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When I run qemu -cpu kvm64 -snapshot -hda binary.img at a local console, the image boots and runs as I expect. However, when I log in via ssh -C -X, I see:

$ qemu -cpu kvm64 -snapshot -hda binary.img 
open /dev/kvm: Permission denied
Could not initialize KVM, will disable KVM support
qemu: pci_add_option_rom: failed to find romfile "pxe-rtl8139.bin"

(The pxe-rtl8139 message is there when run locally as well, it doesn't seem to matter.)

Why does using SSH make a difference? How can I run qemu over SSH without needing root permissions?

Both machines are Ubuntu 11.10, qemu and qemu-kvm are 0.14.1+noroms-0ubuntu6.2

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Your error message seems to indicate a permissions problem. Are you ssh in as the same user ? – bodhi.zazen Mar 5 '12 at 4:24
@bodhi.zazen - yep, same user. Authenticated using keys, not password. – detly Mar 5 '12 at 4:29
What are the ownership permissions on /dev/kvm and output of id – bodhi.zazen Mar 5 '12 at 4:34
/dev/kvm is owned root:kvm and id says uid=1000(jason) gid=1000(jason) groups=1000(jason),4(adm),20(dialout),24(cdrom),46(plugdev),116(lpadmin),118(adm‌​in),124(sambashare) – detly Mar 5 '12 at 4:36
Add your user to the kvm group and it should then work. – bodhi.zazen Mar 5 '12 at 4:43
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1 Answer

up vote 3 down vote accepted

After additional information in the comments, You need to add your user to the kvm group.

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Great! But why does it work for a local login? Some sort of PAM magic I'm guessing? – detly Mar 5 '12 at 4:51
I am not sure why it worked locally, did you run it with sudo ? – bodhi.zazen Mar 5 '12 at 4:57
Nope. Same as over SSH, just as my regular login. – detly Mar 5 '12 at 5:02

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