There are several situations when it is necessary and/or useful to let the simulated target machine interact with the host system, or even other systems accessible to the host via networking. Probably the most common situation is the need to transfer files between the target and the host.
To summarize the available methods of transferring files between the target system and host machine:
With special software running on the target which communicates with the simulator, it is possible to transfer data between the target and the host while the target is running. Examples of this are:
With disk images, for example and USB disk, files can be transferred. A tutorial on this is available here. See also the section about how to use virtual disks.
If the target system has networking support, either a simulated network can be used, or the target system can be connected to a real network, and use, for example HTTP or SSH/SCP for the transfer.
For further information, see:
In the tutorials, it is recommended to start with the preparation section, which will save time by using a checkpoint where Linux has booted.