diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d6ec31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+# Building and installing letmein
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+The Rust compiler must be installed to build letmein.
+It is recommended to use the latest version of the stable Rust compiler:
+
+[Rust installer](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install)
+
+The Rust installer will install the compiler and the build tool `cargo`.
+
+The build requires the additional `cargo-audit` and `cargo-auditable` tools to be installed.
+Run this command to install both tools:
+
+```sh
+cargo install cargo-audit cargo-auditable
+```
+
+At runtime the nftables `nft` binary is required to be installed reachable in the `$PATH`.
+On Debian please install the `nftables` package:
+
+```sh
+apt install nftables
+```
+
+## Building letmein
+
+Run the `build.sh` script to build letmein.
+
+After installing all build prerequisites, run the build script:
+
+```sh
+./build.sh
+```
+
+## Installing letmein
+
+### Install client
+
+Then run the `install-client.sh` to install the letmein client to `/opt/letmein/`:
+
+```sh
+./install-client.sh
+```
+
+The client is used to send a knock packet to the server.
+
+### Install server
+
+#### Prepare user and group for the server
+
+The public network facing part of the letmein server runs with reduced privileges to reduce the attack surface.
+
+For this to work, the user `letmeind` and the group `letmeind` have to be present in `/etc/passwd` and `/etc/group`.
+It is recommended for this user to not have a shell and home assigned and therefore not be a login-user.
+
+You can use the following helper script to create the user and group in your system:
+
+```sh
+./create-user.sh
+```
+
+#### Install the server and systemd units
+
+After building and creating the `letmeind` system user, run the `install-server.sh` to install the letmeind server to `/opt/letmein/`:
+
+```sh
+./install-server.sh
+```
+
+Installing the server will also install the service and socket into systemd and start the letmeind server.
+
+The server is used to receive knock packets from the client.
+Upon successful knock authentication, the server will open the knocked port in its `nftables` firewall.
+
+## Installing with `cargo install` from crates.io
+
+Alternatively, you can install letmein, letmeind and letmeinfwd with `cargo install` from [crates.io](https://crates.io/).
+
+Note that there are a few important differences when using `cargo install` instead of the `install*.sh` scripts from above:
+
+- letmein will look for configuration files in `/etc` instead of `/opt/letmein/etc`.
+- The system user and group `letmeind` will not be installed in the operating system. The user and group are required for server operation.
+- The systemd sockets and services will not be installed in the operating system.
+
+You may use `cargo install` to install the `letmein` client application.
+But it is *not* recommended to use `cargo install` to install the `letmeind` and `letmeinfwd` server daemons.
+
+## Arch Linux: Installing from AUR
+
+If you use [Arch Linux](https://archlinux.org/), then you can install the client and the server from [AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/letmein).
+The AUR package will install the configuration to `/etc` and the binaries to `/usr/bin`.
+
+(The AUR package is maintained by a third party maintainer. Thanks!)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index abdecf8..20a733b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -103,98 +103,9 @@ To automatically knock the port before connecting with ssh, you can add a `Match
 Match host your-server.com exec "letmein knock -u 00000000 your-server.com 22"
 ```
 
-## Prerequisites
+## Installing
 
-The Rust compiler must be installed to build letmein.
-It is recommended to use the latest version of the stable Rust compiler:
-
-[Rust installer](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install)
-
-The Rust installer will install the compiler and the build tool `cargo`.
-
-The build requires the additional `cargo-audit` and `cargo-auditable` tools to be installed.
-Run this command to install both tools:
-
-```sh
-cargo install cargo-audit cargo-auditable
-```
-
-At runtime the nftables `nft` binary is required to be installed reachable in the `$PATH`.
-On Debian please install the `nftables` package:
-
-```sh
-apt install nftables
-```
-
-## Building letmein
-
-Run the `build.sh` script to build letmein.
-
-After installing all build prerequisites, run the build script:
-
-```sh
-./build.sh
-```
-
-## Installing letmein
-
-### Install client
-
-Then run the `install-client.sh` to install the letmein client to `/opt/letmein/`:
-
-```sh
-./install-client.sh
-```
-
-The client is used to send a knock packet to the server.
-
-### Install server
-
-#### Prepare user and group for the server
-
-The public network facing part of the letmein server runs with reduced privileges to reduce the attack surface.
-
-For this to work, the user `letmeind` and the group `letmeind` have to be present in `/etc/passwd` and `/etc/group`.
-It is recommended for this user to not have a shell and home assigned and therefore not be a login-user.
-
-You can use the following helper script to create the user and group in your system:
-
-```sh
-./create-user.sh
-```
-
-#### Install the server and systemd units
-
-After building and creating the `letmeind` system user, run the `install-server.sh` to install the letmeind server to `/opt/letmein/`:
-
-```sh
-./install-server.sh
-```
-
-Installing the server will also install the service and socket into systemd and start the letmeind server.
-
-The server is used to receive knock packets from the client.
-Upon successful knock authentication, the server will open the knocked port in its `nftables` firewall.
-
-## Installing with `cargo install` from crates.io
-
-Alternatively, you can install letmein, letmeind and letmeinfwd with `cargo install` from [crates.io](https://crates.io/).
-
-Note that there are a few important differences when using `cargo install` instead of the `install*.sh` scripts from above:
-
-- letmein will look for configuration files in `/etc` instead of `/opt/letmein/etc`.
-- The system user and group `letmeind` will not be installed in the operating system. The user and group are required for server operation.
-- The systemd sockets and services will not be installed in the operating system.
-
-You may use `cargo install` to install the `letmein` client application.
-But it is *not* recommended to use `cargo install` to install the `letmeind` and `letmeinfwd` server daemons.
-
-## Arch Linux: Installing from AUR
-
-If you use [Arch Linux](https://archlinux.org/), then you can install the client and the server from [AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/letmein).
-The AUR package will install the configuration to `/etc` and the binaries to `/usr/bin`.
-
-(The AUR package is maintained by a third party maintainer. Thanks!)
+See the [installation instructions](INSTALL.md) for more information about how to build and install letmein.
 
 ## Platform support