I use qemu to virtualize appliances on my servers, and I access them over SSH. Allthough SSH supports streaming X windows so it is possible to fire up a graphical install, it is not so convenient as the connection may drop and cancel the install.

A convenient workaround is to use qemu’s curses interface, where instead of a display, a terminal is attached to the virtual machine. That way you can install and use your virtual machines directly in the SSH terminal.

To install a new system from scratch, simply define the -hda, -cdrom and -boot flags, and add the -curses option:
qemu-system-x86_64  -hda /dev/sdc1 -m 1500 --enable-kvm -curses -cdrom images/debian-stable.iso -boot d

The Debian installer supports headless mode, but we have to add two settings at the boot prompt to make it work with curses.

1. Fire up qemu with the command above. Wait a few seconds, the screen will turn black after loading syslinux. Hit ESC, and enter:
install fb=none vga=normal

and follow the install. Voilà, you’re installing your VM in qemu directly over ssh.

Tip: To prevent losing the install if the network connection is lost, run the commands in a screen terminal.