When installing Server 2008 on Qemu, for the creation of an OpenStack Windows Server 2008 template; I found it easiest to use virt-install. Below is the code that I use to kick off that virt-install. virt-install –virt-type kvm –name win2008 –ram 2048 –cdrom=/path/to/cd-iso/server-2008.iso –disk path=/path/to/disk/file/location/2008.qcow2 –network network=default,model=virtio –graphics vnc,listen=0.0.0.0 –noautoconsole –os-type=windows –os-variant=win2k8