NixOS installation HOWTO -- October 3, 2005

This is small HOWTO of how to build and install the current version of
NixOS.


  Building

Install Nix. Checkout nixpkgs from Subversion, as well as nixu. Adapt the
scripts in nixu to reflect the location of nixpkgs (default /nixpkgs).
Make a directory /tmp/arch. Run ./make-disk.sh. Wait.

  Burning

Use your favourite tool to burn the ISO image to a CD.

  Preparing the host machine

Currently NixOS can only be installed with machines that have a specific
hardware set up:

An ATA harddisk on the first ATA controller (hda) with:
- data partition (hda1)
- swap partition (hda2)

All data on these two partitions will be wiped and the bootloader in the
Master Boot Record (MBR) will be overwritten with GRUB.

  Booting

Insert the CD, make sure it can boot from CD and reboot. Let it run for a
while.

  Configuring

To get NixOS in a working state, do the following:

- load the networkdriver. This is machine dependent. On the labmachines this
is the e1000 driver:

# modprobe e1000

- bring the interface up:

# ifconfig eth0 up

If the interface is different (say, eth1) replace eth0 with the right
interface.

- if DHCP is used, run a DHCP client to obtain an IP address:

# dhclient eth0

The interface will not be configured, but it will give you all the right
information needed to configure the interface.

# ifconfig eth0 <ip address> netmask <netmask>
# route add default gw <gateway ip address>
# vim /etc/resolv.conf

  Making logins on virtual consoles work.

Logins on virtual consoles are disabled by default. To make them work:

- edit /etc/inittab and outcomment the lines with "mingetty" in them
- copy /etc/services from a working Linux machine to /etc/services on the
NixOS machine (needed for sysklogd)
- copy /etc/syslog.conf from a working Linux machine to /etc/syslog.conf on the
NixOS machine (needed for sysklogd)
- launch sysklogd
- copy /etc/login.defs from a working Linux machine to /etc/login.defs on the
NixOS machine (needed for mingetty)
- chmod +x /path/to/mingetty
- relaunch init