This document is a guide for installing GNU Guix using the live system booted from a nonguix installation medium. The installation medium is provided by a GitHub Action from System Crafters, and uses the full Linux kernel, as opposed to the libre one. This allows for more driver support, such as WiFi on many modern laptops, and makes the installation process much easier.
Before installing, it would be advised to view the FAQs.
For installations of software and specific issues, please search for your topic or look in the categories.
GNU Guix should run on most x86-64 compatible PCs. As the installation process needs to retrieve packages from a remote repository, this guide assumes a working internet connection is available. The Nonguix installation medium should cover WiFi issues normally present in the Guix installer.
The installation image is kept at a repo in the System Crafters organization. Click here to download the latest ISO. Burn this ISO to an installation medium (flash drive or DVD), and boot from it. For example, to burn it to a USB flash drive at /dev/sdX, run the following command:
dd if=guix-installer.iso of=/dev/sdX status=progress bs=4M
Boot from the installation medium, select your language and country, and select "Install using the shell based process" when prompted. Although this makes the installation slightly more difficult, it allows for setting up your new installation with the full Linux kernel (necessary for the nonfree installation.)
If you have ethernet, simply plug in your cable and continue to the next step. If you have WiFi, use an editor (or echo) to create a new file called wifi.conf to store the WiFi configuration. Make sure to set ssid to the name of your WiFi network name, and psk to the passphrase for your WiFi. You may also need to change the key_mgmt parameter depending on the type of authentication your wifi router supports.
network={
ssid="ssid-name"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
psk="unencrypted passphrase"
}
Next, run the following commands to unblock the WiFi card, determine its device name, and connect using the device name received. In the example, the name is wlp4s0, so wpa_supplicant is passed the flag -i wlp4s0. Change this accordingly:
rfkill unblock all
ifconfig -a
wpa_supplicant -c wifi.conf -i wlp4s0 -B
Finally, run dhclient to turn on DNS, remembering to replace wlp4s0 with your device name returned from ifconfig -a:
dhclient -v wlp4s0
When disks are detected by the system, they are assigned a block device. To list these block devices, run lsblk or fdisk -l.
For example, running lsblk on my laptop returns these results:
$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 465.8G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 549M 0 part /boot/efi
├─sda2 8:2 0 153.5G 0 part
│ └─cryptroot 253:0 0 153.5G 0 crypt /
└─sda3 8:3 0 311.7G 0 part
└─crypthome 253:1 0 311.7G 0 crypt /home
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
I have an encrypted root and home (if you don't know what that is, don't worry, it just means I have to put in two passwords before I can use my computer), so my devices might appear differently than yours, but the rough idea is the same. You might have no partitions (the numbered versions, such as /dev/sda1) if you just wiped your drive, or many if you are coming from a different GNU/Linux OS or Windows.
If you would like to have encrypted block devices (entire partitions), use LUKS. If you do not want encryption, continue reading at "Regular."
Your encrypted blocks can be all or none, however in this example only the root will be encrypted and UEFI will be used. If unsure, look at "Regular" and see the potential layouts (or read the linked article for the Arch Wiki there).
| Mount point | Partition | Partition type | Suggested size |
| /mnt/boot/efi | /dev/efi_system_partition | EFI system partition | At least 260 MiB |
| [SWAP] | /dev/swap_partition | Linux swap | More than 512 MiB |
| /mnt | /dev/root_partition | Linux x86-64 root (/) | Remainder of the device |
cfdisk /dev/root_partition
Once your partitions are created, you can enable LUKS on the root partition by running the following commands. You can change system-root to whatever you desire:
cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/root_partition
cryptsetup open --type luks /dev/root_partition system-root
mkfs.ext4 -L system-root /dev/mapper/system-root
mount LABEL=system-root /mnt
Finally, ensure your EFI system partition and swap are both activated/mounted:
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/efi_system_partition /mnt/boot/efi
swapon /dev/swap_partition
Proceed to "Installation."
If you would not like to have encrypted block devices (entire partitions), you can partition your drives just as you would for any other GNU/Linux OS. For example, you could have the following layout (as suggested by the Arch Wiki) if using UEFI (most modern computers):
| Mount point | Partition | Partition type | Suggested size |
| /mnt/boot/efi | /dev/efi_system_partition | EFI system partition | At least 260 MiB |
| [SWAP] | /dev/swap_partition | Linux swap | More than 512 MiB |
| /mnt | /dev/root_partition | Linux x86-64 root (/) | At least 1/3 of your device |
| /mnt/home | /dev/home_partition | Linux x86-64 home (/home) | Remainder of the device |
For BIOS with MBR, the Arch Wiki suggests the following:
| Mount point | Partition | Partition type | Suggested size |
| [SWAP] | /dev/swap_partition | Linux swap | More than 512 MiB |
| /mnt | /dev/root_partition | Linux | At least 1/3 of your device |
| /mnt/home | /dev/home_partition | Linux | Remainder of the device |
Many other partitioning schemes exist: if you'd like to try other ones or learn about your options, check out the Arch Wiki's page for partitioning.
Partition your disks using either cfdisk or fdisk:
cfdisk /dev/sdX
fdisk /dev/sdX
Next, you should format your partitions with the correct file system. To create an Ext4 file system on /dev/root_partition, run:
mkfs.ext4 /dev/root_partition
To initialize swap, run the following command:
mkswap /dev/swap_partition
Now it is time to mount your partitions. This will change depending on your chosen layout, but all drives are mounted as such:
mount /dev/partition_name /mnt
Replace partition_name with the partition's name, and /mnt with the necessary location. The following locations are used:
In order to mount a partition, that directory (folder) needs to exist. For /mnt/home and /mnt/boot/efi (if created) create the directories as follows after mounting /mnt:
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mkdir -p /mnt/home
Swap is activated with the swapon command:
swapon /dev/swap_partition
Once all partitions are mounted, you can begin the installation. First, set up the installation environment using herd:
herd start cow-store /mnt
The following steps will change depending on your approach. If you've used Guix in the past and would like to use your dotfiles and system configuration (your custom configurations), clone your repository now.
If you would like to make your own, you need to at least have the nonguix channels setup for the installation medium. If you aren't sure what that means, or how to do that yourself, follow the instructions below for now, only copying the channels.scm.
If you do not have personal dotfiles yet, and would like to try David Wilson's, clone the following repository using git into your current directory (i.e. not /mnt):
git clone https://github.com/daviwil/dotfiles
Regardless of your path, you should now add the nonguix and necessary custom channels to the installation medium. Run the following commands to set up the necessary channels and run guix pull (equivalent to apt update, updates the files available without updating the ones on the system):
mkdir -p ~/.config/guix
# If you cloned David Wilson's dotfiles:
cp dotfiles/guix/channels.scm ~/.config/guix
# Otherwise, add the channels.scm file yourself and edit it with nonguix and your necessary channels
guix pull
# This is necessary to ensure the updated profile path is active!
hash guix
The pull operation can take quite a while, depending upon your machine and the last time the nonguix installation ISO was updated. I'd recommend getting a cup of coffee (or tea, or whatever your preferred beverage is!)
Once the operation is finished, you will need to update your configuration to point to your partition UUIDs and labels for the system that you are installing. In order to get your UUIDs, run the following command:
blkid
This will return a long list of IDs that you can write down, take a picture of, cat or echo into your configuration, depending on which is more comfortable to you (if you're not too familiar with GNU/Linux, I'd recommend writing the IDs down. They are long, but it is faster and safer in the long run.) You can also switch to another TTY using Ctrl-Alt-F# and press Enter or Return to get to another root prompt. You can then switch back and forth between the previous TTY on F3 instead of writing down your IDs.
If you have encrypted partitions, you can use the following command to find the UUID:
cryptsetup luksUUID /dev/root_partition
Finally, we can initialize the system by running the following command:
# Change the .dotfiles directory to your dotfiles if necessary
guix system -L ~/.dotfiles/.config/guix/systems init path/to/config.scm /mnt
This can take a very long time depending on your internet connection and computer. If using a laptop, please ensure it is plugged in. If any errors occur during the installation, simply resume the installation as the Guix store has the previous packages saved. If the error continues, consider contacting someone at the System Crafters' Discord, IRC, or Matrix "Links?" <placeholder>.
Congratulations! Your GNU Guix System installation is (almost) complete. Reboot your system, take out your installation medium, and login as root when you are faced with a login prompt. Your last crucial step is to add a password for your accounts. Once logged in, run the following commands:
# Set the password for your root account
passwd
# Set the password for your user
passwd <your username>
Log out, and log into your user account.
Clone your dotfiles repository (or David Wilson's again) and ensure that the channels include nonguix. If using David Wilson's dotfiles, cd into the directory and run:
stow .
If using your own dotfiles, you know how to deploy them. If you don't have a good way to deploy your dotfiles yet, consider using stow "Link?" <placeholder>.
Verify that your channels.scm file is in the target path (\~/.config/guix) and then run the following to update your channels:
guix pull
You can now install whatever packages or manifests you need and have. If you are new to GNU Guix, continue reading at the "Basics of GNU GUIX" page <placeholder>. If interested in basic system setups and advice, continue reading at general recommendations. Otherwise, once again, congratulations! You have officially installed a nonfree/nonguix Guix System!
For more information, and to read the official installation guide, look at the following links: