= Getting Spectrum :page-parent: Build and Run :page-nav_order: 2 // SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2022 Alyssa Ross // SPDX-License-Identifier: GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-or-later OR CC-BY-SA-4.0 To get Spectrum, you need to build it from source. As long as you're running Linuxfootnote:[Building from other operating systems might work, but hasn't been tested. Patches are welcome to support building from other operating systems, as long as they're not too invasive.] and have https://nixos.org/download.html[Nix] and https://git-scm.com/[git] installed, it's very easy to do. TIP: Before you start, consider setting up the xref:binary-cache.adoc[Spectrum binary cache], which will save you a lot of time waiting for builds. == Trying Spectrum If you want to try Spectrum out to get a feel for it, without installing it, you can run it in a development VM with some example applications. [source,shell] ---- git clone https://spectrum-os.org/git/spectrum git clone https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs git clone -b rootfs --reference nixpkgs \ https://spectrum-os.org/git/nixpkgs nixpkgs-spectrum cd spectrum/host/rootfs nix-shell -I nixpkgs=../../../nixpkgs-spectrum --run 'make run' ---- This builds just enough of Spectrum to try it out in a VM, but it will still take a very long time. == Building Installer [source,shell] ---- git clone https://spectrum-os.org/git/spectrum nix-build spectrum/release/combined \ -I nixpkgs=https://spectrum-os.org/git/nixpkgs/snapshot/nixpkgs-rootfs.tar.gz ---- If you haven't set up the xref:binary-cache.adoc[binary cache], this will take a very long time. When it's done, a symbolic link named "result" will appear, pointing to a Spectrum USB installer image. CAUTION: Do not use Spectrum for anything important or sensitive as it is not yet suitable for real-world use. Many important security properties are currently missing, and there is no procedure for updating to new versions—you have to reinstall the OS.