nixpkgs/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-usb.xml
Samuel Dionne-Riel 8467dc857b doc: installing-usb: removes notes about unetbootin.
They are known to cause more issues than solving issues; futhermore
using `dd` should work everywhere without fail.
2018-10-03 22:34:58 -04:00

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XML

<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-booting-from-usb">
<title>Booting from a USB Drive</title>
<para>
For systems without CD drive, the NixOS live CD can be booted from a USB
stick. You can use the <command>dd</command> utility to write the image:
<command>dd if=<replaceable>path-to-image</replaceable>
of=<replaceable>/dev/sdX</replaceable></command>. Be careful about specifying
the correct drive; you can use the <command>lsblk</command> command to get a
list of block devices.
<note>
<title>On macOS</title>
<para>
<programlisting>
$ diskutil list
[..]
/dev/diskN (external, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
[..]
$ diskutil unmountDisk diskN
Unmount of all volumes on diskN was successful
$ sudo dd bs=1m if=nix.iso of=/dev/rdiskN
</programlisting>
Using the 'raw' <command>rdiskN</command> device instead of
<command>diskN</command> completes in minutes instead of hours. After
<command>dd</command> completes, a GUI dialog "The disk you inserted was
not readable by this computer" will pop up, which can be ignored.
</para>
</note>
</para>
<para>
The <command>dd</command> utility will write the image verbatim to the drive,
making it the recommended option for both UEFI and non-UEFI installations.
</para>
</section>