clan-core/docs/admins/03-Installer.md

03 Clan Installer

We offer a dedicated installer to assist remote installations.

In this tutorial we will guide you through building and flashing it to a bootable USB drive.

Step 0. Prerequisites

• A free USB Drive with at least 1.5GB (All data on it will be lost)
• Linux/NixOS Machine with Internet

Step 1. Identify the USB Flash Drive

1. Insert your USB flash drive into your computer.

2. Identify your flash drive with lsblk

   $ lsblk
   NAME                                          MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINTS
   sdb                                             8:0    1 117,2G  0 disk
   └─sdb1                                          8:1    1 117,2G  0 part  /run/media/qubasa/INTENSO
   nvme0n1                                       259:0    0   1,8T  0 disk
   ├─nvme0n1p1                                   259:1    0   512M  0 part  /boot
   └─nvme0n1p2                                   259:2    0   1,8T  0 part
     └─luks-f7600028-9d83-4967-84bc-dd2f498bc486 254:0    0   1,8T  0 crypt /nix/store                                                                 /
   

   In this case it's sdb

3. Ensure all partitions on the drive are unmounted. Replace sdb1 in the command below with your device identifier (like sdc1, etc.):

sudo umount /dev/sdb1

Step 2. Build the Installer

nix build git+https://git.clan.lol/clan/clan-core.git#install-iso

Step 3. Flash the Installer to the USB Drive

Use the dd utility to write the NixOS installer image to your USB drive:

sudo dd bs=4M conv=fsync oflag=direct status=progress if=./result/stick.raw of=/dev/sd<X>

In case your USB device is sdb use of=/dev/sdb

Step 4. Boot and Connect to your network

After writing the installer to the USB drive, use it to boot the target machine.

i.e. Plug it into the target machine and select the USB drive as a temporary boot device.

For most hardware you can find the Key-combination below:

• Dell: F12 (Boot Menu), F2/Del (BIOS Setup)
• HP: F9 (Boot Menu), Esc (Startup Menu)
• Lenovo: F12 (ThinkPad Boot Menu), F2/Fn+F2/Novo Button (IdeaPad Boot Menu/BIOS Setup)
• Acer: F12 (Boot Menu), F2/Del (BIOS Setup)
• Asus: F8/Esc (Boot Menu), F2/Del (BIOS Setup)
• Toshiba: F12/F2 (Boot Menu), Esc then F12 (Alternate Method)
• Sony: F11/Assist Button (Boot Menu/Recovery Options)
• Samsung: F2/F12/Esc (Boot Menu), F2 (BIOS Setup)
• MSI: F11 (Boot Menu), Del (BIOS Setup)
• Apple: Option (Alt) Key (Boot Menu for Mac)
• If your hardware was not listed read the manufacturers instructions how to enter the boot Menu/BIOS Setup.

During Boot

Select NixOS to boot into the clan installer

After Booting

For deploying your configuration the machine needs to be connected via LAN (recommended)

See: Guide for Wifi Below

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Whats next?

• Deploying Machines: Deploying a Machine configuration
• WiFi: Guide for connecting to Wifi.

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(Optional) Connect to Wifi

If you don't have access via LAN the Installer offers support for connecting via Wifi.

iwctl

This will enter iwd

[iwd]#

Now run the following command to connect to your Wifi:

# Identify your network device.
device list
# Replace 'wlan0' with your device name
# Find your Wifi SSID.
station wlan0 scan
station wlan0 get-networks

# Replace your_ssid with the Wifi SSID
# Connect to your network.
station wlan0 connect your_ssid

# Verify you are connected
station wlan0 show

If the connection was successful you should see something like this:

State                 connected                                                                                                                    
Connected network     FRITZ!Box (Your router device)                                                                                                         
IPv4 address          192.168.188.50 (Your new local ip)

Press ctrl-d to exit IWD

Press ctrl-d again to update the displayed QR code and connection information.