447 lines
17 KiB
XML
447 lines
17 KiB
XML
<chapter 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-installation">
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<title>Installing NixOS</title>
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<para>
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NixOS can be installed on BIOS or UEFI systems. The procedure for a UEFI
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installation is by and large the same as a BIOS installation. The differences
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are mentioned in the steps that follow.
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</para>
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<orderedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Boot from the CD.
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>
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UEFI systems
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</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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You should boot the live CD in UEFI mode (consult your specific
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hardware's documentation for instructions). You may find the
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<link xlink:href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind">rEFInd boot
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manager</link> useful.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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The CD contains a basic NixOS installation. (It also contains Memtest86+,
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useful if you want to test new hardware). When it’s finished booting, it
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should have detected most of your hardware.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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The NixOS manual is available on virtual console 8 (press Alt+F8 to access)
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or by running <command>nixos-help</command>.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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You get logged in as <literal>root</literal> (with empty password).
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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 downloaded the graphical ISO image, you can run <command>systemctl
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start display-manager</command> to start KDE. If you want to continue on
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the terminal, you can use <command>loadkeys</command> to switch to your
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preferred keyboard layout. (We even provide neo2 via <command>loadkeys de
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neo</command>!)
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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The boot process should have brought up networking (check <command>ip
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a</command>). Networking is necessary for the installer, since it will
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download lots of stuff (such as source tarballs or Nixpkgs channel
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binaries). It’s best if you have a DHCP server on your network. Otherwise
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configure networking manually using <command>ifconfig</command>.
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</para>
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<para>
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To manually configure the network on the graphical installer, first disable
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network-manager with <command>systemctl stop network-manager</command>.
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</para>
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<para>
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To manually configure the wifi on the minimal installer, run
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<command>wpa_supplicant -B -i interface -c <(wpa_passphrase 'SSID'
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'key')</command>.
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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 would like to continue the installation from a different machine you
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need to activate the SSH daemon via <literal>systemctl start
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sshd</literal>. In order to be able to login you also need to set a
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password for <literal>root</literal> using <literal>passwd</literal>.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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The NixOS installer doesn’t do any partitioning or formatting yet, so you
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need to do that yourself. Use the following commands:
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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For partitioning: <command>fdisk</command>.
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<screen>
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# fdisk /dev/sda # <lineannotation>(or whatever device you want to install on)</lineannotation>
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-- for UEFI systems only
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> n # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /boot)</lineannotation>
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> 3 # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 3)</lineannotation>
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> # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
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> +512M # <lineannotation>(the size of the UEFI boot partition)</lineannotation>
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> t # <lineannotation>(change the partition type ...)</lineannotation>
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> 3 # <lineannotation>(... of the boot partition ...)</lineannotation>
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> 1 # <lineannotation>(... to 'UEFI System')</lineannotation>
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-- for BIOS or UEFI systems
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> n # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /swap)</lineannotation>
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> 2 # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 2)</lineannotation>
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> # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
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> +8G # <lineannotation>(the size of the swap partition, set to whatever you like)</lineannotation>
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> n # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /)</lineannotation>
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> 1 # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 1)</lineannotation>
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> # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
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> # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default and use the rest of the remaining space)</lineannotation>
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> a # <lineannotation>(make the partition bootable)</lineannotation>
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> x # <lineannotation>(enter expert mode)</lineannotation>
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> f # <lineannotation>(fix up the partition ordering)</lineannotation>
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> r # <lineannotation>(exit expert mode)</lineannotation>
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> w # <lineannotation>(write the partition table to disk and exit)</lineannotation></screen>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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For initialising Ext4 partitions: <command>mkfs.ext4</command>. It is
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recommended that you assign a unique symbolic label to the file system
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using the option <option>-L <replaceable>label</replaceable></option>,
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since this makes the file system configuration independent from device
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changes. For example:
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<screen>
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# mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/sda1</screen>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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For creating swap partitions: <command>mkswap</command>. Again it’s
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recommended to assign a label to the swap partition: <option>-L
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<replaceable>label</replaceable></option>. For example:
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<screen>
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# mkswap -L swap /dev/sda2</screen>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>
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UEFI systems
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</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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For creating boot partitions: <command>mkfs.fat</command>. Again
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it’s recommended to assign a label to the boot partition:
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<option>-n <replaceable>label</replaceable></option>. For example:
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<screen>
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# mkfs.fat -F 32 -n boot /dev/sda3</screen>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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For creating LVM volumes, the LVM commands, e.g.,
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<command>pvcreate</command>, <command>vgcreate</command>, and
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<command>lvcreate</command>.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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For creating software RAID devices, use <command>mdadm</command>.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Mount the target file system on which NixOS should be installed on
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<filename>/mnt</filename>, e.g.
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<screen>
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# mount /dev/disk/by-label/nixos /mnt
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</screen>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>
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UEFI systems
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</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Mount the boot file system on <filename>/mnt/boot</filename>, e.g.
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<screen>
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# mkdir -p /mnt/boot
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# mount /dev/disk/by-label/boot /mnt/boot
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</screen>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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If your machine has a limited amount of memory, you may want to activate
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swap devices now (<command>swapon
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<replaceable>device</replaceable></command>). The installer (or rather, the
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build actions that it may spawn) may need quite a bit of RAM, depending on
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your configuration.
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<screen>
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# swapon /dev/sda2</screen>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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You now need to create a file
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<filename>/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</filename> that specifies the
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intended configuration of the system. This is because NixOS has a
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<emphasis>declarative</emphasis> configuration model: you create or edit a
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description of the desired configuration of your system, and then NixOS
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takes care of making it happen. The syntax of the NixOS configuration file
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is described in <xref linkend="sec-configuration-syntax"/>, while a list of
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available configuration options appears in
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<xref
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linkend="ch-options"/>. A minimal example is shown in
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<xref
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linkend="ex-config"/>.
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</para>
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<para>
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The command <command>nixos-generate-config</command> can generate an
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initial configuration file for you:
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<screen>
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# nixos-generate-config --root /mnt</screen>
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You should then edit <filename>/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</filename>
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to suit your needs:
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<screen>
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# nano /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
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</screen>
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If you’re using the graphical ISO image, other editors may be available
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(such as <command>vim</command>). If you have network access, you can also
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install other editors — for instance, you can install Emacs by running
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<literal>nix-env -i emacs</literal>.
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>
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BIOS systems
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</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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You <emphasis>must</emphasis> set the option
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<xref linkend="opt-boot.loader.grub.device"/> to specify on which disk
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the GRUB boot loader is to be installed. Without it, NixOS cannot boot.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>
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UEFI systems
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</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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You <emphasis>must</emphasis> set the option
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<xref linkend="opt-boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable"/> to
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<literal>true</literal>. <command>nixos-generate-config</command> should
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do this automatically for new configurations when booted in UEFI mode.
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</para>
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<para>
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You may want to look at the options starting with
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<option><link linkend="opt-boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables">boot.loader.efi</link></option>
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and
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<option><link linkend="opt-boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable">boot.loader.systemd</link></option>
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as well.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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<para>
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If there are other operating systems running on the machine before
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installing NixOS, the <xref linkend="opt-boot.loader.grub.useOSProber"/>
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option can be set to <literal>true</literal> to automatically add them to
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the grub menu.
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</para>
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<para>
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Another critical option is <option>fileSystems</option>, specifying the
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file systems that need to be mounted by NixOS. However, you typically
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don’t need to set it yourself, because
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<command>nixos-generate-config</command> sets it automatically in
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<filename>/mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix</filename> from your
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currently mounted file systems. (The configuration file
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<filename>hardware-configuration.nix</filename> is included from
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<filename>configuration.nix</filename> and will be overwritten by future
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invocations of <command>nixos-generate-config</command>; thus, you
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generally should not modify it.)
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</para>
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<note>
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<para>
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Depending on your hardware configuration or type of file system, you may
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need to set the option <option>boot.initrd.kernelModules</option> to
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include the kernel modules that are necessary for mounting the root file
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system, otherwise the installed system will not be able to boot. (If this
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happens, boot from the CD again, mount the target file system on
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<filename>/mnt</filename>, fix
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<filename>/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</filename> and rerun
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<filename>nixos-install</filename>.) In most cases,
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<command>nixos-generate-config</command> will figure out the required
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modules.
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</para>
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</note>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Do the installation:
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<screen>
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# nixos-install</screen>
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Cross fingers. If this fails due to a temporary problem (such as a network
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issue while downloading binaries from the NixOS binary cache), you can just
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re-run <command>nixos-install</command>. Otherwise, fix your
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<filename>configuration.nix</filename> and then re-run
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<command>nixos-install</command>.
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</para>
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<para>
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As the last step, <command>nixos-install</command> will ask you to set the
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password for the <literal>root</literal> user, e.g.
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<screen>
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setting root password...
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Enter new UNIX password: ***
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Retype new UNIX password: ***
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</screen>
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<note>
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<para>
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To prevent the password prompt, set
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<code><xref linkend="opt-users.mutableUsers"/> = false;</code> in
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<filename>configuration.nix</filename>, which allows unattended
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installation necessary in automation.
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</para>
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</note>
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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 everything went well:
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<screen>
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# reboot</screen>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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You should now be able to boot into the installed NixOS. The GRUB boot menu
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shows a list of <emphasis>available configurations</emphasis> (initially
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just one). Every time you change the NixOS configuration (see
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<link
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linkend="sec-changing-config">Changing Configuration</link>
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), a new item is added to the menu. This allows you to easily roll back to
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a previous configuration if something goes wrong.
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</para>
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<para>
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You should log in and change the <literal>root</literal> password with
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<command>passwd</command>.
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</para>
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<para>
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You’ll probably want to create some user accounts as well, which can be
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done with <command>useradd</command>:
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<screen>
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$ useradd -c 'Eelco Dolstra' -m eelco
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$ passwd eelco</screen>
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</para>
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<para>
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You may also want to install some software. For instance,
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<screen>
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$ nix-env -qa \*</screen>
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shows what packages are available, and
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<screen>
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$ nix-env -i w3m</screen>
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install the <literal>w3m</literal> browser.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</orderedlist>
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<para>
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To summarise, <xref linkend="ex-install-sequence" /> shows a typical sequence
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of commands for installing NixOS on an empty hard drive (here
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<filename>/dev/sda</filename>). <xref linkend="ex-config"
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/> shows a
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corresponding configuration Nix expression.
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</para>
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<example xml:id='ex-install-sequence'>
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<title>Commands for Installing NixOS on <filename>/dev/sda</filename></title>
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<screen>
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# fdisk /dev/sda # <lineannotation>(or whatever device you want to install on)</lineannotation>
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-- for UEFI systems only
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> n # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /boot)</lineannotation>
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> 3 # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 3)</lineannotation>
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> # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
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> +512M # <lineannotation>(the size of the UEFI boot partition)</lineannotation>
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> t # <lineannotation>(change the partition type ...)</lineannotation>
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> 3 # <lineannotation>(... of the boot partition ...)</lineannotation>
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> 1 # <lineannotation>(... to 'UEFI System')</lineannotation>
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-- for BIOS or UEFI systems
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> n # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /swap)</lineannotation>
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> 2 # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 2)</lineannotation>
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> # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
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> +8G # <lineannotation>(the size of the swap partition)</lineannotation>
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> n # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /)</lineannotation>
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> 1 # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 1)</lineannotation>
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> # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
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> # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default and use the rest of the remaining space)</lineannotation>
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> a # <lineannotation>(make the partition bootable)</lineannotation>
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> x # <lineannotation>(enter expert mode)</lineannotation>
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> f # <lineannotation>(fix up the partition ordering)</lineannotation>
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> r # <lineannotation>(exit expert mode)</lineannotation>
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> w # <lineannotation>(write the partition table to disk and exit)</lineannotation>
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# mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/sda1
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# mkswap -L swap /dev/sda2
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# swapon /dev/sda2
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# mkfs.fat -F 32 -n boot /dev/sda3 # <lineannotation>(for UEFI systems only)</lineannotation>
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# mount /dev/disk/by-label/nixos /mnt
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# mkdir -p /mnt/boot # <lineannotation>(for UEFI systems only)</lineannotation>
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# mount /dev/disk/by-label/boot /mnt/boot # <lineannotation>(for UEFI systems only)</lineannotation>
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# nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
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# nano /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
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# nixos-install
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# reboot</screen>
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</example>
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<example xml:id='ex-config'>
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<title>NixOS Configuration</title>
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<screen>
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{ config, pkgs, ... }: {
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imports = [
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# Include the results of the hardware scan.
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./hardware-configuration.nix
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];
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<xref linkend="opt-boot.loader.grub.device"/> = "/dev/sda"; # <lineannotation>(for BIOS systems only)</lineannotation>
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<xref linkend="opt-boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable"/> = true; # <lineannotation>(for UEFI systems only)</lineannotation>
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# Note: setting fileSystems is generally not
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# necessary, since nixos-generate-config figures them out
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# automatically in hardware-configuration.nix.
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#<link linkend="opt-fileSystems._name__.device">fileSystems."/".device</link> = "/dev/disk/by-label/nixos";
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# Enable the OpenSSH server.
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services.sshd.enable = true;
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}
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</screen>
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</example>
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<xi:include href="installing-usb.xml" />
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<xi:include href="installing-pxe.xml" />
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<xi:include href="installing-virtualbox-guest.xml" />
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<xi:include href="installing-from-other-distro.xml" />
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</chapter>
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