Add new guide to help those that are looking for to emulate instead o…

…f use physical boards

source/getting-started/emulation-with-qemu/index.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+.. _gs-emulation-with-qemu:
+
+Device Emulation Using QEMU
+=============================
+
+.. note::
+
+  This tutorial is designed to assist you in getting started with using QEMU to emulate devices on your desktop. Please note that we are selecting a specific FoundriesFactory® to establish an environment for experimenting with the Foundries.io™ solution. This approach will enable you to engage with subsequent tutorials and enhance your skills.
+
+Prerequisites and Pre-Work
+---------------------------
+
+   - Ensure that you have installed `QEMU <https://www.qemu.org/download/>`_ 5.2 or later.
+   - Create a :ref:`ref-factory` for the platform ``QEMU Arm 64 bit`` as described in the guide :ref:`gs-select-platform`:
+
+.. figure:: /_static/qemu/example_factory_arm64.png
+   :width: 900
+   :align: center
+   :alt: QEMU Arm 64 bit example factory
+
+Emulating Device
+--------------------------
+
+1. Go to the `Targets` tab of your Factory and download the ``lmp-base-console-image-qemuarm64-secureboot.wic.gz`` image and the ``flash.bin``:
+
+.. figure:: /_static/qemu/example_required_artefacts.png
+   :width: 900
+   :align: center
+   :alt: Artifacts which are required to run the image with QEMU
+
+2. Make a directory for the artifacts and cd into it:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+    mkdir -p lmp-qemu/arm64
+    cd lmp-qemu/arm64
+
+3. Copy the Artifacts to the ``lmp-qemu/arm64`` directory :
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+    cp <path-where-dir>/lmp-base-console-image-qemuarm64-secureboot.wic.gz .
+    cp <path-where-dir>/flash.bin .
+
+4. Decompress the image:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+    gunzip lmp-base-console-image-qemuarm64-secureboot.wic.gz
+
+5. Convert the Disk to QCOW2 Format:
+
+Use ``qemu-img`` to convert your raw disk image to the QCOW2 format. This step can sometimes make the image more amenable to virtualization.
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+    qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 lmp-base-console-image-qemuarm64-secureboot.wic lmp-base-console-image-qemuarm64-secureboot.qcow2
+
+6. Resize the Image:
+
+Resize the new QCOW2 image to a size that’s a multiple of the sector size. Let’s resize it to 4GB for simplicity.
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+    qemu-img resize lmp-base-console-image-qemuarm64-secureboot.qcow2 4G
+
+7. Run QEMU with the New Image:
+
+Once you’ve converted and resized the image, you can then use it with your QEMU command.
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+    qemu-system-aarch64 \
+    -m 2048 \
+    -cpu cortex-a57 \
+    -smp 2 \
+    -machine acpi=off \
+    -bios flash.bin \
+    -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net0,mac=52:54:00:12:35:02 \
+    -device virtio-serial-device \
+    -drive id=disk0,file=lmp-base-console-image-qemuarm64-secureboot.qcow2,if=none,format=qcow2 \
+    -device virtio-blk-device,drive=disk0 \
+    -netdev user,id=net0,hostfwd=tcp::2222-:22 \
+    -object rng-random,filename=/dev/urandom,id=rng0 \
+    -device virtio-rng-pci,rng=rng0 \
+    -chardev null,id=virtcon \
+    -machine virt,secure=on \
+    -nographic
+
+8. Log into the booted system:
+
+   By default, the ``username`` and ``password`` to log in your device after boot are ``fio/fio``. We recommend changing them once you are in development.
+
+   .. figure:: /_static/qemu/example_login.png
+      :width: 900
+      :align: center
+      :alt: Login
+
+.. note::
+
+   If you are not prompted for login, press ``Enter`` to check if it gets displayed.
+
+.. note::
+
+   If you encounter a QEMU terminal where common commands like ``ls`` are unresponsive, it may indicate an issue. A missing login prompt likely means that your image did not boot successfully.
+   For this specific platform, we use the ``-bios=flash.bin`` flag to boot the system. However, the flags and configurations may vary based on the selected platform.
+
+Next Step
+--------------------------
+
+At this point, you have successfully set up the device. You are now able to :ref:`gs-register` and proceed with the following tutorials.

source/getting-started/flash-device/index.rst

@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ Prerequisites and Pre-Work
       - Ethernet cable (if choosing Wired)
       - Console access to your hardware via UART serial (if choosing WiFi)
 
+.. note::
+
+   If you are just getting started and prefer to emulate the device rather than using a physical board, make sure to refer to the guide :ref:`gs-emulation-with-qemu`. Following this guide will lead you through "Flashing the Image" just like this guide, enabling you to proceed with the subsequent steps to :ref:`gs-register`.
+
 .. _gs-download:
 
 Downloading the LmP System Image

source/index.rst

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ OE/Yocto Project, the Linux microPlatform™ and Docker®.
    getting-started/flash-device/index
    getting-started/register-device/index
    getting-started/install-fioctl/index
+   getting-started/emulation-with-qemu/index
    getting-started/building-deploying-app/index
 
 .. toctree::

source/reference-manual/qemu/qemu.rst

@@ -11,3 +11,6 @@ Qemu
    arm64
    riscv64
 
+.. note::
+
+   If you are just getting started and prefer to emulate the device rather than using a physical board, make sure to refer to the guide :ref:`gs-emulation-with-qemu`. Following this guide will lead you through the same result of :ref:`gs-flash-device`, enabling you to proceed with the subsequent steps to :ref:`gs-register`.