diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/upgrading.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/upgrading.xml
index 46d3af56b57..5a9d1f24f7c 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/upgrading.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/upgrading.xml
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ been built. These channels are:
- Stable channels, such as nixos-14.04.
+ Stable channels, such as nixos-14.12.
These only get conservative bug fixes and package upgrades. For
instance, a channel update may cause the Linux kernel on your
system to be upgraded from 3.4.66 to 3.4.67 (a minor bug fix), but
@@ -23,14 +23,28 @@ been built. These channels are:
3.11.x (a major change that has the
potential to break things). Stable channels are generally
maintained until the next stable branch is created.
+
- The unstable channel, The unstable channel, nixos-unstable.
This corresponds to NixOS’s main development branch, and may thus
see radical changes between channel updates. It’s not recommended
for production systems.
+
+ Small channels, such as nixos-14.12-small
+ or nixos-unstable-small. These
+ are identical to the stable and unstable channels described above,
+ except that they contain fewer binary packages. This means they
+ get updated faster than the regular channels (for instance, when a
+ critical security patch is committed to NixOS’s source tree), but
+ may require more packages to be built from source than
+ usual. They’re mostly intended for server environments and as such
+ contain few GUI applications.
+
To see what channels are available, go to
When you first install NixOS, you’re automatically subscribed to
the NixOS channel that corresponds to your installation source. For
-instance, if you installed from a 14.04 ISO, you will be subscribed to
-the nixos-14.04 channel. To see which NixOS
+instance, if you installed from a 14.12 ISO, you will be subscribed to
+the nixos-14.12 channel. To see which NixOS
channel you’re subscribed to, run the following as root:
@@ -57,13 +71,19 @@ $ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/channel-name
(Be sure to include the nixos parameter at the
-end.) For instance, to use the NixOS 14.04 stable channel:
+end.) For instance, to use the NixOS 14.12 stable channel:
-$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.04 nixos
+$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.12 nixos
-But if you want to live on the bleeding edge:
+If you have a server, you may want to use the “small” channel instead:
+
+
+$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.12-small nixos
+
+
+And if you want to live on the bleeding edge:
$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-unstable nixos