How to Install Edge Microvisor Toolkit: Virtual & Bare-Metal Deployment Guide

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As edge workloads become more complex and performance-critical, developers need operating systems that are secure, lightweight, and customizable. The Edge Microvisor Toolkit (EMT) offers exactly that—a high-performance, Intel-optimized Linux distribution designed to run containers, virtual machines, and real-time workloads at the edge.

Quick walkthrough how to install EMT on virtual machines (Hyper-V, VirtualBox, KVM, QEMU) and on bare-metal hardware.

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What Is Edge Microvisor Toolkit?

Edge Microvisor Toolkit is:

• Based on Azure Linux

• Immutable by design (supports A/B updates)

• Tailored for Intel® platforms

• Open-source and customizable via RPM build system

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Option 1: Install EMT in a Virtual Machine

You can use the pre-built ISO or disk images (RAW, VHD, VHDX) generated by EMT’s build system.

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Hyper-V on Windows

1. Open Hyper-V Manager

2. New → Virtual Machine

3. Choose:

   • Generation 1 (for VHD) or Generation 2 (for VHDX)

4. Allocate memory, network, and storage

5. Select:

   • Install from ISO or

   • Use existing VHD (skip ISO if using a prebuilt disk)

6. For Gen2, go to Settings → Security and disable Secure Boot

7. Adjust boot order to prioritize DVD

8. Start the VM and follow the installation prompts

Default login (if using VHD): root / root

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VirtualBox on Windows/Linux

1. Open VirtualBox, create a new VM

2. Select Linux > Fedora (64-bit)

3. Choose the EMT ISO

4. Enable EFI and assign memory/CPU

5. If using a VHD/RAW image, convert to VDI:

   VBoxManage clonehd --format VDI input.vhd output.vdi
   # or for RAW:
   VBoxManage convertfromraw input.img output.vdi --format VDI
   

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KVM with Virt-Manager on Linux

1. Install packages:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install virt-manager libvirt-clients libvirt-daemon-system
   sudo usermod -a -G libvirt $(whoami)
   

2. Open virt-manager, create a new VM

3. Use:

   • ISO (installer) or

   • Import RAW image (recommended for best performance)

4. Manually select OS as Fedora

5. Assign resources and configure the network

6. Start the VM and install EMT

✅ Supported formats: RAW, QCOW2
⚠️ Limited support: VHD, no support for VDI

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QEMU with UEFI

For advanced users wanting CLI installation with QEMU and UEFI support:

qemu-img create -f qcow2 emt_rootfs.img 10G

qemu-system-x86_64 \
  -nodefaults -M accel=kvm -cpu host \
  -device virtio-rng-pci -machine q35 -smp 2 -m 2048M \
  -vga std -nic user \
  -drive if=pflash,format=raw,readonly=on,file=/usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd \
  -drive id=disk,file=emt_rootfs.img,if=none,format=qcow2 \
  -device virtio-blk-pci,drive=disk,bootindex=1 \
  -drive id=cdrom,file=EdgeMicrovisorToolkit.iso,if=none,media=cdrom \
  -device ide-cd,drive=cdrom,bootindex=2

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Option 2: Install EMT on Bare Metal

What You’ll Need:

• EMT 3.0 ISO

• USB flash drive (8GB+)

• Access to the target machine

• Optional: BMC/iDRAC for remote install

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Create a Bootable USB (Linux):

lsblk  # Identify your USB (e.g., /dev/sdb)

sudo dd if=/path/to/emt.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
sudo sync

⚠️ Be careful: dd will overwrite the selected disk!

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Create a Bootable USB (Windows):

1. Install Rufus

2. Insert USB and launch Rufus

3. Select:

   • ISO: EMT 3.0

   • Partition scheme: MBR (BIOS) or GPT (UEFI)

   • File system: FAT32

4. Click Start and follow prompts

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Boot and Install

1. Insert USB and boot from it

2. Choose installer mode (terminal or graphical)

3. Follow prompts:

   • Select disk

   • Partition layout

   • Optional encryption

   • Create user/password

4. Click Install

5. Reboot — you’re now running Edge Microvisor Toolkit!

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Post-Installation Checklist

After install, confirm version:

cat /etc/os-release

You’re now ready to deploy container workloads, set up Kubernetes, or build your own image using the Edge Microvisor Toolkit build system.

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Learn more – EMT Install Guide