Prerequisites

vmctl requires several system tools depending on the backend and features you use.

Linux (QEMU/KVM)

Required

Tool	Purpose	Install (Debian/Ubuntu)
`qemu-system-x86_64`	VM hypervisor	`sudo apt install qemu-system-x86`
`qemu-img`	Disk image operations	`sudo apt install qemu-utils`
`/dev/kvm`	Hardware virtualization	Kernel module (usually built-in)

Cloud-Init ISO Generation (one of)

Tool	Purpose	Install
`genisoimage`	ISO 9660 image creation	`sudo apt install genisoimage`
`mkisofs`	Alternative ISO tool	`sudo apt install mkisofs`

Or build with the pure-iso feature to avoid needing either.

Verify Everything

# QEMU
qemu-system-x86_64 --version

# qemu-img
qemu-img --version

# KVM access
ls -la /dev/kvm

# ISO tools (one of these)
genisoimage --version 2>/dev/null || mkisofs --version 2>/dev/null

# Your user should be in the kvm group
groups | grep -q kvm && echo "kvm: OK" || echo "kvm: add yourself to the kvm group"

If /dev/kvm is not present, enable KVM in your BIOS/UEFI settings (look for "VT-x" or "AMD-V") and ensure the kvm kernel module is loaded:

sudo modprobe kvm
sudo modprobe kvm_intel  # or kvm_amd

illumos (Propolis)

For the experimental Propolis backend:

A running propolis-server instance
ZFS pool (default: rpool)
nebula-vm zone brand installed
VNIC networking configured