summary refs log tree commit diff
path: root/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-pxe.section.md
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-pxe.section.md')
-rw-r--r--nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-pxe.section.md32
1 files changed, 32 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-pxe.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-pxe.section.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4fbd6525f8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-pxe.section.md
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Booting from the "netboot" media (PXE) {#sec-booting-from-pxe}
+
+Advanced users may wish to install NixOS using an existing PXE or iPXE
+setup.
+
+These instructions assume that you have an existing PXE or iPXE
+infrastructure and simply want to add the NixOS installer as another
+option. To build the necessary files from your current version of nixpkgs,
+you can run:
+
+```ShellSession
+nix-build -A netboot.x86_64-linux '<nixpkgs/nixos/release.nix>'
+```
+
+This will create a `result` directory containing: \* `bzImage` -- the
+Linux kernel \* `initrd` -- the initrd file \* `netboot.ipxe` -- an
+example ipxe script demonstrating the appropriate kernel command line
+arguments for this image
+
+If you're using plain PXE, configure your boot loader to use the
+`bzImage` and `initrd` files and have it provide the same kernel command
+line arguments found in `netboot.ipxe`.
+
+If you're using iPXE, depending on how your HTTP/FTP/etc. server is
+configured you may be able to use `netboot.ipxe` unmodified, or you may
+need to update the paths to the files to match your server's directory
+layout.
+
+In the future we may begin making these files available as build
+products from hydra at which point we will update this documentation
+with instructions on how to obtain them either for placing on a
+dedicated TFTP server or to boot them directly over the internet.