diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/installation.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/installation.xml
index 88ef589dd06a..70001577692e 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/installation.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/installation.xml
@@ -369,9 +369,23 @@ $ nixos-rebuild build-vm
 $ ./result/bin/run-*-vm
 </screen>
 
-The VM does not have use any data from your host system, so your
-existing user accounts and home directories will not be
-available.</para>
+The VM does not have any data from your host system, so your existing
+user accounts and home directories will not be available.  You can
+forward ports on the host to the guest.  For instance, the following
+will forward host port 2222 to guest port 22 (SSH):
+
+<screen>
+$ QEMU_NET_OPTS="hostfwd=tcp::2222-:22" ./result/bin/run-*-vm
+</screen>
+
+allowing you to log in via SSH (assuming you have set the appropriate
+passwords or SSH authorized keys):
+
+<screen>
+$ ssh -p 2222 localhost
+</screen>
+
+</para>
 
 </section>