Strictly speaking, you cannot "convert" a legacy Cisco IOS .bin file (like those for a Catalyst 2960) into a .qcow2 because they are fundamentally different: one is a firmware blob, the other is a virtual hard drive.
A valid .bin file (e.g., c7200-adventerprisek9-mz.152-4.M1.bin ). To install the necessary tools on Ubuntu/Debian, run: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install qemu-utils Use code with caution. Step-by-Step Conversion Process 1. Extracting the Image (If Necessary)
These files require no conversion and run natively on KVM hypervisors with full feature support (including Spanning Tree, EtherChannel, and OSPF). Optimizing the QCOW2 Image for EVE-NG and GNS3
However, when you need to run Cisco software in a QEMU/KVM environment, the correct path is: convert cisco bin to qcow2
source env.sh
A bootloader or decompression routine that unpacks the image into RAM during hardware initialization.
Move and rename your file to match EVE-NG's hardcoded drive recognition system (usually virtioa.qcow2 or hda.qcow2 ): Strictly speaking, you cannot "convert" a legacy Cisco IOS
This feature describes the methodology to package a Cisco .bin image into a bootable qcow2 image that can be launched by QEMU.
The transition from physical networking hardware to software-defined environments has fundamentally changed how engineers design and test networks. Central to this shift is the conversion of Cisco
Traditional IOS .bin files (e.g., for a 2960 or 3850) cannot be converted because they lack the necessary drivers to run on a virtual CPU (QEMU). Step-by-Step Conversion Process 1
Upload the .bin file directly to the Dynamips directory of your lab software.
Before running any commands, you must identify the type of Cisco image you hold.
I can then give you the specific commands or the correct image name to look for. Cisco Modeling Lab IOS Image convert
: Standing for "QEMU Copy On Write 2," this is a virtual disk format. It is the native storage format for the QEMU hypervisor used by most modern network simulation tools. Can You Convert Directly?
| Image Type | Native Format | Emulation Engine | Can Convert to QCOW2? | Action Required | |------------|---------------|------------------|----------------------|-----------------| | Physical router IOS (7200, 3725, 1710) | .bin | Dynamips | No | Use .bin directly in Dynamips | | Physical ASA (5500 series) | .bin | — | No | Not supported in QEMU; use ASAv instead | | NX‑OS for physical Nexus | .bin | — | No | Not supported; use NX‑OSv official QCOW2 | | IOS on Linux (IOL) | .bin or no extension | IOL engine | No | Place in iol/bin/ , keep .bin extension | | Cisco virtual appliances (ASAv, CSR1000v, IOSvL2) | Official .qcow2 | QEMU/KVM | Not needed | Directly import | | VMDK from OVA/OVF | .vmdk | QEMU after conversion | Yes | Convert with qemu-img convert | | Raw disk image | .raw or .img | QEMU | Yes | Convert with qemu-img convert or rename |