diff --git a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball-pc.nix b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball-pc.nix
index a67f60a2c34f..6162f599096f 100644
--- a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball-pc.nix
+++ b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball-pc.nix
@@ -9,6 +9,27 @@ let
 
   pkgs2storeContents = l : map (x: { object = x; symlink = "none"; }) l;
 
+  # For PXE kernel loading
+  pxeconfig = pkgs.writeText "pxeconfig-default" ''
+    default menu.c32
+    prompt 0
+
+    label bootlocal
+      menu default
+      localboot 0
+      timeout 80
+      TOTALTIMEOUT 9000
+
+    label nixos
+      MENU LABEL ^NixOS base through NFS
+      KERNEL bzImage
+      append initrd=initrd ip=dhcp tnfsroot=IPADDR:/home/pcroot systemConfig=${config.system.build.toplevel} init=${config.system.build.toplevel}/initrd
+
+    label memtest
+      MENU LABEL ^Memtest86+
+      KERNEL memtest.bin
+  '';
+
 in
 
 {
@@ -28,6 +49,18 @@ in
     [ { source = config.boot.kernelPackages.kernel + "/" + config.system.boot.loader.kernelFile;
         target = "/boot/" + config.system.boot.loader.kernelFile;
       }
+      { source = "${pkgs.syslinux}/share/syslinux/pxelinux.0";
+        target = "/boot/pxelinux.0";
+      }
+      { source = "${pkgs.syslinux}/share/syslinux/menu.c32";
+        target = "/boot/menu.c32";
+      }
+      { source = pxeconfig;
+        target = "/boot/pxelinux.cfg/default";
+      }
+      { source = "${pkgs.memtest86}/memtest.bin";
+        target = "/boot/memtest.bin";
+      }
     ];
      
   # Allow sshd to be started manually through "start sshd".  It should
@@ -35,4 +68,46 @@ in
   # default root password is empty.
   services.openssh.enable = true;
   jobs.openssh.startOn = pkgs.lib.mkOverrideTemplate 50 {} "";
+
+  boot.initrd.postMountCommands = ''
+    for o in $(cat /proc/cmdline); do
+      case $o in
+        tnfsroot=*)
+          set -- $(IFS==; echo $o)
+          # TODO: It cannot mount nfs, as maybe it cannot find 'mount.nfs'
+          mount $2 /mnt-root
+          ;;
+        *) ;;
+      esac
+    done
+  '';
+
+  boot.kernelPackages = pkgs.linuxPackages_2_6_39;
+  nixpkgs.config = {
+    packageOverrides = p: rec {
+      linux_2_6_39 = p.linux_2_6_39.override {
+        extraConfig = ''
+          # Enable drivers in kernel for most NICs.
+          E1000 y
+          # E1000E y
+          # ATH5K y
+          8139TOO y
+          NE2K_PCI y
+          ATL1 y
+          ATL1E y
+          ATL1C y
+
+          # Enable nfs root boot
+          IP_PNP y
+          IP_PNP_DHCP y
+          NFS_FS y
+          ROOT_NFS y
+
+          # Enable devtmpfs
+          DEVTMPFS y
+          DEVTMPFS_MOUNT y
+        '';
+      };
+    };
+  };
 }
diff --git a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball.nix b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball.nix
index 61290d6b4609..63c5a3117c45 100644
--- a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball.nix
+++ b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball.nix
@@ -40,11 +40,7 @@ in
 
   # In stage 1 of the boot, mount the CD/DVD as the root FS by label
   # so that we don't need to know its device.
-  fileSystems =
-    [ { mountPoint = "/";
-        device = "/dev/sda";
-      }
-    ];
+  fileSystems = [ ];
 
   # boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ "mvsdio" "mmc_block" "reiserfs" "ext3" "ext4" ];
 
@@ -80,7 +76,10 @@ in
     ''
       # After booting, register the contents of the Nix store on the
       # CD in the Nix database in the tmpfs.
-      ${config.environment.nix}/bin/nix-store --load-db < /nix-path-registration
+      if [ -f /nix-path-registration ]; then
+        ${config.environment.nix}/bin/nix-store --load-db < /nix-path-registration &&
+        rm /nix-path/registration
+      fi
 
       # nixos-rebuild also requires a "system" profile and an
       # /etc/NIXOS tag.