/unetlab/addons/qemu/.
Conversion Tools: Use the qemu-img convert command to transform VMDK or OVA files into the required .qcow2 format.
Fix Permissions: After uploading any new image via SFTP (using tools like WinSCP or FileZilla), you must run the following command to make them usable:/opt/unetlab/wrappers/unl_wrapper -a fixpermissions. Pros & Cons of QEMU in EVE-NG Linux images - - EVE-NG