Convert Cisco Bin To Qcow2 Page

Here’s a structured technical guide for converting a Cisco .bin image (typically an IOS or IOS-XE firmware) into a qcow2 disk image, suitable for use in KVM/QEMU (like GNS3, EVE-NG, or standalone QEMU).

Instead of manual steps, many emulation platforms include tools. For example, GNS3 has a cisco_iosxe_converter: convert cisco bin to qcow2

/usr/local/bin/cisco_iosxe_converter.py \
  --image csr1000v-universalk9.16.12.05.bin \
  --output csr1000v.qcow2

Alternatively, use EVE-NG’s iol or dynamips converters, but those target .qcow2 directly. Here’s a structured technical guide for converting a Cisco

If you have a working Cisco VM image (like from CML/VIRL), you can simply convert that to qcow2: Instead of manual steps, many emulation platforms include

qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 cisco.raw cisco.qcow2

Cisco BIN files are essentially binary images of the device's firmware. They contain the operating system, configuration, and other data necessary to boot and run the device. The BIN file format is specific to Cisco and is not directly compatible with Qcow2.