Robertof/nixos-docker-sd-image-builder

What to do with the working sd card

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sergueif commented

Hi, it seems to have worked! I have the sd card running on a RPi3. Small request, do you mind a little paragraph in the Readme somewhere about what the next steps after are to use the system / grow it / add new packages. Just link to the appropriate guides.

What I'm particularly confused by is:

  • is what's running on this sd card the long-term nixos installation or is the sd card just an installer of sorts, so, first thing is to "install" the nixos on rPi? Kind of like most distros have a "LiveCD" which you use to install the long-term OS. Sorry, nixos newbie here
  • I don't see any /etc/nixos/configuration.nix file on the running system after boot. Can I just add a new one from scratch? It would feel a lot easier if there was a starter file there to evolve from. This is partly what makes me suspect that I have to do some kind of further installation on this image after popping the sd card into rPi3.

Again, not asking to write a whole NixOS or Nix tutorial, just link to the 1-2 appropriate ones and clarify what it is exactly that's running after you pop the SD card in and what can I / should I do in it?

P.S. very exciting project. Can't wait to have a .nix file describing all the smb , mpd / etc. music / media center setup I want on my various computers at home so that I don't have to sit and configure them each time something goes wrong and I forget the configuration steps. Much appreciation for your project.

arsfeld commented

It's explained in the README.md, basically once you boot NixOS, you can run those steps which will create a new "generation" in the same sdcard you used to boot. The NixOS generation you used to boot is still there and you generate a new one and switch to it, which will also be used in subsequent boots.

Make sure to follow all instructions though, the boot configuration is not the same as you'll switch to, so if you make a mistake in the /etc/nixos/configuration.nix file you'll generate, you might have to re-flash your sdcard.

sergueif commented

ah thank you, I missed that section.

Robertof commented

Hey, sorry - just caught up to this! Thank you so much @arsfeld for taking the time to reply, and yes - there indeed are some indications on post-installation steps in the README, even though I get how you might have missed them!

Feel free to suggest any improvement.

Thank you for using this!