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| == Making the installation media == | | == Making the installation media == |
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| Since NixOS 14.11 the installer ISO is hybrid. This means it is bootable on both CD and USB drives. It also boots on EFI systems, like most modern motherboards and Mac* systems. Please read the [[#Hybrid image]] section on how to burn the ISO. | | Since NixOS 14.11 the installer ISO is hybrid. This means it is bootable on both CD and USB drives. It also boots on EFI systems, like most modern motherboards and apple systems. The following instructions will assume the standard way of copying the image to an USB drive. When using a CD or DVD, the usual methods to burn to disk should work with the iso. |
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| For NixOS 14.04 and earlier, please read [[#Using Unetbootin]] and the other sections below.
| | === "Burning" to USB drive === |
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| === Hybrid image ===
| | First, download a [http://nixos.org/nixos/download.html NixOS ISO image] or [[Creating a Nix OS live CD|create a custom ISO]]. Then plug in a USB stick large enough to accommodate the image. Then follow the platform instructions: |
| {{Note|This section applies to NixOS 14.11. For NixOS 14.04, please refer to [[#Using Unetbootin]].}}
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| First, download a [http://nixos.org/nixos/download.html NixOS ISO image] or [[Creating a Nix OS live CD|create a custom ISO]]. Then plug in a USB stick large enough to accomodate the image. Then follow the platform instructions:
| | ==== From Linux ==== |
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| On Linux:
| | # Find the right device with <code>lsblk</code> or <code>fdisk -l</code>. Replace <code><i>/dev/sdX</i></code> with the proper device in the following steps. |
| # Find the right device with <code>fdisk -l</code>, let's say <code>/dev/sdb</code>. | | # Burn with: <code>cp nixos-xxx.iso <em>/dev/sdX</em></code> |
| # Burn with: <code>cp nixos-xxx.iso /dev/sdb</code> | |
| {{Note|do not use /dev/sdb1 or partitions of the disk, use the whole disk /dev/sdb.}}
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| On OS X:
| | {{note|do not use /dev/sdX1 or partitions of the disk, use the whole disk /dev/sdX.}} |
| # Find the right device with <code>diskutil list</code>, let's say <code>disk<b>2</b></code>. | | |
| # Unmount with <code>diskutil unmountDisk disk<b>2</b></code>. | | Writing the disk image with <code>dd</code> also works. |
| # Burn with: <code>sudo dd if=<b>path_to_nixos.iso</b> of=/dev/<b>r</b>disk<b>2</b> bs=64k</code> | | |
| # Note the use of rdisk instead of disk, this makes a large speed difference. You can check the write speed with <code>iostat 2</code> in another terminal.
| | ==== From macOS ==== |
| | {{outdated:inline|Instructions are not verified to be working as of 2017-11-25, it is most likely they work, please remove this warning when tested.}} |
| | |
| | # Find the right device with <code>diskutil list</code>, let's say <code><i>diskX</i></code>. |
| | # Unmount with <code>diskutil unmountDisk <i>diskX</i></code>. |
| | # Burn with: <code>sudo dd if=<b>path_to_nixos.iso</b> of=/dev/<b>r</b><i>diskX</i> bs=64k</code> |
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| | {{note|Use <code>rdisk</code> instead of <code>disk</code>, this makes a large speed difference. You can check the write speed with <code>iostat 2</code> in another terminal.}} |
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| You could use Disk Utility to write the image but then you'd need to convert it first to a compatible format somehow. | | You could use Disk Utility to write the image but then you'd need to convert it first to a compatible format somehow. |
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| On Windows:
| | ==== From Windows ==== |
| | {{outdated:inline|Instructions are not verified to be working as of 2017-11-25, it is most likely they work, please remove this warning when tested.}} |
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| # Download [http://sourceforge.net/projects/usbwriter/ USBwriter]. | | # Download [http://sourceforge.net/projects/usbwriter/ USBwriter]. |
| # Start USBwriter. | | # Start USBwriter. |
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| # When USBwriter has finished writing, safely unplug the USB drive. | | # When USBwriter has finished writing, safely unplug the USB drive. |
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| This should suffice to boot the installer. Otherwise look for other alternatives below.
| | === Alternative installation media instructions === |
| | |
| === UEFI note === | |
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| The below is for BIOS installation. For UEFI installation see [http://nixos.org/nixos/manual/#sec-uefi-installation the manual].
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| === Using Unetbootin ===
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| See → [[NixOS_Installation_Guide/Unetbootin]]
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| === Using syslinux ===
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| ==== Using syslinux.cfg ====
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| | |
| If you have trouble booting from a USB drive or sdcard with Unetbootin (I just got a blinking cursor instead of a bootloader on an Asus eee 1000) the procedure described on http://knoppix.net/wiki/Bootable_USB_Key should work. After preparing the sdcard with mkdiskimage and syslinux you can mount it and copy all the content from the NixOS iso:
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| | |
| <syntaxhighlight lang="console">
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| $ mount -o loop ~/Downloads/nixos-graphical-0.1pre27337-i686-linux.iso /media/iso
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| $ rsync -av --progress /media/iso/ /media/sd-card/
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| </syntaxhighlight>
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| | |
| The syslinux.cfg needs to be created manually, but the details can easily be derived from the grub.cfg on the NixOS install cd.
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| I specified the root device by UUID, to get the UUID:
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| <pre>
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| blkid /dev/mmcblk0p1
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| </pre>
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| The relevant section from the live cd: /media/sd-card/boot/grub/grub.cfg
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| <pre>
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| menuentry "NixOS Installer / Rescue" {
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| linux /boot/bzImage init=/nix/store/r7xhnzymi1ll49r4glf1dwr5y1alx0bl-system/init root=LABEL=NIXOS_INSTALL_CD_0.1pre27337 splash=verbose vga=0x317
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| initrd /boot/initrd
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| }
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| </pre>
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| | |
| can be used in the syslinux config file: /media/sd-card/syslinux.cfg (you should just need to update the init path and the root UUID / LABEL or device path)
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| <pre>
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| DEFAULT linux
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| LABEL linux
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| SAY Now booting the kernel from SYSLINUX...
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| KERNEL /boot/bzImage
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| APPEND init=/nix/store/r7xhnzymi1ll49r4glf1dwr5y1alx0bl-system/init root=UUID=509C-63E2 ro initrd=/boot/initrd splash=verbose
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| </pre>
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| | |
| '''Note''': in place of using mkdiskimage, you can simply format your SDCard as a fat32 system and install syslinux on it:
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| <pre>
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| mkdosfs -F32 /dev/mmcblk0p1
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| syslinux -s /dev/mmcblk0p1
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| </pre>
| |
| | |
| === Using Command-line Tools === | |
| | |
| <ol>
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| <li>Download the ISO image from http://nixos.org/nixos/download.html.</li>
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| | |
| <li>Prepare your USB stick. If it isn't yet partitioned to your liking, create a bootable partition on <code>/dev/sdb1</code>:
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| <pre>
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| fdisk /dev/sdb
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| </pre>
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| And format it with:
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| <pre>
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| mkdosfs /dev/sdb1
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| </pre>
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| | |
| Add ext2 partitions if you like. If you want both 32-bit and 64-bit NixOS, you need at least two partitions. You can directly use the entire disk without partition if that's what you like. Once you have your VFAT (dosfs) block device, you should give it a label, within a 11-character limit, e.g.:
| |
| | |
| <pre>
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| dosfslabel /dev/sdb1 NIXBOOT
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| </pre>
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| </li>
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| <li>Mount the bootable USB partition with:
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| <pre>
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| mkdir -p /media/NIXBOOT
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| mount /dev/sdb1 /media/NIXBOOT
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| </pre>
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| </li>
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| <li>Mount the ISO image with:
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| <pre>
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| mkdir -p /media/iso
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| mount -o loop ~/Downloads/nixos-graphical-0.2pre4463_5e88e9b-c877f45-x86_64-linux.iso /media/iso
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| </pre>
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| </li>
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| | |
| <li>Copy the contents of the NixOS ISO (<code>/media/iso</code>) to your USB stick (<code>/media/NIXBOOT</code>) with:
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| | |
| <pre>
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| rsync -av --progress /media/iso/ /media/NIXBOOT/
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| </pre>
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| </li>
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| | |
| <li>Install a complete and recent GRUB to the USB stick with:
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| <pre>
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| grub-install /dev/sdb --root-directory=/media/NIXBOOT/
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| </pre>
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| </li>
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| | |
| <li>Edit the file <code>/media/NIXBOOT/boot/grub/grub.cfg</code>. Start from an existing grub.cfg, say from your hard drive or from another working bootable USB stick (e.g., from GRML.org). Then, merge in the entry for NixOS from <code>/media/iso/boot/grub/grub.cfg</code>, modifying the LABEL to be that of your VFAT partition:
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| <pre>
| | The previous methods are the supported methods of making the USB installation media. |
| menuentry "NixOS Installer / Rescue" {
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| linux /boot/bzImage init=/nix/store/p94ckcksmhj90cr868cpcajrqgzwy57w-nixos-0.2pre4463_5e88e9b-c877f45/init root=LABEL=NIXBOOT
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| initrd /boot/initrd
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| }
| |
| </pre>
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| </li>
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|
| <li>To share your USB stick with other distributions (e.g., GRML, or both 32- and 64- bit NixOS), you can move NixOS's bzImage and initrd to different location (e.g., <code>/boot/nix32/</code> and <code>/boot/nix64/</code>), and you appropriately edit the entries in your grub.cfg. If you have both nix32 and nix64, only one can have its <code>nix-store.squashfs</code> in the root of any given partition. That's where you can use a second partition, for the second one. For instance, copy the contents of your 64-bit NixOS to the first partition, with label <code>NIX64</code>, and copy the nix-store.squashfs of your 32-bit NixOS to the second partition with label <code>NIX32</code> (and create an empty nix/store). Copy the 32-bit kernel and initrd to <code>/boot/nix32/</code> on the bootable partition, and edit the grub.cfg of the bootable partition accordingly.</li>
| | Those methods are also documented, they can allow using the USB drive to boot multiple distributions. This is not supported, your mileage may vary. |
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| <li>There you go: you have a bootable NixOS USB drive, possibly allowing you to boot NixOS 64-bit, NixOS 32-bit, GRML 64-bit, GRML 32-bit, FreeBSD, FreeDOS, boot-sector-tetris, etc. Just you convince your BIOS to let you boot off it.</li>
| | * [[NixOS_Installation_Guide/Unetbootin|Using Unetbootin]] |
| </ol>
| | * [[NixOS_Installation_Guide/Manual USB Creation|Manual USB Creation]] |
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| == Build a custom installation image == | | == Build a custom installation image == |