diff --git a/docs/about/installation.mdx b/docs/about/installation.mdx
index 25bf96480..05cc02fe1 100644
--- a/docs/about/installation.mdx
+++ b/docs/about/installation.mdx
@@ -34,6 +34,85 @@ OpenShell supports several local compute drivers. The installer chooses a defaul
 
 For detailed driver behavior, refer to [Sandbox Compute Drivers](/reference/sandbox-compute-drivers). For gateway and sandbox operations, refer to [Gateways](/sandboxes/manage-gateways) and [Sandboxes](/sandboxes/manage-sandboxes).
 
+## Manually running the Gateway
+
+Use a manual gateway when the package-managed installer is not a fit, such as on immutable or image-based Linux systems. This path keeps the binaries and gateway state in your home directory and leaves lifecycle management to your shell, a systemd user unit, or another supervisor.
+
+Download the CLI and gateway release artifacts. Choose targets that match your host:
+
+| Host | `CLI_TARGET` | `GATEWAY_TARGET` |
+|---|---|---|
+| Linux x86_64 | `x86_64-unknown-linux-musl` | `x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu` |
+| Linux Arm64 | `aarch64-unknown-linux-musl` | `aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu` |
+| macOS Apple Silicon | `aarch64-apple-darwin` | `aarch64-apple-darwin` |
+
+```shell
+VERSION=dev
+CLI_TARGET=x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
+GATEWAY_TARGET=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+BASE_URL="https://github.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell/releases/download/${VERSION}"
+
+mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin"
+curl -LsSf "${BASE_URL}/openshell-${CLI_TARGET}.tar.gz" | tar -xz -C "$HOME/.local/bin" openshell
+curl -LsSf "${BASE_URL}/openshell-gateway-${GATEWAY_TARGET}.tar.gz" | tar -xz -C "$HOME/.local/bin" openshell-gateway
+chmod 755 "$HOME/.local/bin/openshell" "$HOME/.local/bin/openshell-gateway"
+export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
+```
+
+Set `VERSION` to `dev` for the rolling build, or to a release tag from [OpenShell GitHub Releases](https://github.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell/releases). For production installs, download and verify the release checksum files before installing the artifacts.
+
+Generate a local mTLS bundle and start a Docker-backed gateway on loopback:
+
+```shell
+export OPENSHELL_STATE_DIR="${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/openshell"
+export OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR="${OPENSHELL_STATE_DIR}/tls"
+export OPENSHELL_SERVER_PORT=17670
+
+mkdir -p "${OPENSHELL_STATE_DIR}/gateway"
+openshell-gateway generate-certs \
+  --output-dir "${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}" \
+  --server-san host.openshell.internal
+
+export OPENSHELL_BIND_ADDRESS=127.0.0.1
+export OPENSHELL_TLS_CERT="${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}/server/tls.crt"
+export OPENSHELL_TLS_KEY="${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}/server/tls.key"
+export OPENSHELL_TLS_CLIENT_CA="${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}/ca.crt"
+export OPENSHELL_DB_URL="sqlite:${OPENSHELL_STATE_DIR}/gateway/openshell.db"
+export OPENSHELL_GRPC_ENDPOINT="https://127.0.0.1:${OPENSHELL_SERVER_PORT}"
+export OPENSHELL_SSH_GATEWAY_HOST=127.0.0.1
+export OPENSHELL_SSH_GATEWAY_PORT="${OPENSHELL_SERVER_PORT}"
+export OPENSHELL_SSH_HANDSHAKE_SECRET="$(openssl rand -hex 32)"
+export OPENSHELL_DRIVERS=docker
+export OPENSHELL_SANDBOX_IMAGE=ghcr.io/nvidia/openshell-community/sandboxes/base:latest
+export OPENSHELL_DOCKER_TLS_CA="${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}/ca.crt"
+export OPENSHELL_DOCKER_TLS_CERT="${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}/client/tls.crt"
+export OPENSHELL_DOCKER_TLS_KEY="${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}/client/tls.key"
+
+openshell-gateway
+```
+
+If you move this command into a service manager, persist the same environment values so restarts keep the same database, mTLS bundle, and SSH handshake secret.
+
+For Podman, enable the user socket and replace the Docker driver exports:
+
+```shell
+systemctl --user enable --now podman.socket
+
+export OPENSHELL_DRIVERS=podman
+export OPENSHELL_SUPERVISOR_IMAGE="ghcr.io/nvidia/openshell/supervisor:${VERSION#v}"
+export OPENSHELL_PODMAN_TLS_CA="${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}/ca.crt"
+export OPENSHELL_PODMAN_TLS_CERT="${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}/client/tls.crt"
+export OPENSHELL_PODMAN_TLS_KEY="${OPENSHELL_TLS_DIR}/client/tls.key"
+```
+
+In another terminal, register the manually started gateway:
+
+```shell
+openshell gateway add "https://127.0.0.1:17670" --local --name openshell
+openshell gateway select openshell
+openshell status
+```
+
 ## macOS
 
 On macOS, the install script uses Homebrew. The Homebrew package installs the `openshell` CLI, the gateway binary, and a Homebrew-managed gateway service.