Installing in a VirtualBox guest
Installing NixOS into a VirtualBox guest is convenient for users who want to
try NixOS without installing it on bare metal. If you want to use a pre-made
VirtualBox appliance, it is available at
the downloads
page. If you want to set up a VirtualBox guest manually, follow these
instructions:
Add a New Machine in VirtualBox with OS Type "Linux / Other Linux"
Base Memory Size: 768 MB or higher.
New Hard Disk of 8 GB or higher.
Mount the CD-ROM with the NixOS ISO (by clicking on CD/DVD-ROM)
Click on Settings / System / Processor and enable PAE/NX
Click on Settings / System / Acceleration and enable "VT-x/AMD-V"
acceleration
Save the settings, start the virtual machine, and continue installation
like normal
There are a few modifications you should make in configuration.nix. Enable
booting:
= "/dev/sda";
Also remove the fsck that runs at startup. It will always fail to run,
stopping your boot until you press *.
= false;
Shared folders can be given a name and a path in the host system in the
VirtualBox settings (Machine / Settings / Shared Folders, then click on the
"Add" icon). Add the following to the
/etc/nixos/configuration.nix to auto-mount them:
{ config, pkgs, ...} :
{
...
fileSystems."/virtualboxshare" = {
fsType = "vboxsf";
device = "nameofthesharedfolder";
options = [ "rw" ];
};
}
The folder will be available directly under the root directory.