nixos manual: Adds some examples of how to use fdisk.

Also unifies the BIOS and UEFI installation instructions.

It's a fairly basic usage, but it makes explicity the fact that
you should at least have a main partition and a swap partition,
and will save some users a bit of internet searching while they
are getting set up.

2 files changed, 114 insertions, 56 deletions

diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-uefi.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-uefi.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 0d3eaa8bb1fb..000000000000
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-uefi.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
-<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
-         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
-         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
-         version="5.0"
-         xml:id="sec-uefi-installation">
-
-<title>UEFI Installation</title>
-
-<para>NixOS can also be installed on UEFI systems.  The procedure
-is by and large the same as a BIOS installation, with the following
-changes:
-
-<itemizedlist>
-  <listitem>
-    <para>You should boot the live CD in UEFI mode (consult your
-    specific hardware's documentation for instructions). You may find
-    the <link
-    xlink:href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind">rEFInd
-    boot manager</link> useful.</para>
-  </listitem>
-  <listitem>
-    <para>Instead of <command>fdisk</command>, you should use
-    <command>gdisk</command> to partition your disks. You will need to
-    have a separate partition for <filename>/boot</filename> with
-    partition code EF00, and it should be formatted as a
-    <literal>vfat</literal> filesystem.</para>
-  </listitem>
-  <listitem>
-    <para>Instead of <option>boot.loader.grub.device</option>,
-    you must set <option>boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable</option> to
-    <literal>true</literal>. <command>nixos-generate-config</command>
-    should do this automatically for new configurations when booted in
-    UEFI mode.</para>
-  </listitem>
-  <listitem>
-    <para>After having mounted your installation partition to
-    <code>/mnt</code>, you must mount the <code>boot</code> partition
-    to <code>/mnt/boot</code>.</para>
-  </listitem>
-  <listitem>
-    <para>You may want to look at the options starting with
-    <option>boot.loader.efi</option> and <option>boot.loader.systemd-boot</option>
-    as well.</para>
-  </listitem>
-</itemizedlist>
-</para>
-
-</section>
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing.xml
index b0674307a563..ab9108c30a71 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing.xml
@@ -6,9 +6,18 @@
 
 <title>Installing NixOS</title>
 
+<para>NixOS can be installed on BIOS or UEFI systems.  The procedure
+for a UEFI installation is by and large the same as a BIOS installation. The differences are mentioned in the steps that follow.</para>
+
 <orderedlist>
 
-  <listitem><para>Boot from the CD.</para></listitem>
+  <listitem><para>Boot from the CD.</para>
+    <variablelist>
+      <varlistentry><term>UEFI systems</term>
+      <listitem><para>You should boot the live CD in UEFI mode
+  (consult your specific hardware's documentation for instructions).
+  You may find the <link xlink:href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind">rEFInd boot
+  manager</link> useful.</para></listitem></varlistentry></variablelist></listitem>
 
   <listitem><para>The CD contains a basic NixOS installation.  (It
   also contains Memtest86+, useful if you want to test new hardware).
@@ -50,7 +59,31 @@
   <itemizedlist>
 
     <listitem><para>For partitioning:
-    <command>fdisk</command>.</para></listitem>
+    <command>fdisk</command>.
+<screen>
+# fdisk /dev/sda # <lineannotation>(or whatever device you want to install on)</lineannotation>
+-- for UEFI systems only
+> n      # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /boot)</lineannotation>
+> 3      # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 3)</lineannotation>
+>        # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
+> +512M  # <lineannotation>(the size of the UEFI boot partition)</lineannotation>
+> t      # <lineannotation>(change the partition type ...)</lineannotation>
+> 3      # <lineannotation>(... of the boot partition ...)</lineannotation>
+> 1      # <lineannotation>(... to 'UEFI System')</lineannotation>
+-- for BIOS or UEFI systems
+> n      # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /swap)</lineannotation>
+> 2      # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 2)</lineannotation>
+>        # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
+> +8G    # <lineannotation>(the size of the swap partition, set to whatever you like)</lineannotation>
+> n      # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /)</lineannotation>
+> 1      # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 1)</lineannotation>
+>        # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
+>        # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default and use the rest of the remaining space)</lineannotation>
+> a      # <lineannotation>(make the partition bootable)</lineannotation>
+> x      # <lineannotation>(enter expert mode)</lineannotation>
+> f      # <lineannotation>(fix up the partition ordering)</lineannotation>
+> r      # <lineannotation>(exit expert mode)</lineannotation>
+> w      # <lineannotation>(write the partition table to disk and exit)</lineannotation></screen></para></listitem>
 
     <listitem><para>For initialising Ext4 partitions:
     <command>mkfs.ext4</command>.  It is recommended that you assign a
@@ -67,7 +100,25 @@
     <listitem><para>For creating swap partitions:
     <command>mkswap</command>.  Again it’s recommended to assign a
     label to the swap partition: <option>-L
-    <replaceable>label</replaceable></option>.</para></listitem>
+    <replaceable>label</replaceable></option>. For example:
+
+<screen>
+# mkswap -L swap /dev/sda2</screen>
+
+    </para></listitem>
+
+    <listitem>
+    <variablelist>
+      <varlistentry><term>UEFI systems</term>
+      <listitem><para>For creating boot partitions:
+    <command>mkfs.fat</command>.  Again it’s recommended to assign a
+    label to the boot partition: <option>-L
+    <replaceable>label</replaceable></option>. For example:
+
+<screen>
+# mkfs.fat -F 32 -L boot /dev/sda3</screen>
+
+    </para></listitem></varlistentry></variablelist></listitem>
 
     <listitem><para>For creating LVM volumes, the LVM commands, e.g.,
 
@@ -95,11 +146,27 @@
 
   </para></listitem>
 
+  <listitem>
+    <variablelist>
+      <varlistentry><term>UEFI systems</term>
+      <listitem><para>Mount the boot file system on <filename>/mnt/boot</filename>, e.g.
+
+<screen>
+# mount /dev/disk/by-label/boot /mnt/boot
+</screen>
+
+  </para></listitem></varlistentry></variablelist></listitem>
+
   <listitem><para>If your machine has a limited amount of memory, you
   may want to activate swap devices now (<command>swapon
   <replaceable>device</replaceable></command>).  The installer (or
   rather, the build actions that it may spawn) may need quite a bit of
-  RAM, depending on your configuration.</para></listitem>
+  RAM, depending on your configuration.
+
+<screen>
+# swapon /dev/sda2</screen>
+
+  </para></listitem>
 
   <listitem>
 
@@ -135,10 +202,25 @@
     install Emacs by running <literal>nix-env -i
     emacs</literal>.</para>
 
-    <para>You <emphasis>must</emphasis> set the option
+    <variablelist>
+
+      <varlistentry><term>BIOS systems</term>
+      <listitem><para>You <emphasis>must</emphasis> set the option
     <option>boot.loader.grub.device</option> to specify on which disk
     the GRUB boot loader is to be installed.  Without it, NixOS cannot
-    boot.</para>
+      boot.</para></listitem></varlistentry>
+
+      <varlistentry><term>UEFI systems</term>
+      <listitem><para>You <emphasis>must</emphasis> set the option
+      <option>boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable</option> to <literal>true</literal>.
+      <command>nixos-generate-config</command> should do this automatically for new
+      configurations when booted in
+      UEFI mode.</para>
+      <para>You may want to look at the options starting with
+      <option>boot.loader.efi</option> and <option>boot.loader.systemd-boot</option>
+      as well.</para></listitem></varlistentry>
+
+    </variablelist>
 
     <para>If there are other operating systems running on the machine before
     installing NixOS, the
@@ -247,10 +329,34 @@ drive (here <filename>/dev/sda</filename>).  <xref linkend="ex-config"
 <example xml:id='ex-install-sequence'><title>Commands for Installing NixOS on <filename>/dev/sda</filename></title>
 <screen>
 # fdisk /dev/sda # <lineannotation>(or whatever device you want to install on)</lineannotation>
+-- for UEFI systems only
+> n      # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /boot)</lineannotation>
+> 3      # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 3)</lineannotation>
+>        # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
+> +512M  # <lineannotation>(the size of the UEFI boot partition)</lineannotation>
+> t      # <lineannotation>(change the partition type ...)</lineannotation>
+> 3      # <lineannotation>(... of the boot partition ...)</lineannotation>
+> 1      # <lineannotation>(... to 'UEFI System')</lineannotation>
+-- for BIOS or UEFI systems
+> n      # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /swap)</lineannotation>
+> 2      # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 2)</lineannotation>
+>        # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
+> +8G    # <lineannotation>(the size of the swap partition)</lineannotation>
+> n      # <lineannotation>(create a new partition for /)</lineannotation>
+> 1      # <lineannotation>(make it a partition number 1)</lineannotation>
+>        # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default)</lineannotation>
+>        # <lineannotation>(press enter to accept the default and use the rest of the remaining space)</lineannotation>
+> a      # <lineannotation>(make the partition bootable)</lineannotation>
+> x      # <lineannotation>(enter expert mode)</lineannotation>
+> f      # <lineannotation>(fix up the partition ordering)</lineannotation>
+> r      # <lineannotation>(exit expert mode)</lineannotation>
+> w      # <lineannotation>(write the partition table to disk and exit)</lineannotation>
 # mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/sda1
 # mkswap -L swap /dev/sda2
 # swapon /dev/sda2
+# mkfs.fat -F 32 -L boot /dev/sda3        # <lineannotation>(for UEFI systems only)</lineannotation>
 # mount /dev/disk/by-label/nixos /mnt
+# mount /dev/disk/by-label/boot /mnt/boot # <lineannotation>(for UEFI systems only)</lineannotation>
 # nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
 # nano /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
 # nixos-install
@@ -267,7 +373,8 @@ drive (here <filename>/dev/sda</filename>).  <xref linkend="ex-config"
       ./hardware-configuration.nix
     ];
 
-  boot.loader.grub.device = "/dev/sda";
+  boot.loader.grub.device = "/dev/sda";   # <lineannotation>(for BIOS systems only)</lineannotation>
+  boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable = true; # <lineannotation>(for UEFI systems only)</lineannotation>
 
   # Note: setting fileSystems is generally not
   # necessary, since nixos-generate-config figures them out
@@ -279,7 +386,6 @@ drive (here <filename>/dev/sda</filename>).  <xref linkend="ex-config"
 }</screen>
 </example>
 
-<xi:include href="installing-uefi.xml" />
 <xi:include href="installing-usb.xml" />
 <xi:include href="installing-pxe.xml" />
 <xi:include href="installing-virtualbox-guest.xml" />