This is an screen by screen guide on how to install minix 3.3.0.
Why Minix?
From the FAQ: MINIX 3 is a small and free UNIX clone designed for very high reliability. It is available with all the source code, which makes it well-suited to classroom or self-study by people wanting to learn how an operating system works. MINIX was released in 1987 as a small easy-to-understand UNIX clone for use in courses teaching operating systems. Linus Torvalds, then a student at the University of Helsinki, studied MINIX in an operating systems course and was sufficiently impressed that he bought a PC to run it. He then used MINIX as a platform, guide, and inspiration to develop a MINIX clone, named Linux, which he released in 1991. Here is his the announcement: https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.minix/c/4995SivOl9o/m/GwqLJlPSlCEJ
From me: as with my Oracle Solaris article, it’s always nice go back to where everything started…sort of. Minix 3 was released in 2014 and the Minix that inspired Linux is from the ’80s.
Download Minix
You can get a compressed ISO from the minix website: https://wiki.minix3.org/doku.php?id=www:download:start . Then you can use it in virtual machine as me, or you can burn it on a cd-rom to install on a real PC.
Install Minix
Boot your computer with the CD, on the first screen just press enter:
![about to install minix](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-19-36-29-1024x777.png)
Quickly you’ll get a live minix system with a kind of “warning”.
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-19-37-35-1024x777.png)
We want to use Minix in a serious way (i.e. learn how to install it and studying it later). So log in as root (with no password yet) and run the setup script.
![starting to install minix](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-19-38-08-1024x777.png)
As you see on this screenshot -and all the next ones- the installer is text-based with simple question asked. Pay attention to those 4 notes to learn everything you need to use the installer.
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-19-38-38-1024x777.png)
As with many operating systems, you need to set your keyboard layout. Mine is in spanish.
Next is time to partition disks. This is a new computer, and for now I’m not a Minix expert, so I’m choosing the automated mode
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-19-38-56-1024x777.png)
There’s only one hard drive on this computer, and I’m going to use the whole disk for minix, so on the next two screens I’ll just press enter:
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-19-39-23-1024x777.png)
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-22-25-48-1024x777.png)
I’ve choose a 2048mb /home partition and then the installer ask for a block size. I choose 4k for… tradition, but there is explanations on why choose 4k, for example here. Finally the installer will show a summary of the partitions and start to copy files:
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-22-26-17-1024x777.png)
The last step is to configure your network, you need to choose your ethernet card:
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-22-27-50-1024x777.png)
and then to choose whether use dhcp or a fixed address.
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-22-28-16-1024x777.png)
And this is it. Now reboot and in the next sections we will see some post-installation tasks
![finishing the minix installation](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-04-22-28-35-1024x777.png)
Post installation tasks
Reconfigure networking
I work with gnome-boxes; for some reason my network wasn’t detected ok. I had to reconfigure with the netconf command:
![first task after install minix](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-09-06-48-02-1024x777.png)
As you see, it’s the same from the installer script. Then I’ve tested with ifconfig and ping commands:
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-09-06-48-45-1024x777.png)
Root password and new users
Use the command passwd to set a password for root. Also, to not use the root user for regular work is always a good idea. To create a new user use the command:
user -m -g users <username> passwd <username>
The argument -m is for creating a home directory and -g is to choose the group for the user.
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/image-21-1024x777.png)
Installing software
pkgin is the package manager for Minix. First you need to fetch the package list:
pkgin update
Now you can install some software with pkgin install <package> , for example to install a ssh server:
pkgin install openssh
You can then enable the ssh service with the following commands:
cp /usr/pkg/etc/rc.d/sshd /etc/rc.d/ printf 'sshd=YES\n' >> /etc/rc.conf /etc/rc.d/sshd start
![](https://unixcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Captura-de-pantalla-de-2022-02-09-06-53-03-1024x777.png)
To search for a package:
pkgin search <keyword>
Install some package sets for common tasks:
pkgin_sets
Install everything available in the repository:
pkgin_all
List all available packages:
pkgin available
Documentation
There are two main places to read an learn Minix
- The Tanenbaum book https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/Tanenbaum-Operating-Systems-Design-and-Implementation-3rd-Edition/PGM228096.html
- The minix wiki https://wiki.minix3.org/doku.php