Nix

A repository to contain all my nix stuff. For now only NixOS related.

NixOS

Add all channels. We are going to use home-manager as a module, so add like this:

    sudo nix-channel --add https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/archive/release-23.05.tar.gz home-manager
    sudo nix-channel --add https://channels.nixos.org/nixos-unstable nixos-unstable
    sudo nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-23.05 nixos

Show result:

    sudo nix-channel --list
    home-manager https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/archive/release-23.05.tar.gz
    nixos https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-23.05
    nixos-unstable https://channels.nixos.org/nixos-unstable

A first flake.nix is generated, and filled from several examples (see links below). Now I have it in use for my Lenovo Thinkpads.

NixOS / Nix commands

sample commands

usually with sudo (and not applicable for current flake config):

 nixos-rebuild build
 nixos-rebuild test
 nixos-rebuild switch
 nixos-rebuild switch --rollback

 nix-channel --update

normal commands

 nix-store --gc         # garbage-collect
 nix-store --optimize   #

flake commands

 sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake <config path>#<host>
 sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#lent480
 sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/github/dotfiles-lent480/#lent480

 nix run nixpkgs#htop

see .sh scripts for easy use.

scripts

The batchfiles in the directory can be used to easily build, test, switch the configurastion for the nachine you are logged on.

With update you can update the channels.

setup

The flake.nix file contains the entry point for all NixOS configurations. See nixosConfigurations array for the machines configured. Each machine configured has a corresponding folder in the hosts folder. The computer folder (like lent480) contains .nix files specific for this computer.

The modules folder contains generic code used in the machine configurations.

To add a module:

create new category if needed (like desktop)
add mymodule.nix
add new files to git (important)
refer to the module in an import like desktop-mymodule. Not that the - is used instead of a path separator.
use ./fmt.sh to format all nix files

To add a machine:

add en new entry in flake.nix in the nixosConfigurations.
create a new folder in hosts named after the machine named
copy initial configuration.nix and hardware-configuration.nix into this folder
make sure the configuration in the flake points to the new configuration.nix
add new files to git, else you may get errors (important, the scripts now also check this and issue a warning)
notice that the imports is done with nixosModules
choose a desktop from the modules/desktop
./build.sh to check the syntax and see if it can build
./test.sh to build and test the configuration. New applications are available after a successful test.
use ./fmt.sh to format all nix files
./switch.sh to activate a new configuration. This will be the default in the startup of the machine.

1Password

1Password is enabled in the user_minimal.nix package. But before you can use the op cli tool you must enable it with:

'Settings/General/ Keep 1Password in system tray'
'Settings/Security/ Unlock using system authentication service'
'Settings/Developer/Command-Line Interface/ Integrate with 1Password CLI'

giel/nix