diff --git a/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-base.nix b/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-base.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..228ef371d252
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-base.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# This module contains the basic configuration for building a graphical NixOS
+# installation CD.
+
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+
+{
+  imports = [ ./installation-cd-base.nix ];
+
+  services.xserver = {
+    enable = true;
+
+    # Don't start the X server by default.
+    autorun = mkForce false;
+
+    # Automatically login as root.
+    displayManager.slim = {
+      enable = true;
+      defaultUser = "root";
+      autoLogin = true;
+    };
+
+  };
+
+  # Provide networkmanager for easy wireless configuration.
+  networking.networkmanager.enable = true;
+  networking.wireless.enable = mkForce false;
+
+  # KDE complains if power management is disabled (to be precise, if
+  # there is no power management backend such as upower).
+  powerManagement.enable = true;
+
+  environment.systemPackages = [
+    # Include gparted for partitioning disks.
+    pkgs.gparted
+
+    # Include some editors.
+    pkgs.vim
+    pkgs.bvi # binary editor
+    pkgs.joe
+
+    # Firefox for reading the manual.
+    pkgs.firefox
+
+    pkgs.glxinfo
+  ];
+
+}
diff --git a/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-gnome.nix b/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-gnome.nix
index 4c4e69d60d9c..42b5ec882272 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-gnome.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-gnome.nix
@@ -6,47 +6,11 @@
 with lib;
 
 {
-  imports = [ ./installation-cd-base.nix ];
+  imports = [ ./installation-cd-graphical-base.nix ];
 
-  services.xserver = {
-    enable = true;
-    # GDM doesn't start in virtual machines with ISO
-    displayManager.slim = {
-      enable = true;
-      defaultUser = "root";
-      autoLogin = true;
-    };
-    desktopManager.gnome3 = {
-      enable = true;
-      extraGSettingsOverrides = ''
-        [org.gnome.desktop.background]
-        show-desktop-icons=true
+  services.xserver.desktopManager.gnome3.enable = true;
 
-        [org.gnome.nautilus.desktop]
-        trash-icon-visible=false
-        volumes-visible=false
-        home-icon-visible=false
-        network-icon-visible=false
-      '';
-
-      extraGSettingsOverridePackages = [ pkgs.gnome3.nautilus ];
-    };
-  };
-
-  environment.systemPackages =
-    [ # Include gparted for partitioning disks.
-      pkgs.gparted
-
-      # Include some editors.
-      pkgs.vim
-      pkgs.bvi # binary editor
-      pkgs.joe
-
-      pkgs.glxinfo
-    ];
-
-  # Don't start the X server by default.
-  services.xserver.autorun = mkForce false;
+  services.xserver.displayManager.slim.enable = mkForce false;
 
   # Auto-login as root.
   services.xserver.displayManager.gdm.autoLogin = {
@@ -54,25 +18,4 @@ with lib;
     user = "root";
   };
 
-  system.activationScripts.installerDesktop = let
-    # Must be executable
-    desktopFile = pkgs.writeScript "nixos-manual.desktop" ''
-      [Desktop Entry]
-      Version=1.0
-      Type=Link
-      Name=NixOS Manual
-      URL=${config.system.build.manual.manual}/share/doc/nixos/index.html
-      Icon=system-help
-    '';
-
-  # use cp and chmod +x, we must be sure the apps are in the nix store though
-  in ''
-    mkdir -p /root/Desktop
-    ln -sfT ${desktopFile} /root/Desktop/nixos-manual.desktop
-    cp ${pkgs.gnome3.gnome-terminal}/share/applications/gnome-terminal.desktop /root/Desktop/gnome-terminal.desktop
-    chmod a+rx /root/Desktop/gnome-terminal.desktop
-    cp ${pkgs.gparted}/share/applications/gparted.desktop /root/Desktop/gparted.desktop
-    chmod a+rx /root/Desktop/gparted.desktop
-  '';
-
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-kde.nix b/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-kde.nix
index 63227d573495..f71ed46c7e9e 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-kde.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-kde.nix
@@ -1,23 +1,14 @@
 # This module defines a NixOS installation CD that contains X11 and
-# KDE 5.
+# Plasma5.
 
 { config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
 
 with lib;
 
 {
-  imports = [ ./installation-cd-base.nix ];
+  imports = [ ./installation-cd-graphical-base.nix ];
 
   services.xserver = {
-    enable = true;
-
-    # Automatically login as root.
-    displayManager.slim = {
-      enable = true;
-      defaultUser = "root";
-      autoLogin = true;
-    };
-
     desktopManager.plasma5 = {
       enable = true;
       enableQt4Support = false;
@@ -27,34 +18,14 @@ with lib;
     synaptics.enable = true;
   };
 
-  environment.systemPackages =
-    [ pkgs.glxinfo
-
-      # Include gparted for partitioning disks.
-      pkgs.gparted
-
-      # Firefox for reading the manual.
-      pkgs.firefox
-
-      # Include some editors.
-      pkgs.vim
-      pkgs.bvi # binary editor
-      pkgs.joe
-    ];
-
-  # Provide networkmanager for easy wireless configuration.
-  networking.networkmanager.enable = true;
-  networking.wireless.enable = mkForce false;
-
-  # KDE complains if power management is disabled (to be precise, if
-  # there is no power management backend such as upower).
-  powerManagement.enable = true;
-
-  # Don't start the X server by default.
-  services.xserver.autorun = mkForce false;
+  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
+    # Graphical text editor
+    kate
+  ];
 
   system.activationScripts.installerDesktop = let
-    desktopFile = pkgs.writeText "nixos-manual.desktop" ''
+
+    manualDesktopFile = pkgs.writeScript "nixos-manual.desktop" ''
       [Desktop Entry]
       Version=1.0
       Type=Application
@@ -65,7 +36,7 @@ with lib;
 
   in ''
     mkdir -p /root/Desktop
-    ln -sfT ${desktopFile} /root/Desktop/nixos-manual.desktop
+    ln -sfT ${manualDesktopFile} /root/Desktop/nixos-manual.desktop
     ln -sfT ${pkgs.konsole}/share/applications/org.kde.konsole.desktop /root/Desktop/org.kde.konsole.desktop
     ln -sfT ${pkgs.gparted}/share/applications/gparted.desktop /root/Desktop/gparted.desktop
   '';