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Merge pull request #175128 from davidak/doc-graphical-installer

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nixos/doc: improve install instructions
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Thiago Kenji Okada 2022-10-26 13:42:48 +01:00 • committed by GitHub
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11
doc/build-aux/pandoc-filters/docbook-writer/html-elements.lua Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
--[[
Converts some HTML elements commonly used in Markdown to corresponding DocBook elements.
]]
function RawInline(elem)
if elem.format == 'html' and elem.text == '<kbd>' then
return pandoc.RawInline('docbook', '<keycap>')
elseif elem.format == 'html' and elem.text == '</kbd>' then
return pandoc.RawInline('docbook', '</keycap>')
end
end

144
nixos/doc/manual/from_md/installation/installing-usb.section.xml
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@ -1,35 +1,135 @@
<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:id="sec-booting-from-usb">
<title>Booting from a USB Drive</title>
<title>Booting from a USB flash drive</title>
<para>
For systems without CD drive, the NixOS live CD can be booted from a
USB stick. You can use the <literal>dd</literal> utility to write
the image: <literal>dd if=path-to-image of=/dev/sdX</literal>. Be
careful about specifying the correct drive; you can use the
<literal>lsblk</literal> command to get a list of block devices.
The image has to be written verbatim to the USB flash drive for it
to be bootable on UEFI and BIOS systems. Here are the recommended
tools to do that.
</para>
<note>
<title>On macOS</title>
<section xml:id="sec-booting-from-usb-graphical">
<title>Creating bootable USB flash drive with a graphical
tool</title>
<para>
Etcher is a popular and user-friendly tool. It works on Linux,
Windows and macOS.
</para>
<para>
Download it from
<link xlink:href="https://www.balena.io/etcher/">balena.io</link>,
start the program, select the downloaded NixOS ISO, then select
the USB flash drive and flash it.
</para>
<warning>
<para>
Etcher reports errors and usage statistics by default, which can
be disabled in the settings.
</para>
</warning>
<para>
An alternative is
<link xlink:href="https://bztsrc.gitlab.io/usbimager">USBImager</link>,
which is very simple and does not connect to the internet.
Download the version with write-only (wo) interface for your
system. Start the program, select the image, select the USB flash
drive and click <quote>Write</quote>.
</para>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-booting-from-usb-linux">
<title>Creating bootable USB flash drive from a Terminal on
Linux</title>
<orderedlist numeration="arabic" spacing="compact">
<listitem>
<para>
Plug in the USB flash drive.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Find the corresponding device with <literal>lsblk</literal>.
You can distinguish them by their size.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Make sure all partitions on the device are properly unmounted.
Replace <literal>sdX</literal> with your device (e.g.
<literal>sdb</literal>).
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
<programlisting>
$ diskutil list
[..]
/dev/diskN (external, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
[..]
$ diskutil unmountDisk diskN
Unmount of all volumes on diskN was successful
$ sudo dd if=nix.iso of=/dev/rdiskN bs=1M
sudo umount /dev/sdX*
</programlisting>
<orderedlist numeration="arabic" spacing="compact">
<listitem override="4">
<para>
Then use the <literal>dd</literal> utility to write the image
to the USB flash drive.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
<programlisting>
sudo dd if=&lt;path-to-image&gt; of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync
</programlisting>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-booting-from-usb-macos">
<title>Creating bootable USB flash drive from a Terminal on
macOS</title>
<orderedlist numeration="arabic" spacing="compact">
<listitem>
<para>
Plug in the USB flash drive.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Find the corresponding device with
<literal>diskutil list</literal>. You can distinguish them by
their size.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Make sure all partitions on the device are properly unmounted.
Replace <literal>diskX</literal> with your device (e.g.
<literal>disk1</literal>).
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
<programlisting>
diskutil unmountDisk diskX
</programlisting>
<orderedlist numeration="arabic" spacing="compact">
<listitem override="4">
<para>
Then use the <literal>dd</literal> utility to write the image
to the USB flash drive.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
<programlisting>
sudo dd if=&lt;path-to-image&gt; of=/dev/rdiskX bs=4m
</programlisting>
<para>
Using the 'raw' <literal>rdiskN</literal> device instead of
<literal>diskN</literal> completes in minutes instead of hours.
After <literal>dd</literal> completes, a GUI dialog &quot;The disk
you inserted was not readable by this computer&quot; will pop up,
which can be ignored.
</para>
</note>
<note>
<para>
The <literal>dd</literal> utility will write the image verbatim to
the drive, making it the recommended option for both UEFI and
non-UEFI installations.
Using the 'raw' <literal>rdiskX</literal> device instead of
<literal>diskX</literal> with dd completes in minutes instead of
hours.
</para>
</note>
<orderedlist numeration="arabic" spacing="compact">
<listitem override="5">
<para>
Eject the disk when it is finished.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
<programlisting>
diskutil eject /dev/diskX
</programlisting>
</section>
</section>

395
nixos/doc/manual/from_md/installation/installing.chapter.xml
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@ -1,26 +1,212 @@
<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" xml:id="sec-installation">
<title>Installing NixOS</title>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-booting">
<title>Booting the system</title>
<title>Booting from the install medium</title>
<para>
To begin the installation, you have to boot your computer from the
install drive.
</para>
<orderedlist numeration="arabic">
<listitem>
<para>
Plug in the install drive. Then turn on or restart your
computer.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Open the boot menu by pressing the appropriate key, which is
usually shown on the display on early boot. Select the USB
flash drive (the option usually contains the word
<quote>USB</quote>). If you choose the incorrect drive, your
computer will likely continue to boot as normal. In that case
restart your computer and pick a different drive.
</para>
<note>
<para>
The key to open the boot menu is different across computer
brands and even models. It can be <keycap>F12</keycap>, but
also <keycap>F1</keycap>, <keycap>F9</keycap>,
<keycap>F10</keycap>, <keycap>Enter</keycap>,
<keycap>Del</keycap>, <keycap>Esc</keycap> or another
function key. If you are unsure and don’t see it on the
early boot screen, you can search online for your computers
brand, model followed by <quote>boot from usb</quote>. The
computer might not even have that feature, so you have to go
into the BIOS/UEFI settings to change the boot order. Again,
search online for details about your specific computer
model.
</para>
<para>
For Apple computers with Intel processors press and hold the
<keycap>⌥</keycap> (Option or Alt) key until you see the
boot menu. On Apple silicon press and hold the power button.
</para>
</note>
<note>
<para>
If your computer supports both BIOS and UEFI boot, choose
the UEFI option.
</para>
</note>
<note>
<para>
If you use a CD for the installation, the computer will
probably boot from it automatically. If not, choose the
option containing the word <quote>CD</quote> from the boot
menu.
</para>
</note>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Shortly after selecting the appropriate boot drive, you should
be presented with a menu with different installer options.
Leave the default and wait (or press <keycap>Enter</keycap> to
speed up).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The graphical images will start their corresponding desktop
environment and the graphical installer, which can take some
time. The minimal images will boot to a command line. You have
to follow the instructions in
<xref linkend="sec-installation-manual" /> there.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-graphical">
<title>Graphical Installation</title>
<para>
The graphical installer is recommended for desktop users and will
guide you through the installation.
</para>
<orderedlist numeration="arabic">
<listitem>
<para>
In the <quote>Welcome</quote> screen, you can select the
language of the Installer and the installed system.
</para>
<tip>
<para>
Leaving the language as <quote>American English</quote> will
make it easier to search for error messages in a search
engine or to report an issue.
</para>
</tip>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Next you should choose your location to have the timezone set
correctly. You can actually click on the map!
</para>
<note>
<para>
The installer will use an online service to guess your
location based on your public IP address.
</para>
</note>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Then you can select the keyboard layout. The default keyboard
model should work well with most desktop keyboards. If you
have a special keyboard or notebook, your model might be in
the list. Select the language you are most comfortable typing
in.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
On the <quote>Users</quote> screen, you have to type in your
display name, login name and password. You can also enable an
option to automatically login to the desktop.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Then you have the option to choose a desktop environment. If
you want to create a custom setup with a window manager, you
can select <quote>No desktop</quote>.
</para>
<tip>
<para>
If you don’t have a favorite desktop and don’t know which
one to choose, you can stick to either GNOME or Plasma. They
have a quite different design, so you should choose
whichever you like better. They are both popular choices and
well tested on NixOS.
</para>
</tip>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
You have the option to allow unfree software in the next
screen.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The easiest option in the <quote>Partitioning</quote> screen
is <quote>Erase disk</quote>, which will delete all data from
the selected disk and install the system on it. Also select
<quote>Swap (with Hibernation)</quote> in the dropdown below
it. You have the option to encrypt the whole disk with LUKS.
</para>
<note>
<para>
At the top left you see if the Installer was booted with
BIOS or UEFI. If you know your system supports UEFI and it
shows <quote>BIOS</quote>, reboot with the correct option.
</para>
</note>
<warning>
<para>
Make sure you have selected the correct disk at the top and
that no valuable data is still on the disk! It will be
deleted when formatting the disk.
</para>
</warning>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Check the choices you made in the <quote>Summary</quote> and
click <quote>Install</quote>.
</para>
<note>
<para>
The installation takes about 15 minutes. The time varies
based on the selected desktop environment, internet
connection speed and disk write speed.
</para>
</note>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
When the install is complete, remove the USB flash drive and
reboot into your new system!
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-manual">
<title>Manual Installation</title>
<para>
NixOS can be installed on BIOS or UEFI systems. The procedure for
a UEFI installation is by and large the same as a BIOS
installation. The differences are mentioned in the steps that
follow.
</para>
<para>
The installation media can be burned to a CD, or now more
commonly, <quote>burned</quote> to a USB drive (see
<xref linkend="sec-booting-from-usb" />).
</para>
<para>
The installation media contains a basic NixOS installation. When
it’s finished booting, it should have detected most of your
hardware.
a UEFI installation is broadly the same as for a BIOS
installation. The differences are mentioned in the following
steps.
</para>
<para>
The NixOS manual is available by running
<literal>nixos-help</literal>.
<literal>nixos-help</literal> in the command line or from the
application menu in the desktop environment.
</para>
<para>
To have access to the command line on the graphical images, open
Terminal (GNOME) or Konsole (Plasma) from the application menu.
</para>
<para>
You are logged-in automatically as <literal>nixos</literal>. The
@ -31,11 +217,8 @@
$ sudo -i
</programlisting>
<para>
If you downloaded the graphical ISO image, you can run
<literal>systemctl start display-manager</literal> to start the
desktop environment. If you want to continue on the terminal, you
can use <literal>loadkeys</literal> to switch to your preferred
keyboard layout. (We even provide neo2 via
You can use <literal>loadkeys</literal> to switch to your
preferred keyboard layout. (We even provide neo2 via
<literal>loadkeys de neo</literal>!)
</para>
<para>
@ -49,8 +232,12 @@ $ sudo -i
bootloader lists boot entries, select the serial console boot
entry.
</para>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-booting-networking">
<section xml:id="sec-installation-manual-networking">
<title>Networking in the installer</title>
<para>
<anchor xml:id="sec-installation-booting-networking" />
<!-- legacy anchor -->
</para>
<para>
The boot process should have brought up networking (check
<literal>ip a</literal>). Networking is necessary for the
@ -130,12 +317,15 @@ OK
able to login.
</para>
</section>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-partitioning">
<section xml:id="sec-installation-manual-partitioning">
<title>Partitioning and formatting</title>
<para>
The NixOS installer doesn’t do any partitioning or formatting, so
you need to do that yourself.
<anchor xml:id="sec-installation-partitioning" />
<!-- legacy anchor -->
</para>
<para>
The NixOS installer doesn’t do any partitioning or formatting,
so you need to do that yourself.
</para>
<para>
The NixOS installer ships with multiple partitioning tools. The
@ -144,12 +334,16 @@ OK
<literal>cfdisk</literal>, and <literal>cgdisk</literal>.
</para>
<para>
The recommended partition scheme differs depending if the computer
uses <emphasis>Legacy Boot</emphasis> or
The recommended partition scheme differs depending if the
computer uses <emphasis>Legacy Boot</emphasis> or
<emphasis>UEFI</emphasis>.
</para>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-partitioning-UEFI">
<section xml:id="sec-installation-manual-partitioning-UEFI">
<title>UEFI (GPT)</title>
<para>
<anchor xml:id="sec-installation-partitioning-UEFI" />
<!-- legacy anchor -->
</para>
<para>
Here's an example partition scheme for UEFI, using
<literal>/dev/sda</literal> as the device.
@ -171,10 +365,10 @@ OK
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Add the <emphasis>root</emphasis> partition. This will fill
the disk except for the end part, where the swap will live,
and the space left in front (512MiB) which will be used by
the boot partition.
Add the <emphasis>root</emphasis> partition. This will
fill the disk except for the end part, where the swap will
live, and the space left in front (512MiB) which will be
used by the boot partition.
</para>
<programlisting>
# parted /dev/sda -- mkpart primary 512MB -8GB
@ -200,8 +394,8 @@ OK
<para>
Finally, the <emphasis>boot</emphasis> partition. NixOS by
default uses the ESP (EFI system partition) as its
<emphasis>/boot</emphasis> partition. It uses the initially
reserved 512MiB at the start of the disk.
<emphasis>/boot</emphasis> partition. It uses the
initially reserved 512MiB at the start of the disk.
</para>
<programlisting>
# parted /dev/sda -- mkpart ESP fat32 1MB 512MB
@ -211,11 +405,15 @@ OK
</orderedlist>
<para>
Once complete, you can follow with
<xref linkend="sec-installation-partitioning-formatting" />.
<xref linkend="sec-installation-manual-partitioning-formatting" />.
</para>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-partitioning-MBR">
<section xml:id="sec-installation-manual-partitioning-MBR">
<title>Legacy Boot (MBR)</title>
<para>
<anchor xml:id="sec-installation-partitioning-MBR" />
<!-- legacy anchor -->
</para>
<para>
Here's an example partition scheme for Legacy Boot, using
<literal>/dev/sda</literal> as the device.
@ -237,9 +435,9 @@ OK
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Add the <emphasis>root</emphasis> partition. This will fill
the the disk except for the end part, where the swap will
live.
Add the <emphasis>root</emphasis> partition. This will
fill the the disk except for the end part, where the swap
will live.
</para>
<programlisting>
# parted /dev/sda -- mkpart primary 1MB -8GB
@ -256,9 +454,9 @@ OK
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Finally, add a <emphasis>swap</emphasis> partition. The size
required will vary according to needs, here a 8GiB one is
created.
Finally, add a <emphasis>swap</emphasis> partition. The
size required will vary according to needs, here a 8GiB
one is created.
</para>
<programlisting>
# parted /dev/sda -- mkpart primary linux-swap -8GB 100%
@ -273,11 +471,15 @@ OK
</orderedlist>
<para>
Once complete, you can follow with
<xref linkend="sec-installation-partitioning-formatting" />.
<xref linkend="sec-installation-manual-partitioning-formatting" />.
</para>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-partitioning-formatting">
<section xml:id="sec-installation-manual-partitioning-formatting">
<title>Formatting</title>
<para>
<anchor xml:id="sec-installation-partitioning-formatting" />
<!-- legacy anchor -->
</para>
<para>
Use the following commands:
</para>
@ -286,10 +488,10 @@ OK
<para>
For initialising Ext4 partitions:
<literal>mkfs.ext4</literal>. It is recommended that you
assign a unique symbolic label to the file system using the
option <literal>-L label</literal>, since this makes the
file system configuration independent from device changes.
For example:
assign a unique symbolic label to the file system using
the option <literal>-L label</literal>, since this makes
the file system configuration independent from device
changes. For example:
</para>
<programlisting>
# mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/sda1
@ -334,8 +536,12 @@ OK
</itemizedlist>
</section>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-installing">
<section xml:id="sec-installation-manual-installing">
<title>Installing</title>
<para>
<anchor xml:id="sec-installation-installing" />
<!-- legacy anchor -->
</para>
<orderedlist numeration="arabic">
<listitem>
<para>
@ -363,9 +569,9 @@ OK
<para>
If your machine has a limited amount of memory, you may want
to activate swap devices now
(<literal>swapon device</literal>). The installer (or rather,
the build actions that it may spawn) may need quite a bit of
RAM, depending on your configuration.
(<literal>swapon device</literal>). The installer (or
rather, the build actions that it may spawn) may need quite
a bit of RAM, depending on your configuration.
</para>
<programlisting>
# swapon /dev/sda2
@ -384,7 +590,8 @@ OK
<xref linkend="sec-configuration-syntax" />, while a list of
available configuration options appears in
<xref linkend="ch-options" />. A minimal example is shown in
<link linkend="ex-config">Example: NixOS Configuration</link>.
<link linkend="ex-config">Example: NixOS
Configuration</link>.
</para>
<para>
The command <literal>nixos-generate-config</literal> can
@ -402,8 +609,8 @@ OK
# nano /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
</programlisting>
<para>
If you’re using the graphical ISO image, other editors may be
available (such as <literal>vim</literal>). If you have
If you’re using the graphical ISO image, other editors may
be available (such as <literal>vim</literal>). If you have
network access, you can also install other editors – for
instance, you can install Emacs by running
<literal>nix-env -f '&lt;nixpkgs&gt;' -iA emacs</literal>.
@ -440,9 +647,9 @@ OK
option
<xref linkend="opt-boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable" />
to <literal>true</literal>.
<literal>nixos-generate-config</literal> should do this
automatically for new configurations when booted in UEFI
mode.
<literal>nixos-generate-config</literal> should do
this automatically for new configurations when booted
in UEFI mode.
</para>
<para>
You may want to look at the options starting with
@ -481,35 +688,36 @@ OK
</para>
<para>
Another critical option is <literal>fileSystems</literal>,
specifying the file systems that need to be mounted by NixOS.
However, you typically don’t need to set it yourself, because
<literal>nixos-generate-config</literal> sets it automatically
in
specifying the file systems that need to be mounted by
NixOS. However, you typically don’t need to set it yourself,
because <literal>nixos-generate-config</literal> sets it
automatically in
<literal>/mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix</literal>
from your currently mounted file systems. (The configuration
file <literal>hardware-configuration.nix</literal> is included
from <literal>configuration.nix</literal> and will be
overwritten by future invocations of
<literal>nixos-generate-config</literal>; thus, you generally
should not modify it.) Additionally, you may want to look at
file <literal>hardware-configuration.nix</literal> is
included from <literal>configuration.nix</literal> and will
be overwritten by future invocations of
<literal>nixos-generate-config</literal>; thus, you
generally should not modify it.) Additionally, you may want
to look at
<link xlink:href="https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware">Hardware
configuration for known-hardware</link> at this point or after
installation.
configuration for known-hardware</link> at this point or
after installation.
</para>
<note>
<para>
Depending on your hardware configuration or type of file
system, you may need to set the option
<literal>boot.initrd.kernelModules</literal> to include the
kernel modules that are necessary for mounting the root file
system, otherwise the installed system will not be able to
boot. (If this happens, boot from the installation media
again, mount the target file system on
<literal>boot.initrd.kernelModules</literal> to include
the kernel modules that are necessary for mounting the
root file system, otherwise the installed system will not
be able to boot. (If this happens, boot from the
installation media again, mount the target file system on
<literal>/mnt</literal>, fix
<literal>/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</literal> and
rerun <literal>nixos-install</literal>.) In most cases,
<literal>nixos-generate-config</literal> will figure out the
required modules.
<literal>nixos-generate-config</literal> will figure out
the required modules.
</para>
</note>
</listitem>
@ -522,16 +730,16 @@ OK
</programlisting>
<para>
This will install your system based on the configuration you
provided. If anything fails due to a configuration problem or
any other issue (such as a network outage while downloading
binaries from the NixOS binary cache), you can re-run
<literal>nixos-install</literal> after fixing your
provided. If anything fails due to a configuration problem
or any other issue (such as a network outage while
downloading binaries from the NixOS binary cache), you can
re-run <literal>nixos-install</literal> after fixing your
<literal>configuration.nix</literal>.
</para>
<para>
As the last step, <literal>nixos-install</literal> will ask
you to set the password for the <literal>root</literal> user,
e.g.
you to set the password for the <literal>root</literal>
user, e.g.
</para>
<programlisting>
setting root password...
@ -558,12 +766,12 @@ Retype new password: ***
<para>
You should now be able to boot into the installed NixOS. The
GRUB boot menu shows a list of <emphasis>available
configurations</emphasis> (initially just one). Every time you
change the NixOS configuration (see
configurations</emphasis> (initially just one). Every time
you change the NixOS configuration (see
<link linkend="sec-changing-config">Changing
Configuration</link>), a new item is added to the menu. This
allows you to easily roll back to a previous configuration if
something goes wrong.
allows you to easily roll back to a previous configuration
if something goes wrong.
</para>
<para>
You should log in and change the <literal>root</literal>
@ -584,16 +792,20 @@ $ passwd eelco
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-summary">
<section xml:id="sec-installation-manual-summary">
<title>Installation summary</title>
<para>
<anchor xml:id="sec-installation-summary" />
<!-- legacy anchor -->
</para>
<para>
To summarise, <link linkend="ex-install-sequence">Example:
Commands for Installing NixOS on
<literal>/dev/sda</literal></link> shows a typical sequence of
commands for installing NixOS on an empty hard drive (here
<literal>/dev/sda</literal>). <link linkend="ex-config">Example:
NixOS Configuration</link> shows a corresponding configuration Nix
expression.
NixOS Configuration</link> shows a corresponding configuration
Nix expression.
</para>
<anchor xml:id="ex-partition-scheme-MBR" />
<para>
@ -619,8 +831,8 @@ $ passwd eelco
</programlisting>
<anchor xml:id="ex-install-sequence" />
<para>
<emphasis role="strong">Example: Commands for Installing NixOS on
<literal>/dev/sda</literal></emphasis>
<emphasis role="strong">Example: Commands for Installing NixOS
on <literal>/dev/sda</literal></emphasis>
</para>
<para>
With a partitioned disk.
@ -662,6 +874,7 @@ $ passwd eelco
}
</programlisting>
</section>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-installation-additional-notes">
<title>Additional installation notes</title>
<xi:include href="installing-usb.section.xml" />

29
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View file

@ -2,16 +2,15 @@
<title>Obtaining NixOS</title>
<para>
NixOS ISO images can be downloaded from the
<link xlink:href="https://nixos.org/nixos/download.html">NixOS
download page</link>. There are a number of installation options. If
you happen to have an optical drive and a spare CD, burning the
image to CD and booting from that is probably the easiest option.
Most people will need to prepare a USB stick to boot from.
<xref linkend="sec-booting-from-usb" /> describes the preferred
method to prepare a USB stick. A number of alternative methods are
presented in the
<link xlink:href="https://nixos.wiki/wiki/NixOS_Installation_Guide#Making_the_installation_media">NixOS
Wiki</link>.
<link xlink:href="https://nixos.org/download.html#nixos-iso">NixOS
download page</link>. Follow the instructions in
<xref linkend="sec-booting-from-usb" /> to create a bootable USB
flash drive.
</para>
<para>
If you have a very old system that can’t boot from USB, you can burn
the image to an empty CD. NixOS might not work very well on such
systems.
</para>
<para>
As an alternative to installing NixOS yourself, you can get a
@ -23,16 +22,16 @@
Using virtual appliances in Open Virtualization Format (OVF)
that can be imported into VirtualBox. These are available from
the
<link xlink:href="https://nixos.org/nixos/download.html">NixOS
<link xlink:href="https://nixos.org/download.html#nixos-virtualbox">NixOS
download page</link>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Using AMIs for Amazon’s EC2. To find one for your region and
instance type, please refer to the
<link xlink:href="https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/nixos/modules/virtualisation/ec2-amis.nix">list
of most recent AMIs</link>.
Using AMIs for Amazon’s EC2. To find one for your region, please
refer to the
<link xlink:href="https://nixos.org/download.html#nixos-amazon">download
page</link>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>

81
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@ -1,31 +1,72 @@
# Booting from a USB Drive {#sec-booting-from-usb}
# Booting from a USB flash drive {#sec-booting-from-usb}
For systems without CD drive, the NixOS live CD can be booted from a USB
stick. You can use the `dd` utility to write the image:
`dd if=path-to-image of=/dev/sdX`. Be careful about specifying the correct
drive; you can use the `lsblk` command to get a list of block devices.
The image has to be written verbatim to the USB flash drive for it to be
bootable on UEFI and BIOS systems. Here are the recommended tools to do that.
::: {.note}
::: {.title}
On macOS
## Creating bootable USB flash drive with a graphical tool {#sec-booting-from-usb-graphical}
Etcher is a popular and user-friendly tool. It works on Linux, Windows and macOS.
Download it from [balena.io](https://www.balena.io/etcher/), start the program,
select the downloaded NixOS ISO, then select the USB flash drive and flash it.
::: {.warning}
Etcher reports errors and usage statistics by default, which can be disabled in
the settings.
:::
An alternative is [USBImager](https://bztsrc.gitlab.io/usbimager),
which is very simple and does not connect to the internet. Download the version
with write-only (wo) interface for your system. Start the program,
select the image, select the USB flash drive and click "Write".
## Creating bootable USB flash drive from a Terminal on Linux {#sec-booting-from-usb-linux}
1. Plug in the USB flash drive.
2. Find the corresponding device with `lsblk`. You can distinguish them by
their size.
3. Make sure all partitions on the device are properly unmounted. Replace `sdX`
with your device (e.g. `sdb`).
```ShellSession
$ diskutil list
[..]
/dev/diskN (external, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
[..]
$ diskutil unmountDisk diskN
Unmount of all volumes on diskN was successful
$ sudo dd if=nix.iso of=/dev/rdiskN bs=1M
sudo umount /dev/sdX*
```
Using the \'raw\' `rdiskN` device instead of `diskN` completes in
minutes instead of hours. After `dd` completes, a GUI dialog \"The disk
4. Then use the `dd` utility to write the image to the USB flash drive.
```ShellSession
sudo dd if=<path-to-image> of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync
```
## Creating bootable USB flash drive from a Terminal on macOS {#sec-booting-from-usb-macos}
1. Plug in the USB flash drive.
2. Find the corresponding device with `diskutil list`. You can distinguish them
by their size.
3. Make sure all partitions on the device are properly unmounted. Replace `diskX`
with your device (e.g. `disk1`).
```ShellSession
diskutil unmountDisk diskX
```
4. Then use the `dd` utility to write the image to the USB flash drive.
```ShellSession
sudo dd if=<path-to-image> of=/dev/rdiskX bs=4m
```
After `dd` completes, a GUI dialog \"The disk
you inserted was not readable by this computer\" will pop up, which can
be ignored.
::: {.note}
Using the \'raw\' `rdiskX` device instead of `diskX` with dd completes in
minutes instead of hours.
:::
The `dd` utility will write the image verbatim to the drive, making it
the recommended option for both UEFI and non-UEFI installations.
5. Eject the disk when it is finished.
```ShellSession
diskutil eject /dev/diskX
```

166
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@ -1,30 +1,143 @@
# Installing NixOS {#sec-installation}
## Booting the system {#sec-installation-booting}
## Booting from the install medium {#sec-installation-booting}
To begin the installation, you have to boot your computer from the install drive.
1. Plug in the install drive. Then turn on or restart your computer.
2. Open the boot menu by pressing the appropriate key, which is usually shown
on the display on early boot.
Select the USB flash drive (the option usually contains the word "USB").
If you choose the incorrect drive, your computer will likely continue to
boot as normal. In that case restart your computer and pick a
different drive.
::: {.note}
The key to open the boot menu is different across computer brands and even
models. It can be <kbd>F12</kbd>, but also <kbd>F1</kbd>,
<kbd>F9</kbd>, <kbd>F10</kbd>, <kbd>Enter</kbd>, <kbd>Del</kbd>,
<kbd>Esc</kbd> or another function key. If you are unsure and don't see
it on the early boot screen, you can search online for your computers
brand, model followed by "boot from usb".
The computer might not even have that feature, so you have to go into the
BIOS/UEFI settings to change the boot order. Again, search online for
details about your specific computer model.
For Apple computers with Intel processors press and hold the <kbd>⌥</kbd>
(Option or Alt) key until you see the boot menu. On Apple silicon press
and hold the power button.
:::
::: {.note}
If your computer supports both BIOS and UEFI boot, choose the UEFI option.
:::
::: {.note}
If you use a CD for the installation, the computer will probably boot from
it automatically. If not, choose the option containing the word "CD" from
the boot menu.
:::
3. Shortly after selecting the appropriate boot drive, you should be
presented with a menu with different installer options. Leave the default
and wait (or press <kbd>Enter</kbd> to speed up).
4. The graphical images will start their corresponding desktop environment
and the graphical installer, which can take some time. The minimal images
will boot to a command line. You have to follow the instructions in
[](#sec-installation-manual) there.
## Graphical Installation {#sec-installation-graphical}
The graphical installer is recommended for desktop users and will guide you
through the installation.
1. In the "Welcome" screen, you can select the language of the Installer and
the installed system.
::: {.tip}
Leaving the language as "American English" will make it easier to search for
error messages in a search engine or to report an issue.
:::
2. Next you should choose your location to have the timezone set correctly.
You can actually click on the map!
::: {.note}
The installer will use an online service to guess your location based on
your public IP address.
:::
3. Then you can select the keyboard layout. The default keyboard model should
work well with most desktop keyboards. If you have a special keyboard or
notebook, your model might be in the list. Select the language you are most
comfortable typing in.
4. On the "Users" screen, you have to type in your display name, login name
and password. You can also enable an option to automatically login to the
desktop.
5. Then you have the option to choose a desktop environment. If you want to
create a custom setup with a window manager, you can select "No desktop".
::: {.tip}
If you don't have a favorite desktop and don't know which one to choose,
you can stick to either GNOME or Plasma. They have a quite different
design, so you should choose whichever you like better.
They are both popular choices and well tested on NixOS.
:::
6. You have the option to allow unfree software in the next screen.
7. The easiest option in the "Partitioning" screen is "Erase disk", which will
delete all data from the selected disk and install the system on it.
Also select "Swap (with Hibernation)" in the dropdown below it.
You have the option to encrypt the whole disk with LUKS.
::: {.note}
At the top left you see if the Installer was booted with BIOS or UEFI. If
you know your system supports UEFI and it shows "BIOS", reboot with the
correct option.
:::
::: {.warning}
Make sure you have selected the correct disk at the top and that no
valuable data is still on the disk! It will be deleted when
formatting the disk.
:::
8. Check the choices you made in the "Summary" and click "Install".
::: {.note}
The installation takes about 15 minutes. The time varies based on the
selected desktop environment, internet connection speed and disk write speed.
:::
9. When the install is complete, remove the USB flash drive and
reboot into your new system!
## Manual Installation {#sec-installation-manual}
NixOS can be installed on BIOS or UEFI systems. The procedure for a UEFI
installation is by and large the same as a BIOS installation. The
differences are mentioned in the steps that follow.
installation is broadly the same as for a BIOS installation. The differences
are mentioned in the following steps.
The installation media can be burned to a CD, or now more commonly,
"burned" to a USB drive (see [](#sec-booting-from-usb)).
The NixOS manual is available by running `nixos-help` in the command line
or from the application menu in the desktop environment.
The installation media contains a basic NixOS installation. When it's
finished booting, it should have detected most of your hardware.
The NixOS manual is available by running `nixos-help`.
To have access to the command line on the graphical images, open
Terminal (GNOME) or Konsole (Plasma) from the application menu.
You are logged-in automatically as `nixos`. The `nixos` user account has
an empty password so you can use `sudo` without a password:
```ShellSession
$ sudo -i
```
If you downloaded the graphical ISO image, you can run `systemctl
start display-manager` to start the desktop environment. If you want
to continue on the terminal, you can use `loadkeys` to switch to your
preferred keyboard layout. (We even provide neo2 via `loadkeys de
neo`!)
You can use `loadkeys` to switch to your preferred keyboard layout.
(We even provide neo2 via `loadkeys de neo`!)
If the text is too small to be legible, try `setfont ter-v32n` to
increase the font size.
@ -33,7 +146,8 @@ To install over a serial port connect with `115200n8` (e.g.
`picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0`). When the bootloader lists boot
entries, select the serial console boot entry.
### Networking in the installer {#sec-installation-booting-networking}
### Networking in the installer {#sec-installation-manual-networking}
[]{#sec-installation-booting-networking} <!-- legacy anchor -->
The boot process should have brought up networking (check `ip
a`). Networking is necessary for the installer, since it will
@ -100,7 +214,8 @@ placed by mounting the image on a different machine). Alternatively you
must set a password for either `root` or `nixos` with `passwd` to be
able to login.
## Partitioning and formatting {#sec-installation-partitioning}
### Partitioning and formatting {#sec-installation-manual-partitioning}
[]{#sec-installation-partitioning} <!-- legacy anchor -->
The NixOS installer doesn't do any partitioning or formatting, so you
need to do that yourself.
@ -112,7 +227,8 @@ below use `parted`, but also provides `fdisk`, `gdisk`, `cfdisk`, and
The recommended partition scheme differs depending if the computer uses
*Legacy Boot* or *UEFI*.
### UEFI (GPT) {#sec-installation-partitioning-UEFI}
#### UEFI (GPT) {#sec-installation-manual-partitioning-UEFI}
[]{#sec-installation-partitioning-UEFI} <!-- legacy anchor -->
Here\'s an example partition scheme for UEFI, using `/dev/sda` as the
device.
@ -158,9 +274,10 @@ update /etc/fstab.
```
Once complete, you can follow with
[](#sec-installation-partitioning-formatting).
[](#sec-installation-manual-partitioning-formatting).
### Legacy Boot (MBR) {#sec-installation-partitioning-MBR}
#### Legacy Boot (MBR) {#sec-installation-manual-partitioning-MBR}
[]{#sec-installation-partitioning-MBR} <!-- legacy anchor -->
Here\'s an example partition scheme for Legacy Boot, using `/dev/sda` as
the device.
@ -202,9 +319,10 @@ update /etc/fstab.
:::
Once complete, you can follow with
[](#sec-installation-partitioning-formatting).
[](#sec-installation-manual-partitioning-formatting).
### Formatting {#sec-installation-partitioning-formatting}
#### Formatting {#sec-installation-manual-partitioning-formatting}
[]{#sec-installation-partitioning-formatting} <!-- legacy anchor -->
Use the following commands:
@ -239,7 +357,8 @@ Use the following commands:
- For creating software RAID devices, use `mdadm`.
## Installing {#sec-installation-installing}
### Installing {#sec-installation-manual-installing}
[]{#sec-installation-installing} <!-- legacy anchor -->
1. Mount the target file system on which NixOS should be installed on
`/mnt`, e.g.
@ -410,7 +529,8 @@ Use the following commands:
You may also want to install some software. This will be covered in
[](#sec-package-management).
## Installation summary {#sec-installation-summary}
### Installation summary {#sec-installation-manual-summary}
[]{#sec-installation-summary} <!-- legacy anchor -->
To summarise, [Example: Commands for Installing NixOS on `/dev/sda`](#ex-install-sequence)
shows a typical sequence of commands for installing NixOS on an empty hard

19
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@ -1,24 +1,21 @@
# Obtaining NixOS {#sec-obtaining}
NixOS ISO images can be downloaded from the [NixOS download
page](https://nixos.org/nixos/download.html). There are a number of
installation options. If you happen to have an optical drive and a spare
CD, burning the image to CD and booting from that is probably the
easiest option. Most people will need to prepare a USB stick to boot
from. [](#sec-booting-from-usb) describes the preferred method to
prepare a USB stick. A number of alternative methods are presented in
the [NixOS Wiki](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/NixOS_Installation_Guide#Making_the_installation_media).
page](https://nixos.org/download.html#nixos-iso). Follow the instructions in
[](#sec-booting-from-usb) to create a bootable USB flash drive.
If you have a very old system that can't boot from USB, you can burn the image
to an empty CD. NixOS might not work very well on such systems.
As an alternative to installing NixOS yourself, you can get a running
NixOS system through several other means:
- Using virtual appliances in Open Virtualization Format (OVF) that
can be imported into VirtualBox. These are available from the [NixOS
download page](https://nixos.org/nixos/download.html).
download page](https://nixos.org/download.html#nixos-virtualbox).
- Using AMIs for Amazon's EC2. To find one for your region and
instance type, please refer to the [list of most recent
AMIs](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/nixos/modules/virtualisation/ec2-amis.nix).
- Using AMIs for Amazon's EC2. To find one for your region, please refer
to the [download page](https://nixos.org/download.html#nixos-amazon).
- Using NixOps, the NixOS-based cloud deployment tool, which allows
you to provision VirtualBox and EC2 NixOS instances from declarative

1
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View file

@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ pandoc_flags=(
"--lua-filter=$DIR/../../../doc/build-aux/pandoc-filters/myst-reader/roles.lua"
"--lua-filter=$DIR/../../../doc/build-aux/pandoc-filters/link-unix-man-references.lua"
"--lua-filter=$DIR/../../../doc/build-aux/pandoc-filters/docbook-writer/rst-roles.lua"
"--lua-filter=$DIR/../../../doc/build-aux/pandoc-filters/docbook-writer/html-elements.lua"
"--lua-filter=$DIR/../../../doc/build-aux/pandoc-filters/docbook-writer/labelless-link-is-xref.lua"
-f "commonmark${pandoc_commonmark_enabled_extensions}+smart"
-t docbook