Windows 8 Qcow2 Site

qemu-system-x86_64 \ -enable-kvm \ -cpu host \ -smp 4 \ -m 4096 \ -drive file=win8.qcow2,format=qcow2,if=virtio \ -drive file=Win8_ISO.iso,media=cdrom \ -drive file=virtio-win.iso,media=cdrom \ -netdev user,id=net0 \ -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=net0 \ -vga qxl \ -display spice-app

Most users prefer a GUI. In tools like virt-manager (the standard Linux KVM manager), you select "Create a new virtual machine," choose your Windows 8 ISO, and on the storage step, select "Select or create custom storage" and ensure the format is set to QCOW2. windows 8 qcow2