Author: eelco Date: Mon May 14 02:02:45 2012 New Revision: 34083 URL: https://nixos.org/websvn/nix/?rev=34083&sc=1
Log: * Update the installation instructions. Modified: nixos/trunk/doc/manual/installation.xml Modified: nixos/trunk/doc/manual/installation.xml ============================================================================== --- nixos/trunk/doc/manual/installation.xml Mon May 14 01:56:42 2012 (r34082) +++ nixos/trunk/doc/manual/installation.xml Mon May 14 02:02:45 2012 (r34083) @@ -8,6 +8,23 @@ <section> +<title>Obtaining NixOS</title> + +<para>NixOS ISO images can be downloaded from the <link +xlink:href="http://nixos.org/nixos/download.html";>NixOS +homepage</link>. These can be burned onto a CD. It is also possible +to copy them onto a USB stick and install NixOS from there. For +details, see the <link +xlink:href="https://nixos.org/wiki/Installing_NixOS_from_a_USB_stick";>NixOS +Wiki</link>.</para> + +</section> + + +<!--===============================================================--> + +<section> + <title>Installation</title> <orderedlist> @@ -21,8 +38,8 @@ <command>ifconfig</command>). Networking is necessary for the installer, since it will download lots of stuff (such as source tarballs or Nixpkgs channel binaries). It’s best if you have a DHCP - server on your network. Otherwise configure - manually.</para></listitem> + server on your network. Otherwise configure networking manually + using <command>ifconfig</command>.</para></listitem> <listitem><para>The NixOS manual is available on virtual console 8 (press Alt+F8 to access).</para></listitem> @@ -30,6 +47,9 @@ <listitem><para>Login as <literal>root</literal>, empty password.</para></listitem> + <listitem><para>If you downloaded the graphical ISO image, you can + run <command>start xserver</command> to start KDE.</para></listitem> + <listitem><para>The NixOS installer doesn’t do any partitioning or formatting yet, so you need to that yourself. Use the following commands: @@ -39,12 +59,9 @@ <listitem><para>For partitioning: <command>fdisk</command>.</para></listitem> - <listitem><para>For initialising Ext2/Ext3 partitions: - <command>mke2fs</command>. Ext3 is recommended; use the - <option>-j</option> to create a journalled file system. For - faster access to the Nix store, you may also want to use the - <option>-O dir_index</option>. It is also recommended that you - assign a unique symbolic label to the file system using the option + <listitem><para>For initialising Ext4 partitions: + <command>mkfs.ext4</command>. It is recommended that you assign a + unique symbolic label to the file system using the option <option>-L <replaceable>label</replaceable></option>. This will make the file system configuration independent from device changes.</para></listitem> @@ -62,43 +79,42 @@ $ lvcreate --size 2G --name bigdisk MyVolGroup $ lvcreate --size 1G --name smalldisk MyVolGroup</screen> - Possibly you’ll need to do <userinput>initctl start - lvm</userinput> after this (TODO: check whether this is - needed).</para></listitem> + </para></listitem> - <listitem><para>For creating software RAID devices: + <listitem><para>For creating software RAID devices, use <command>mdadm</command>.</para></listitem> </itemizedlist> </para></listitem> - <listitem><para>Mount the target file system on - <filename>/mnt</filename> on which NixOS would be installed.</para> - </listitem> + <listitem><para>Mount the target file system on which NixOS should + be installed on <filename>/mnt</filename>.</para></listitem> <listitem> - <para>Generate a template configuration for the target system:</para> - - <para>The command <command>nixos-option</command> can - generate an initial configuration file for you, i.e., + <para>You now need to create a file + <filename>/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</filename> that + specifies the intended configuration of the system. This is + because NixOS has a <emphasis>declarative</emphasis> configuration + model: you create or edit a description of the configuration that + you want to be built and activated, and then NixOS takes care of + realising that configuration. The command + <command>nixos-option</command> can generate an initial + configuration file for you: <screen> $ nixos-option --install</screen> - It tries to figure out the modules necessary for mounting the root - device, as well as various other hardware characteristics. - However, it doesn’t try to figure out the + It tries to figure out the kernel modules necessary for mounting + the root device, as well as various other hardware + characteristics. However, it doesn’t try to figure out the <option>fileSystems</option> option yet.</para> - <para>Edit <filename>/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</filename> to - configure your system. The installation is declarative; you need to - write a description of the configuration that you want to be built and - activated. The configuration is specified in a Nix expression and must - be stored <emphasis>on the target file system</emphasis>. The text - editors <command>nano</command> and <command>vim</command> are - available.</para> + <para>You should edit + <filename>/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</filename> to suit your + needs. The text editors <command>nano</command> and + <command>vim</command> are available.</para> <para>You need to specify a root file system in <option>fileSystems</option> and the target device for the Grub boot @@ -110,26 +126,26 @@ <option>boot.initrd.kernelModules</option> all 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 CD again, mount the target file system on + from the CD again, mount the target file system on <filename>/mnt</filename>, fix <filename>/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</filename> and rerun - <filename>nixos-install</filename>.) - <command>nixos-hardware-scan</command> should figure out the - required modules in most cases.</para></note> - - <para>Examples are available in - <filename>/etc/nixos/nixos/doc/config-examples</filename> and some - actual NixOS configuration can be found at <link + <filename>nixos-install</filename>.) In most cases, + <command>nixos-option --install</command> will figure out the + required modules.</para></note> + + <para>Examples of real-world NixOS configuration files can be + found at <link xlink:href="https://nixos.org/repos/nix/configurations/trunk/"/>.</para> </listitem> - + <listitem><para>If your machine has a limited amount of memory, you may want to activate swap devices now (<command>swapon <replaceable>device</replaceable></command>). The installer (or rather, the build actions that it may spawn) may need quite a bit of RAM, depending on your configuration.</para></listitem> + <!-- <listitem><para>Optionally, you can run <screen> @@ -137,6 +153,7 @@ to make the installer use the latest NixOS/Nixpkgs sources from the Subversion repository, rather than the sources on CD.</para></listitem> + --> <listitem><para>Do the installation: @@ -145,7 +162,7 @@ Cross fingers.</para></listitem> - <listitem><para>If everything went well: + <listitem><para>If everything went well: <screen> $ reboot</screen> @@ -159,7 +176,7 @@ configurations</emphasis> (initially just one). Every time you change the NixOS configuration (see <xref linkend="sec-changing-config" />), a new item appears in the menu. - This allows you to go back easily to another configuration if + This allows you to easily roll back to another configuration if something goes wrong.</para> <para>You should log in and change the <literal>root</literal> @@ -192,10 +209,8 @@ <para><xref linkend="ex-install-sequence" /> shows a typical sequence of commands for installing NixOS on an empty hard drive (here -<filename>/dev/sda). <xref linkend="ex-config" /> shows a -corresponding configuration Nix expression.</filename> - -</para> +<filename>/dev/sda</filename>). <xref linkend="ex-config" /> shows a +corresponding configuration Nix expression.</para> <example xml:id='ex-install-sequence'><title>Commands for installing NixOS on <filename>/dev/sda</filename></title> <screen> _______________________________________________ nix-commits mailing list [email protected] http://lists.science.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/nix-commits
