From d288f6828f92cd54bff4a2f073d84e3715ab4f42 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: aaron <aaron@0x29a.ch>
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2026 17:55:32 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] refactor(installguide): unify device naming, add notes and
 correct typos

---
 INSTALLATION.md | 37 +++++++++++++++----------------------
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)

diff --git a/INSTALLATION.md b/INSTALLATION.md
index 3bb1437..251c746 100644
--- a/INSTALLATION.md
+++ b/INSTALLATION.md
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 - For simplicity I'm using device labels rather than uuids
 
 1. the partitioning layout should look somewhat like this after the installation
-
 ```bash
 NAME               MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINTS
 nvme0n1            259:0    0 476.9G  0 disk
@@ -13,25 +12,26 @@ nvme0n1            259:0    0 476.9G  0 disk
   └─cryptroot      254:0    0 474.9G  0 crypt
     ├─lvmroot-swap 254:1    0    20G  0 lvm   [SWAP]
     ├─lvmroot-home 254:2    0   250G  0 lvm   /home
-    └─lvmroot-root 254:3    0 204.9G  0 lvm   /nix/store
-``` 
+    └─lvmroot-root 254:3    0 204.9G  0 lvm   /
+```
+
+> Note: `lsblk` may additionally show `/nix/store` as a mountpoint on `lvmroot-root`. This is not a separate partition. NixOS mounts the root device a second time at `/nix/store` with `ro,nosuid,nodev` flags to enforce store immutability at runtime.
 
 2. prepare the installation
-
 ```bash
 # format the boot partition
-mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sda1 -n "nixboot"
+mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/nvme0n1p1 -n "nixboot"
 # create an encrypted partition
-cryptsetup luksFormat -y --label="nixcrypt" /dev/sda2
+cryptsetup luksFormat -y --label="nixcrypt" /dev/nvme0n1p2
 # open the encrypted partition and map it to /dev/mapper/cryptroot
-cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda2 cryptroot
+cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/nvme0n1p2 cryptroot
 
 # create the physical volume
 pvcreate /dev/mapper/cryptroot
 # create a volume group inside
 vgcreate lvmroot /dev/mapper/cryptroot
 # create the swap volume
-lvcreate --size 8G lvmroot --name nwap
+lvcreate --size 8G lvmroot --name swap
 # if you desire, create a home volume
 lvcreate --size 150G lvmroot --name home
 # create the root volume
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ mkswap -L "nixswap" /dev/mapper/lvmroot-swap
 # mount root
 mount /dev/disk/by-label/nixroot /mnt
 # mount boot
-mount --mkdir /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
+mount --mkdir /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot
 # again, if you did the home volume
 mount --mkdir /dev/disk/by-label/nixhome /mnt/home
 # turn on swap
@@ -55,13 +55,12 @@ swapon /dev/disk/by-label/nixswap
 ```
 
 3. prepare nixos
-
 ```bash
 # generate templates and update the hardware-configuration.nix
-sudo nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
+nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
 
-# add cryptd to the kernelModules
-boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ "dm-snapshot" "cryptd" ];
+# add dm-crypt and dm-mod to the kernelModules
+boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ "dm-crypt" "dm-mod" ];
 
 # add file systems using labels
 fileSystems."/" =
@@ -86,25 +85,20 @@ boot.initrd.luks.devices."cryptroot".device = "/dev/disk/by-label/nixcrypt";
 ```
 
 4. install nixos
-
 ```bash
-cd /mnt
-sudo nixos-install
+nixos-install
 ```
 
-## how to deploy the inital config
-
+## how to deploy the initial config
 - Don't forget to install the bootloader, if you changed it since `nixos-install`
-
 ```bash
 $ sudo nixos-rebuild --install-bootloader switch --flake .#host_name
 ```
 
 ## how to upgrade the system
-
 ```bash
 $ cd /path/to/repo
-$ sudo nix flake update
+$ nix flake update
 $ sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#host_name
 $ sudo nix-collect-garbage
 ```
@@ -114,7 +108,6 @@ $ sudo nix-collect-garbage
 The tool nix-helper is installed by this configuration. It simplifies administrating nixos and adds more output to the rebuild command. It also features a diff after a successful build. The command uses the `NH_FLAKE` environment variable to be able to run from whatever directory.
 
 Basic commands with a set `NH_FLAKE` variable are:
-
 ```bash
 $ nh os switch
 $ nh os build