2014-08-24 19:18:18 +02:00
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<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
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xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
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xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
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version="5.0"
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xml:id="sec-booting-from-usb">
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2018-05-02 01:57:09 +02:00
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<title>Booting from a USB Drive</title>
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2014-08-24 19:18:18 +02:00
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2018-05-02 01:57:09 +02:00
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<para>
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For systems without CD drive, the NixOS live CD can be booted from a USB
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stick. You can use the <command>dd</command> utility to write the image:
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<command>dd if=<replaceable>path-to-image</replaceable>
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of=<replaceable>/dev/sdb</replaceable></command>. Be careful about specifying
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the correct drive; you can use the <command>lsblk</command> command to get a
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list of block devices.
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</para>
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2014-08-24 19:18:18 +02:00
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2018-05-02 01:57:09 +02:00
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<para>
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On macOS:
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2018-01-06 19:13:58 +01:00
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<programlisting>
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$ diskutil list
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[..]
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/dev/diskN (external, physical):
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#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
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[..]
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$ diskutil unmountDisk diskN
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Unmount of all volumes on diskN was successful
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$ sudo dd bs=1m if=nix.iso of=/dev/rdiskN
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</programlisting>
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2018-05-02 01:57:09 +02:00
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Using the 'raw' <command>rdiskN</command> device instead of
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<command>diskN</command> completes in minutes instead of hours. After
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<command>dd</command> completes, a GUI dialog "The disk you inserted was not
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readable by this computer" will pop up, which can be ignored.
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</para>
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2014-08-24 19:18:18 +02:00
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2018-05-02 01:57:09 +02:00
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<para>
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The <command>dd</command> utility will write the image verbatim to the drive,
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making it the recommended option for both UEFI and non-UEFI installations.
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For non-UEFI installations, you can alternatively use
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<link xlink:href="http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/">unetbootin</link>. If
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you cannot use <command>dd</command> for a UEFI installation, you can also
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mount the ISO, copy its contents verbatim to your drive, then either:
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Change the label of the disk partition to the label of the ISO (visible
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with the blkid command), or
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Edit <filename>loader/entries/nixos-livecd.conf</filename> on the drive
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and change the <literal>root=</literal> field in the
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<literal>options</literal> line to point to your drive (see the
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documentation on <literal>root=</literal> in
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<link xlink:href="https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt">
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the kernel documentation</link> for more details).
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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If you want to load the contents of the ISO to ram after bootin (So you
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can remove the stick after bootup) you can append the parameter
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<literal>copytoram</literal> to the <literal>options</literal> field.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</para>
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2014-08-24 19:18:18 +02:00
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</section>
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