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You can run a ChromeOS-like system in a virtual machine, but Google’s documented VM route is for ChromiumOS, the open-source foundation of ChromeOS—not a retail Chromebook version of ChromeOS or ChromeOS Flex. The official prebuilt image is designed for QEMU/KVM on a Linux host. If you want ChromeOS Flex, Google documents trying it from a USB drive or installing it on compatible hardware instead.
The short answer
For a VM, use the official prebuilt ChromiumOS image with QEMU/KVM on Linux. ChromiumOS documentation says KVM/QEMU VMs are the actively supported option; other VM types may be extremely slow. This is a developer- and testing-oriented image, not a one-click way to reproduce every feature of a Chromebook.
Choose based on what you want:
| Your goal | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Try a ChromeOS-like interface without changing your computer | ChromiumOS VM with QEMU/KVM |
| Try ChromeOS Flex temporarily | ChromeOS Flex live USB |
| Turn a compatible old PC or Mac into a ChromeOS-like computer | Install ChromeOS Flex, after backing up its contents |
| Use the supported Chromebook experience, including device-specific features | A supported Chromebook or other ChromeOS device |
ChromeOS, ChromiumOS and ChromeOS Flex are different
| System | What it is | How it relates to a VM |
|---|---|---|
| ChromeOS | Google’s operating system for Chromebooks and other ChromeOS hardware. | The prebuilt VM described here is not a retail ChromeOS image. |
| ChromiumOS | The open-source project that ChromeOS is based on. | Its developer documentation provides the QEMU/KVM VM image used in this guide. |
| ChromeOS Flex | Google’s installation-oriented option for compatible PCs and Macs. | Google documents USB live boot and installation, not a general-purpose supported VM guest. It does not support Google Play or Android apps. |
The distinctions matter if you expect to sign in exactly as you would on a Chromebook, run Android apps, or test Chromebook hardware. The prebuilt ChromiumOS image is primarily for testing and development; its documented login flow uses a fake test user. It does not promise ordinary Google-account sign-in or Chromebook feature parity.
What you need
- A Linux host; the official example uses Debian- or Ubuntu-based package commands.
- An x86-64 processor with Intel VT-x or AMD-V virtualization enabled in BIOS/UEFI.
- KVM available at
/dev/kvmand permission for your user to access it. - QEMU, its disk utilities, OVMF UEFI firmware and
xz-utils. - Google Cloud CLI tools, including
gsutil, to fetch the image. - Enough memory, CPU and disk space for the host and guest. The official launch example assigns the VM 16 GB of RAM and four virtual CPUs; those are example allocations, not a published minimum.
The official procedure is Linux-focused. Windows or macOS may be made to run an emulated or nested setup, but that is not the straightforward documented route and can introduce acceleration, firmware and graphics issues. Do not assume an x86-64 guest image will run natively or efficiently on Apple silicon.
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1. Install QEMU and supporting packages
On Debian or Ubuntu, install the packages used by the guide:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y qemu-system-x86 qemu-utils ovmf xz-utilsInstall the Google Cloud CLI using Google’s current instructions for your distribution. The ChromiumOS image download below uses gsutil.
2. Check hardware virtualization and KVM
Run this in a Bash terminal:
if [[ -e /dev/kvm ]] && grep -qE '^flags.*(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo; then
echo 'KVM appears to be working.'
else
echo 'KVM not detected or not working. Ensure virtualization is enabled in your BIOS/UEFI settings.'
fiThe check looks for the KVM device and an Intel vmx or AMD svm CPU flag. If it fails, reboot into BIOS/UEFI, enable Intel VT-x/Virtualization Technology or AMD-V/SVM, then boot Linux and check again. If you are already inside another virtual machine, the outer hypervisor must expose nested virtualization; otherwise KVM may not be available.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchIf /dev/kvm exists, add your account to the KVM group:
sudo adduser $(whoami) kvmStart a new login session for the group change to take effect, or run newgrp kvm in the current terminal. Then verify access:
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if [[ -r /dev/kvm ]] && [[ -w /dev/kvm ]]; then
echo "KVM access for $(whoami) is OK."
else
echo "KVM access for $(whoami) FAILED. Check group membership and permissions."
fi3. Select an available ChromiumOS VM image
The official example uses release string R144-16481.0.0, but archive contents change. Check the public ChromiumOS VM image archive and set CROS_VERSION to a directory that is actually available. Do not treat the example release as a permanent latest version.
export CROS_VERSION="R144-16481.0.0"If the version is not in the archive, choose an available one before continuing. This is a ChromiumOS test-image archive, not a ChromeOS Flex recovery-image download.
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export IMAGE_DIR="${HOME}/cros_vms/${CROS_VERSION}"
mkdir -p "${IMAGE_DIR}"
export ARCHIVE_FILE="${IMAGE_DIR}/chromiumos_test_image.tar.xz"
export IMAGE_FILE="${IMAGE_DIR}/chromiumos_test_image.bin"
gsutil cp
"gs://chromiumos-image-archive/amd64-generic-vm-public/${CROS_VERSION}/chromiumos_test_image.tar.xz"
"${ARCHIVE_FILE}"
tar -xf "${ARCHIVE_FILE}" -C "${IMAGE_DIR}/"The extracted disk image should be chromiumos_test_image.bin. If the download reports that the object is missing, check the value of CROS_VERSION against the archive: the version directory or expected filename may not exist.
5. Start the VM
Run the following from the same shell after setting IMAGE_FILE in the previous step:
qemu-system-x86_64
-m 16G
-smp 4
-enable-kvm
-cpu host,+ssse3,+sse4.1,+sse4.2,+aes,+pclmulqdq,+popcnt
-device virtio-rng-pci
-device virtio-scsi-pci,id=scsi
-device scsi-hd,drive=hd,bootindex=0
-drive if=none,id=hd,file="${IMAGE_FILE}",format=raw,cache=unsafe
-device virtio-net,netdev=user0
-netdev user,id=user0,hostfwd=tcp::2222-:22
-vga virtio
-display gtk,show-cursor=on
-device usb-ehci,id=ehci
-device usb-tablet
-device virtio-keyboard-pciThe main settings are:
-m 16Gand-smp 4allocate 16 GB of RAM and four virtual CPUs to the guest. Reduce these only if your host has less capacity, and expect performance to vary.-enable-kvmenables hardware acceleration through KVM; it requires working KVM access.-cpu host,...exposes the host CPU model and listed features to the guest.-drive ... file="${IMAGE_FILE}" ...attaches the extracted raw image as the VM disk. Confirm the path before running the command.-device virtio-netand the user-mode network provide guest networking.hostfwd=tcp::2222-:22forwards host port 2222 to guest SSH port 22.-vga virtioand-display gtkprovide the virtual display window.
QEMU’s cache=unsafe setting comes from the documented example. Treat the image path and disk attachment carefully; do not copy a modified command from an untrusted source if it points to a different disk. The guest has a virtual display and devices, so graphics and hardware behavior will not necessarily match a Chromebook.
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To shut down, use the guest’s shutdown control if available, or close the QEMU window. Avoid forcibly terminating QEMU while the guest is writing data unless you are willing to risk losing changes.
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6. Log in: expect a test session, not a retail Chromebook setup
The prebuilt image guide describes a fake-user autologin workflow. It is intended for testing, not as an automatic standard Google-account sign-in. The guide’s SSH command uses a testing key and invokes its autologin script:
ssh -p 2222 -i ~/.ssh/testing_rsa
-o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no
root@localhost
"/usr/local/autotest/bin/autologin.py -w --
--enable-devtools-pwa-handler
--enable-features=IsolatedWebAppDevMode
--remote-debugging-address=0.0.0.0
--force-devtools-available"Use this only in the context of the official test-image workflow. Options such as disabling host-key checking are not general-purpose SSH security advice. The official guide discusses real-account use separately and requires API keys; do not assume that entering a Gmail address in the test image will reproduce Chromebook setup.
Optional: connect to Chrome DevTools remotely
For development, the official guide shows how to read the guest’s active DevTools port and tunnel it to the host. First set a host port and retrieve the active guest port:
export HOST_PORT=9222
export ACTIVE_PORT=$(ssh -p 2222 -i ~/.ssh/testing_rsa
-o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no
root@localhost
"cat /home/chronos/DevToolsActivePort | head -n 1")Then open the SSH tunnel in a terminal that remains running:
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ssh -p 2222 -i ~/.ssh/testing_rsa
-L ${HOST_PORT}:localhost:${ACTIVE_PORT}
-o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null
-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no
root@localhostIn another host terminal, check the endpoint:
curl http://localhost:${HOST_PORT}/json/versionThis is an advanced testing workflow, not required to boot or use the graphical VM.
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/dev/kvm is missing or inaccessible
Check that virtualization is enabled in firmware, then reboot and inspect /dev/kvm again. If the device exists but the permission check fails, confirm your account is in the kvm group and start a new login session. A guest VM running inside another VM also needs nested virtualization exposed by the outer host.
The VM exits immediately or fails to launch
Check the terminal output, QEMU and OVMF installation, the value of IMAGE_FILE, and whether extraction completed. CPU-feature and KVM-permission errors point to host setup; a missing image or wrong path points to the download/extraction step. Do not simply remove -enable-kvm and assume the result is equivalent: ChromiumOS documentation warns that non-KVM VMs can be extremely slow.
The image download fails
Print the selected release with echo "$CROS_VERSION", then compare it with the available directories in the image archive. An unavailable version or object name is the usual reason the requested file cannot be found.
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The display or performance is disappointing
The example uses Virtio graphics and a GTK window, not a Chromebook GPU and display stack. Virtual graphics, host capacity, and QEMU configuration can affect the result. The documented 16 GB/four-CPU allocation is only the example; do not assign more resources than the host can spare.
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You expected Android apps or a normal Chromebook login
The ChromiumOS VM’s documented flow is a test-user session, and ChromeOS Flex does not support Google Play or Android apps. If Android apps or the certified Chromebook experience are essential, this VM is not the right substitute.
If you meant ChromeOS Flex
Google’s documented Flex path is to create a bootable USB installer, boot a compatible PC or Mac from it, then choose Try it first for a temporary live session or install it. Flex requires an Intel or AMD x86-64-compatible device, at least 4 GB of RAM, at least 16 GB of internal storage and USB boot capability; Google guarantees functionality only on certified models, and unsupported hardware may have stability or feature problems. See the official requirements and installation guide and installation steps.
Live boot is for trying the system and has storage and performance limitations. A full Flex installation erases the target device’s existing OS and data; back up anything important first. Google says erased data cannot be recovered, and dual boot is not supported. Flex also lacks Google Play and Android apps. Consult Google’s ChromeOS Flex FAQ before choosing this route.
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VMware Workstation Pro is available for Windows and Linux hosts, and VMware’s current FAQ says current Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro versions are available at no charge for personal, educational and commercial use; downloads require a Broadcom Support Portal account. That does not make VMware the recommended ChromiumOS route: the ChromiumOS developer guide identifies KVM/QEMU as the actively supported VM types and warns that non-KVM VMs may be very slow.
The ChromiumOS VM procedure does not provide a VirtualBox installation path, so compatibility and performance should not be assumed. Avoid treating a ChromeOS Flex recovery image or an unofficial conversion as an equivalent supported VM installation.
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