user-nix-steam-deck
Do you want to install Linux command line apps on your Steam Deck without messing with the base system? This script creates a single directory (~/nix) that installs a ~1GB NixOS environment. Packages are managed declaratively using home-manager and flakes.
Walk through
Install nix, create a flake.nix and home.nix, and setup home-manager to use flakes.
bash-5.1$ bash user-nix-steam-deck.sh
Downloading nix-user-chroot
--2022-09-05 04:11:20-- https://github.com/nix-community/nix-user-chroot/releases/download/1.2.2/nix-user-chroot-bin-1.2.2-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
Resolving github.com (github.com)... 192.30.255.112
Connecting to github.com (github.com)|192.30.255.112|:443... connected.
.
.
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Q11. Where are these instructions stored?
/home/deck/nix/home/README
Q12. How do I enter the nix environment again? Run:
/home/deck/nix/enter
783M /home/deck/nix
home: /home/deck/nix/home
bash-5.1$
Take a look at the setup environment.
bash-5.1$ ls
deck home.nix README
bash-5.1$ which bash
~/.nix-profile/bin/bash
Use home-manager switch to rebuild the nix environment.
bash-5.1$ home-manager switch
Starting Home Manager activation
Activating checkFilesChanged
Activating checkLinkTargets
Activating writeBoundary
Activating installPackages
replacing old 'home-manager-path'
installing 'home-manager-path'
building '/nix/store/axgc0jk36a0kr7djs6z4402ib7i3diy0-user-environment.drv'...
Activating linkGeneration
Cleaning up orphan links from /home/deck/nix/home
No change so reusing latest profile generation 1
Creating home file links in /home/deck/nix/home
Activating onFilesChange
Activating reloadSystemd
User systemd daemon not running. Skipping reload.
Leave the nix environment.
bash-5.1$ exit
logout
Enter the nix environment again.
[deck ~]$ nix/enter
791M /home/deck/nix
home: /home/deck/nix/home
Search for a package (ncdu).
bash-5.1$ nix search nixpkgs ncdu
* legacyPackages.x86_64-linux.ncdu (2.1.2)
Disk usage analyzer with an ncurses interface
* legacyPackages.x86_64-linux.ncdu_1 (1.17)
Disk usage analyzer with an ncurses interface
* legacyPackages.x86_64-linux.ncdu_2 (2.1.2)
Disk usage analyzer with an ncurses interface
bash-5.1$
Run a package (ncdu).
bash-5.1$ nix run nixpkgs#ncdu
Enter a shell with a specific package available.
bash-5.1$ nix shell nixpkgs#ncdu
bash-4.2$ ncdu
Install a program.
bash-5.1$ vim home.nix
# Add the package name to the home.packages list and save home.nix:
#
# home.packages = (with pkgs; [
# ncdu
# nix nettools bashInteractive
# ]);
bash-5.1$ home-manager switch
Starting Home Manager activation
Activating checkFilesChanged
Activating checkLinkTargets
Activating writeBoundary
Activating installPackages
replacing old 'home-manager-path'
installing 'home-manager-path'
building '/nix/store/2hpdvhyinhd2453npv1990v1ybxvvknx-user-environment.drv'...
Activating linkGeneration
Cleaning up orphan links from /home/deck/nix/home
Creating profile generation 3
Creating home file links in /home/deck/nix/home
Activating onFilesChange
Activating reloadSystemd
User systemd daemon not running. Skipping reload.
bash-5.1$
Update installed programs.
bash-5.1$ nix registry pin nixpkgs
bash-5.1$ nix flake update ~/.config/nixpkgs/flake.nix
path '/home/deck/nix/home/.config/nixpkgs/flake.nix' does not contain a 'flake.nix', searching up
bash-5.1$ home-manager switch
Starting Home Manager activation
Activating checkFilesChanged
Activating checkLinkTargets
Activating writeBoundary
Activating installPackages
replacing old 'home-manager-path'
installing 'home-manager-path'
Activating linkGeneration
Cleaning up orphan links from /home/deck/nix/home
No change so reusing latest profile generation 1
Creating home file links in /home/deck/nix/home
Activating onFilesChange
Activating reloadSystemd
User systemd daemon not running. Skipping reload.
bash-5.1$
Take a look at the home.nix
bash-5.1$ cat home.nix
# After editing this file, run:
#
# home-manager switch
#
{ config, pkgs, ... }: {
home.username = "deck";
home.homeDirectory = "/home/deck/nix/home";
home.stateVersion = "22.05";
home.packages = (with pkgs; [
nix nettools bashInteractive
# To find more packages, use:
#
# nix search nixpkgs NAME
#
]);
#To find more home-manager programs use:
#
# man home-configuration.nix
#
programs.home-manager.enable = true;
programs.bash = {
enable = true;
profileExtra = ''
. "${config.home.profileDirectory}/etc/profile.d/nix.sh"
'';
};
}
Take a look at the README.
bash-5.1$ cat README
Q1. How do I enter the nix environment? Run:
/home/deck/nix/enter
Q2. How do I run a program without installing it?
nix run nixpkgs#ncdu
nix run nixpkgs#vlc
or
nix shell nixpkgs#ncdu
ncdu
Q3. How do I find a program to run?
nix search nixpkgs ncdu
Q4. How do I install a program? Add the name of the program to home.nix's home.packages line. For example:
home.packages = (with pkgs; [
nix nettools bashInteractive
ncdu vlc
]);
Then rebuild with:
home-manager switch
Q5. Where is the home.nix and flake.nix?
/home/deck/nix/home/.config/nixpkgs/home.nix
/home/deck/nix/home/.config/nixpkgs/flake.nix
Q6. How do I rebuild after editing home.nix or flake.nix? Run:
home-manger switch
Q7. How do I update the programs?
nix registry pin nixpkgs
nix flake update ~/.config/nixpkgs
home-manager switch
Q8. How do I delete programs that are no longer installed?
nix-collect-garbage -d
Q9. What is the layout of this install?
dir /home/deck/nix
enter script /home/deck/nix/enter
home /home/deck/nix/home
README /home/deck/nix/home/README
nix store /home/deck/nix/root-nix/store
Q10. How do I remove everything, including the nix home directory?
chmod -R u+w '/home/deck/nix'
rm '/home/deck/nix' -r
Q11. Where are these instructions stored?
/home/deck/nix/home/README
Q12. How do I enter the nix environment again? Run:
/home/deck/nix/enter