commit 8600dfc8cf3def4fc971d37e89504fe390830d5a
parent bb280c6d97e4c776dc68dd7acb90568e49d17330
Author: Daniel Barlow <dan@telent.net>
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2023 21:35:06 +0100
proofread v2
Diffstat:
| M | doc/new.rst | | | 43 | +++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------ |
1 file changed, 25 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)
diff --git a/doc/new.rst b/doc/new.rst
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
Getting Started
###############
-Liminix is very configurable, which can make it initially daunting
-especially if you're learning Nix or Linux or networking concepts at
-the same time. In this section we build some "worked example" Liminix
-images to introduce the concepts. If you follow the examples exactly,
-they should work. If you change things as you go along, they may work
-differently or not at all, but the experience should be educational
-either way.
+Liminix is very configurable, which can make it initially quite
+daunting, especially if you're learning Nix or Linux or networking
+concepts at the same time. In this section we build some "worked
+example" Liminix images to introduce the concepts. If you follow the
+examples exactly, they should work. If you change things as you go
+along, they may work differently or not at all, but the experience
+should be educational either way.
.. warning:: The first example we will look at runs under emulation,
@@ -23,19 +23,20 @@ either way.
Requirements
************
-You will need a reasonably powerful computer running Nix. Devices
-that run Liminix are unlikely to have the CPU power and disk space to
-be able to build it in situ, so the build process is based around
+You will need a reasonably powerful computer running Nix. Target
+devices for Liminix are unlikely to have the CPU power and disk space
+to be able to build it in situ, so the build process is based around
"cross-compilation" from another computer. The build machine can be
any reasonably powerful desktop/laptop/server PC running NixOS.
Standalone Nixpkgs installations on other Linux distributions - or on
-MacOS - also ought to work but are untested.
+MacOS, or even in a Docker container - also ought to work but are
+untested.
Running in Qemu
***************
-You can do this without even having a router to play with.
+You can try out Liminix without even having a router to play with.
Clone the Liminix git repository and change into its directory
@@ -71,9 +72,9 @@ Now you can try it:
nix-shell --run "mips-vm ./result/vmlinux ./result/rootfs"
-This starts Qemu emulator with a bunch of useful options, to run
-the Liminix configuration you just built. It connects the Liminix
-serial console and the `QEMU monitor
+This starts the Qemu emulator with a bunch of useful options, to run
+the Liminix configuration you just built. It connects the emulated
+device's serial console and the `QEMU monitor
<https://www.qemu.org/docs/master/system/monitor.html>`_ to
stdin/stdout.
@@ -90,15 +91,21 @@ another virtual machine attached to the virtual network, which will
request an IP address from our Liminix system and give you a shell you
can run ssh from.
-We'll use `System Rescue <https://www.system-rescue.org/>`_ in tty
-mode (no graphical output) for this purpose, but if you have some
+We use `System Rescue <https://www.system-rescue.org/>`_ in tty
+mode (no graphical output) for this example, but if you have some
other favourite Linux Live CD ISO - or, for that matter, any other OS
-image that QEMU can boot - adjust the command to suit:
+image that QEMU can boot - adjust the command to suit.
+
+Download the System Rescue ISO:
.. code-block:: console
curl https://fastly-cdn.system-rescue.org/releases/10.01/systemrescue-10.01-amd64.iso -O
+and run it
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
nix-shell -p qemu --run " \
qemu-system-x86_64 \
-echr 16 \
