Installing in a Virtualbox guest
Installing NixOS into a Virtualbox guest is convenient for users who want to
try NixOS without installing it on bare metal. If you want to use a pre-made
Virtualbox appliance, it is available at the downloads page.
If you want to set up a Virtualbox guest manually, follow these instructions:
Add a New Machine in Virtualbox with OS Type "Linux / Other
Linux"Base Memory Size: 768 MB or higher.New Hard Disk of 8 GB or higher.Mount the CD-ROM with the NixOS ISO (by clicking on
CD/DVD-ROM)Click on Settings / System / Processor and enable
PAE/NXClick on Settings / System / Acceleration and enable
"VT-x/AMD-V" accelerationSave the settings, start the virtual machine, and continue
installation like normal
There are a few modifications you should make in configuration.nix. Enable
the virtualbox guest service in the main block:
virtualisation.virtualbox.guest.enable = true;
Enable booting:
boot.loader.grub.device = "/dev/sda";
Also remove the fsck that runs at startup. It will always fail to run,
stopping your boot until you press *.
boot.initrd.checkJournalingFS = false;
Shared folders can be given a name and a path in the host system in the
VirtualBox settings (Machine / Settings / Shared Folders, then click on the
"Add" icon). Add the following to the
/etc/nixos/configuration.nix to auto-mount them:
{ config, pkgs, ...} :
{
...
fileSystems."/virtualboxshare" = {
fsType = "vboxsf";
device = "nameofthesharedfolder";
options = [ "rw" ];
};
}
The folder will be available directly under the root directory.