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authorLudovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>2016-06-26 12:16:07 +0200
committerLudovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>2016-06-26 15:29:32 +0200
commiteca69fc0d69585b6c261c621599e5d7e10034306 (patch)
tree5f1cf58f779a7a31e5c8078914e7da763b11e59c /doc
parent4b670539623ce8d2578ede76d2587a5642630c08 (diff)
downloadguix-eca69fc0d69585b6c261c621599e5d7e10034306.tar.gz
doc: Clarify /dev/kvm setup.
Reported by myglc2 <myglc2@gmail.com>.

* doc/guix.texi (Build Environment Setup): Mention the "kvm" group.
(Invoking guix system): Use "@quotation Note" for the note about KVM;
make it clear that KVM is optional.
Diffstat (limited to 'doc')
-rw-r--r--doc/guix.texi19
1 files changed, 13 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index d6d16b4d45..9e3806c845 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -708,8 +708,13 @@ Bash syntax and the @code{shadow} commands):
 @noindent
 The number of build users determines how many build jobs may run in
 parallel, as specified by the @option{--max-jobs} option
-(@pxref{Invoking guix-daemon, @option{--max-jobs}}).  The
-@code{guix-daemon} program may then be run as @code{root} with the
+(@pxref{Invoking guix-daemon, @option{--max-jobs}}).  To use
+@command{guix system vm} and related commands, you may need to add the
+build users to the @code{kvm} group so they can access @file{/dev/kvm},
+using @code{-G guixbuild,kvm} instead of @code{-G guixbuild}
+(@pxref{Invoking guix system}).
+
+The @code{guix-daemon} program may then be run as @code{root} with the
 following command@footnote{If your machine uses the systemd init system,
 dropping the @file{@var{prefix}/lib/systemd/system/guix-daemon.service}
 file in @file{/etc/systemd/system} will ensure that
@@ -10224,12 +10229,14 @@ a list of available debugging commands.
 @end table
 @end table
 
-Note that all the actions above, except @code{build} and @code{init},
-rely on KVM support in the Linux-Libre kernel.  Specifically, the
-machine should have hardware virtualization support, the corresponding
+@quotation Note
+All the actions above, except @code{build} and @code{init},
+can use KVM support in the Linux-libre kernel.  Specifically, if the
+machine has hardware virtualization support, the corresponding
 KVM kernel module should be loaded, and the @file{/dev/kvm} device node
 must exist and be readable and writable by the user and by the
-build users of the daemon.
+build users of the daemon (@pxref{Build Environment Setup}).
+@end quotation
 
 Once you have built, configured, re-configured, and re-re-configured
 your GuixSD installation, you may find it useful to list the operating