.. _ch-testing-installer:

Testing the Installer
---------------------

Building, burning, and booting from an installation CD is rather tedious, so
here is a quick way to see if the installer works properly:
::

    # mount -t tmpfs none /mnt# nixos-generate-config --root /mnt$ nix-build '<nixpkgs/nixos>' -A config.system.build.nixos-install# ./result/bin/nixos-install

To start a login shell in the new NixOS installation in
:file:`/mnt`:
::

    $ nix-build '<nixpkgs/nixos>' -A config.system.build.nixos-enter# ./result/bin/nixos-enter