Nix implementation for my Linux laptops, desktops, and homelab servers. Adapted from Misterio77's standard starter config with inspiration from EmergentMind's youtube tutorials, 8bitbuddhism, and many others.
- Nix Language: a domain-specific, declarative, pure, functional, lazy-evaluated, dynamically typed, language
- Nix values: data types that are immutable, can be whole expressions themselves, are only computed when needed, and type-error detected at evaluation
- Nix Expressions: Nix lang code (functions) that describes how to build packages or configure systems
- Derivations: the backend build task; specifies all inputs, dependencies, and build steps of an expression
- Nix Packages Collection (Nixpkgs): a large repository of Nix expressions
- Nix Store: complex abstractions of immutable file system data (software packages, dependencies, etc.)
- Nix Package Manager: a command-line toolset, with an atomic update model, that:
- evaluates expressions into derivations
- builds packages from derivations
- manages the Nix Store (handles dependencies, ensures reproducibility), where packages are kept
- NixOS: Linux distro that has a system configuration entirely built with Nix
Contains
- Cachix: cache service of prebuilt binaries; speeds installs, avoids compilations
- Flakes: a schema for writing, referencing, and sharing Nix expressions
- consists of a filesystem tree with a flake.nix file in root directory; specifies:
- metadata about the flake
- inputs (expressions, pkg repos, other flakes) which are taken as dependencies
- outputs (pkg defs, dev-envs, NixOS configs, modules, etc.) are whatever the flake produces; ultimately given as Nix values, evaluated by the Nix package manager
- updates Nix package manager's CLI with the new/experimental commands
- version-pinning of pkgs and dependencies via flake.lock file (increases reproducibity)
- consists of a filesystem tree with a flake.nix file in root directory; specifies:
- Home Manager: home-directory management module; installs user programs, pkgs, and config files, sets env-variables, dotfiles, and any other arbitrary file
- Modules: to customize options, settings, and functionality in config
- segregation of system and user level modules, encapsulated by role or function
- Overlays: custom modifications, extensions, and patches of Nixpkgs
- Single source of truth: repo serves as the reference point where all systems auto-pull from, and push to
Aspirational
- Declarative virtualization systems
- Scripting for initial hardware configuration (disko)
- Support for various WMs and desktop environments (KDE, XFCE, and Sway)
- Custom packages and services
- Secret management system
- Impermanent system; declaratively built on boot and connected to storage drives for data persistence
- Making possible use of nix related libraries (Snowfall)
- Installation:
- Install NixOS with appropriate labelled partitions (boot, root, swap, home)
- First rebuild, with: flakes enabled and a proper hostname,
- Second rebuild, with
sudo nixos-rebuild boot --flake github:temhr/nixlab && sudo reboot
- Updating systems imperatively:
- Flakes:
$ nix flake update --flake /home/temhr/nixlab - NixOS:
$ sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake /home/temhr/nixlab - Cachix:
$ sudo cachix use [package_name]
- Flakes:
- bin: various user files and shell scripts
- cachix: prebuilt cached binaries to pull
- home-manager: user level configurations
- hosts: system level configurations
- common: host-agnostic configs (applications, programs, services, user-account, etc.)
- nixace: workstation config.nix file
- nixbase: stationary config.nix file
- nixser: server config.nix file
- nixtop: laptop config.nix file
- lib: Unused nix-code dump
- modules: custom configuration settings and options
- home-manager: user-relevant preferences and extensions
- nixos: system-relevant modules
- overlays: custom overrides of nixpkgs
- default: allows for nixos-unstable repository as pkgs.unstable
- pkgs: custom written packages
- empty
- flake.nix: entry point
- flake.lock: version pinner