# qemu > Generic machine emulator and virtualizer. > Supports a large variety of CPU architectures. - Boot from image emulating i386 architecture: `qemu-system-i386 -hda {{image_name.img}}` - Boot from image emulating x64 architecture: `qemu-system-x86_64 -hda {{image_name.img}}` - Boot QEMU instance with a live ISO image: `qemu-system-i386 -hda {{image_name.img}} -cdrom {{os-image.iso}} -boot d` - Specify amount of RAM for instance: `qemu-system-i386 -m 256 -hda image_name.img -cdrom os-image.iso -boot d` - Boot from physical device (e.g. from USB to test bootable medium): `qemu-system-i386 -hda /dev/{{storage_device}}`