Getting Started
General information
One of the shortcomings of NQC is that it cannot be built on any other operating system besides itself. This means that in order to build and run NQC, you need to use an existing installation of NQC. This is because the operating system relies on a number of custom tools and software that are specific to NQC and not present in other operating systems.
Furthermore, NQC is currently under heavy development. While we aim to ensure that new updates and patches are stable and backward-compatible, upgrading to upstream at times can break installations on some systems. This is why we recommend that users exercise caution when running NQC on bare metal or production systems. It’s best to use virtual machines or test environments to try out the latest commits and updates until they have been thoroughly tested and verified.
Downloading NQC ISOs
We make and host snapshot ISOs every Monday at 12am (GMT). This allows developers to easily access and try out the latest features and updates as soon as they become available. However, please note that these snapshots may not be stable or recommended for production use. In addition, we also create and host ISOs for every substantial release, which include major updates and new features that have undergone extensive testing and verification.
However, if you’re already running an installed version of NQC and want to update to the latest version, you don’t necessarily need to reinstall the system using the latest ISO. Instead, you can simply pull the latest codebase from /usr/src and build the kernel and world from there. This allows you to update to the latest version without having to reinstall the entire operating system, saving you time and effort.
To get started, simply visit the Downloads tab and download the latest release/snapshot.
Preparing the Environment
To boot the NQC ISO in a virtual machine environment, users can follow the same steps as they would for any other operating system ISO. This involves creating a new virtual machine in their preferred virtualization software, selecting the NQC ISO as the installation media, and configuring the virtual machine to their desired specifications. NQC ISOs can be used with various virtual machine environments, such as VirtualBox, VMWare, and QEMU, among others. Once the virtual machine is created and configured, users can start the machine to boot the NQC ISO and begin the installation process.
If you have a spare machine, you can download the NQC ISO, write it to a USB, and install it on bare-metal. This method is much faster and more optimal for development, but please note that NQC is still under heavy development and is not yet stable.
To maintain compatibility with newer versions of NQC, users must select a 64-bit architecture when installing the operating system. Please note that unsupported architectures, including x86, i386, PowerPC, SPARC, MIPS, and ARM-32, will not work with NQC. By selecting a 64-bit architecture, users can ensure that their system remains compatible with future updates and enhancements to NQC, while also taking advantage of the improved performance and security features available in the latest versions of the operating system.
Installing NQC
Currently, no major changes to the installer has been made. Due to this, we refer you to the detailed guide of the FreeBSD Handbook on the installation of FreeBSD.
Once changes have been made to the installer, we will document them here.