This is a simple framework for testing the qemu watchdog virtual device. It's easier to use this framework than running the whole watchdog daemon. Written by Richard W.M. Jones . License: GPLv2+ Instructions for use: (1) Compile this program. It creates a statically linked Linux binary called 'watchdog-test'. (2) You will need an existing Linux guest. (3) Change the configuration of the Linux guest to add a watchdog device. If using libvirt, add a clause in the section: If using qemu directly, use the following command line options: qemu-kvm ... -watchdog i6300esb -watchdog-action poweroff model can be either 'i6300esb' or 'ib700'. action can be: 'reset', 'shutdown', 'poweroff', 'pause', 'none' or 'dump' (4) Install the statically linked watchdog-test binary in the Linux guest. (5) Boot up the guest. Log into the guest. (6) [ib700 only] You have to load the ib700wdt kernel module manually since it's an ISA device: sudo modprobe ib700wdt (7) Run the watchdog-test binary (as root), and follow instructions.