man/systemd-sysinstall.xml - main - niceSOFT/systemd

man/systemd-sysinstall.xml
292 строки14 KB
Lennart Poettering
sysinstall: new component
05 май 2026, 16:09
05 май 2026, 16:095fbc7a7
<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*-nxml-*-->
<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd">
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->

<refentry id="systemd-sysinstall" conditional='ENABLE_SYSINSTALL'
    xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">

  <refentryinfo>
    <title>systemd-sysinstall</title>
    <productname>systemd</productname>
  </refentryinfo>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>systemd-sysinstall</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>systemd-sysinstall</refname>
    <refname>systemd-sysinstall.service</refname>
    <refpurpose>Simple OS installer</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>systemd-sysinstall</command>
      <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg>
      <arg choice="opt">BLOCKDEVICE</arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>

    <para><filename>systemd-sysinstall.service</filename></para>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>

    <para><command>systemd-sysinstall</command> is a simple terminal and command line based operating system
    installer tool. Its primary use-case is to act as an automatically started interactive interface when
    booting from an installer medium (e.g. a USB stick), in order to install an OS onto a target
    disk. However, it may also be invoked directly from a shell. It executes the following steps:</para>

    <orderedlist>
      <listitem><para>It prompts the user for the target disk to install the OS on. (Unless the block device
      is already specified on the command line.)</para></listitem>

      <listitem><para>It validates whether the disk is suitable (i.e. large enough, and with enough
      free/unpartitioned space) for an OS installation. If it is generally suitable the user is prompted if they
      want to erase the disk before installation, or if the OS shall be added to the existing partitions on
      the disk (the latter only if enough free/unpartitioned disk space is available).</para></listitem>

      <listitem><para>It prompts the user whether to register the newly installed OS with the firmware boot option menu.</para></listitem>

      <listitem><para>It requests confirmation from the user, after showing a summary of the planned OS installation.</para></listitem>

      <listitem><para>It invokes
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-creds</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
      <command>encrypt</command> command in order to generate encrypted (TPM locked, if available) system
      credential files for a few, very basic system settings of the currently booted system (locale, keymap,
      timezone), which it will install on the target disk, parameterizing the invoked kernel. (Or in other
      words, it prepares that some settings already in effect on the installer system are propagated securely
      onto the new installation.)</para></listitem>

      <listitem><para>It invokes
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-repart</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> with
      a definitions directory of <filename>/usr/lib/repart.sysinstall.d/</filename> (only if populated – if
      not will use the default of <filename>/usr/lib/repart.d/</filename>). This is supposed to set up the
      basic OS partition structure on the target disk and copies in basic OS partitions (most importantly the
      <filename>/usr/</filename> hierarchy).</para></listitem>

      <listitem><para>It invokes
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>bootctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
      <command>link</command> command to install an OS kernel image onto the target disk's ESP/XBOOTLDR,
      together with the credential files prepared earlier.</para></listitem>

      <listitem><para>It invokes
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>bootctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
      <command>install</command> command to install the
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-boot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry> boot
      loader onto the target disk's ESP.</para></listitem>

      <listitem><para>After confirmation, it reboots the system.</para></listitem>
    </orderedlist>

    <para>Note that the prompts/confirmation may be disabled via the command line, enabling fully automatic,
    non-interactive installation. See below.</para>

    <para>Note this tool does not interactively query the user for a user to create or a root password to be
    set on the target system, under the assumption these questions are better prompted from within the newly
    installed system's first boot process, for example via the
    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-firstboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> or
    <filename>systemd-homed-firstboot.service</filename> components. Note that if required such settings
    may be propagated explicitly via the <option>--load-credential=</option> switch below.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Options</title>

    <para>The following options are understood:</para>

    <variablelist>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--definitions=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Overrides the directory where <command>systemd-repart</command> shall read its
        partition definitions from, in place of the default of
        <filename>/usr/lib/repart.sysinstall.d/</filename>.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--welcome=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. Controls whether to show the brief welcome text normally
        displayed at the beginning of the installation. Defaults to true.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--chrome=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. Controls whether to show the colored bars at the top and
        bottom of the terminal interface. Defaults to true.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--erase=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. Controls whether to erase the current contents of the
        target disk. If this switch is not used the user is prompted.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--confirm=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. Controls whether to interactively query the user for
        confirmation before initiating the OS installation. Defaults to true.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--reboot=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. Controls whether to reboot the system after completing the
        installation. Defaults to false.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--variables=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. Controls whether to register the installed boot loader in
        the firmware's boot options database. If not specified the user will be prompted.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--summary=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. Controls whether to show a summary of the choices made
        before asking for confirmation to proceed with the OS installation. Defaults to true.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--kernel=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a path to a unified kernel image (UKI). Explicitly selects the kernel image to
        install on the target disk. If unspecified the currently booted kernel image is installed on the
        target disk.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--set-credential=<replaceable>id</replaceable>:<replaceable>value</replaceable></option></term>

        <listitem><para>Accepts an additional system credential to encrypt (with a key generated on the local
        TPM, if available, and the null key otherwise) and place next to the installed kernel image in the
        ESP. This may be used to parameterize the installed kernel with arbitrary system credentials. Do not
        use this switch for sensitive data (such as passwords), use <option>--load-credential=</option>
        instead, see below. May be used multiple times to configure multiple credentials.</para>

        <para>Note that three system credentials are propagated in similar fashion to the target system:
        the locale, keymap and timezone. This may be controlled by the relevant
        <option>--copy-locale=</option>, <option>--copy-keymap=</option> and <option>--copy-timezone=</option>
        options below.</para>

        <para>See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.system-credentials</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
        for a list of well-known system credentials that may be propagated this way. (Note that you may pass
        arbitrary additional credentials this way, that can be consumed by any service of your
        choice, via the usual system credentials logic.)</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--load-credential=<replaceable>id</replaceable>:<replaceable>path</replaceable></option></term>

        <listitem><para>Similar to <option>--set-credential=</option> but reads the credential value from a
        file on disk or an <constant>AF_UNIX</constant> socket in the file system. This is generally
        preferable for sensitive data, such as passwords.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--copy-locale=</option></term>
        <term><option>--copy-keymap=</option></term>
        <term><option>--copy-timezone=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>These options take boolean parameters. They control whether the indicated system
        settings shall be propagated from the currently running system into the new target OS
        installation. These options default to true.</para>

        <para>Typically, these three settings are the minimal settings that need to be configured during early
        boot of an installer medium in order to make the installer tool accessible to the user. The
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-firstboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
        tool may be used to query the user interactively when the OS install medium is booted for these
        properties. By propagating these settings to the target installation via system credentials they do
        not need to be queried again on first boot of the new installation.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--mute-console=</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. Controls whether to disable kernel and service manager log
        output to the console the installer is invoked on temporarily while running, in order to avoid
        interleaved output. Defaults to false.</para>

        <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="help" />
      <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="version" />
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Exit status</title>

    <para>On success, 0 is returned, and a non-zero failure code otherwise.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Example</title>

    <example>
      <title>Invoke the tool for a fully automatic non-interactive OS installation</title>

      <programlisting>systemd-sysinstall \
        /dev/disk/by-id/nvme-Micron_MTFDKBA1T0TFH_214532D0CDA5 \
        --erase=yes \
        --confirm=no \
        --variables=yes \
        --load-credential=ssh.authorized_keys.root:my-ssh-key
      </programlisting>

      <para>This installs the OS on the selected disk, erasing any previous contents, without confirmation,
      registers it in the firmware, and drops in the SSH key for the root user, read from the
      <filename>my-ssh-key</filename> file in the current directory.</para>
    </example>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>See Also</title>
    <para><simplelist type="inline">
      <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
      <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-creds</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
      <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-repart</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
      <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>bootctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
      <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-firstboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
      <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-boot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
      <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.system-credentials</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
    </simplelist></para>
  </refsect1>

</refentry>