---
name: "sbuild-qemu-update"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "sbuild-qemu"
version: "0.89.3+deb13u4"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/sbuild-qemu-update"
---

# sbuild-qemu-update(1)

sbuild-update analog for QEMU images

## NAME

sbuild-qemu-update - sbuild-update analog for QEMU images

## SYNOPSIS

**sbuild-qemu-update** \[**-h**\] \[**--snapshot**\] \[**--arch=ARCH**\] \[**--noexec**\] IMAGE

## DESCRIPTION

**sbuild-qemu-update** boots a QEMU VM using **IMAGE** and then runs **apt-get** in it, performing **update**, **dist-upgrade**, **clean** and **autoremove**. It can optionally create a snapshot before updating.

The architecture is auto-guessed by stripping any file suffix and then splitting the image name on dashes \`\`-'', and finally by looking for a Debian architecture name. *sid-amd64.img*, *amd64-temporary.image* or even just *amd64* would all be assumed to be amd64 images, but not *amd64.rebuild-tests.img*. If this guesses wrong, use the **--arch** option.

## OPTIONS

- **-h**, **--help**

  Show this help message and exit.

- **--snapshot**

  Create a snapshot of the image before changing it. Useful for reproducibility purposes.

- **--arch**=ARCH

  Architecture to use (instead of attempting to auto-guess).

- **--timeout**=SECS

  Maximum time to wait for command to finish with expected result. Mostly relevant for foreign architectures, where **apt-get update** can take quite a while. Default: 600s.

- **--noexec**

  Don't actually do anything. Just print the command string that would be executed, and then exit.

- **--boot**=auto,bios,efi,ieee1275,none

  How to boot the image. Default is BIOS on amd64 and i386, EFI on arm64 and armhf, and IEEE1275 on ppc64el.

## EXAMPLES

**$ sbuild-qemu-update unstable-autopkgtest-amd64.img**

This will update the image **unstable-autopkgtest-amd64.img** in the current directory. If no such file exists there, then  **$IMAGEDIR/unstable-autopkgtest-amd64.img** is tried.

## ENVIRONMENT

If **$IMAGEDIR** is unset, then *~/.cache/sbuild* is used.

## COPYRIGHT

```
Copyright © 2020-2022 Christian Kastner <ckk@debian.org>
```

## SEE ALSO

[**sbuild**(1)](/sbuild/1.md), [**sbuild-qemu**(1)](/sbuild-qemu/1.md), [**sbuild-qemu-create**(1)](/sbuild-qemu-create/1.md).