The nixos-generate-config command mentioned in the manual fails with error:
nixos-generate-config: no need to specify `/` with `--root`, it is the default
This was introduced in 611b8c4472
(#161034). Now, the command should be called without any arguments.
- Update download URLs
- Replace "USB stick"/"USB Drive" with "USB flash drive" as that seem more correct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drivehttps://elementary.io/docs/installation#choose-operating-system
- Don't mention CD as easiest option anymore,
as all modern systems should be able to boot from USB,
but many don't have a CD drive. Burning CDs is also usually wasteful as you
can't burn them again.
- Remove link to NixOS Wiki (Making_the_installation_media) as it is not needed
- Add Etcher and USBImager as graphical tools to create install drive
- Make dd command consistent and use block size of 4 MB for faster flashing
- More consistent text
- Add instructions for "Booting from the install medium"
Inspired by 9a91b0f495/docs/installation.md (booting-from-the-install-drive-booting-from-the-installation-medium-clear-float-2)
- Add instructions for "Graphical Installation"
- Restructure headings and anchors for "Manual Installation"
- Adding legacy anchors for "Manual Installation" to not break links
Co-authored-by: j-k <dev@j-k.io>
Co-authored-by: Sandro <sandro.jaeckel@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Robert Schütz <github@dotlambda.de>
Co-authored-by: Jörg Thalheim <Mic92@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Thiago Kenji Okada <thiagokokada@gmail.com>
$ parted /dev/nvme1n1 -- mkpart primary linux-swap -8GiB 100%
Warning: The resulting partition is not properly aligned for best performance: 3108850352s % 2048s != 0s
Ignore/Cancel?
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.
When using GB than parted seems to round up itself.
Without configuring the block size a default of 512 bytes is used, which can
slow down the transfer speed massively.
In a test I've done with a semi-decent USB stick, I only get a transfer speed
of around 180 KB/sec when not specifying the block size but see 27 MB/sec when
setting the block size to 1 MB. This makes the transfer of the minimal
installation ISO take half a minute instead of an hour.
The command in example is expected to be run from nixpkgs checkout, but
there's no explanation of this. Let's just use system nixpkgs: most
users will have it just working and those who use git checkouts will
figure it out.
The wpa_supplicant service in the NixOS installer is unusable because
the control socket is disabled and /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf ignored.
The manual currently recommends manually starting the daemon and using
wpa_passphrase, but this requires figuring out the interface name,
driver and only works for WPA2 personal networks.
By enabling the control socket, instead, a user can configure the
network via wpa_cli (or wpa_gui in the graphical installer), which
support more advanced network configurations.
The essential commands from the NixOS installer as a package
With this package, you get the commands like nixos-generate-config and
nixos-install that you would otherwise only find on a NixOS system, such
as an installer image.
This way, you can install NixOS using a machine that only has Nix.
It also includes the manpages, which are important because the commands
rely on those for providing --help.
We're really setting users up on the wrong path if we tell them to
nix-env -iA immediately after installing. Instead, let's just
reassure them that installing software will be covered in due course
in the manual, to encourage them to keep reading.
