General Purpose Nix Config for macOS + NixOS

Overview

Hey, you made it! Welcome. 🤓

Nix is a powerful package manager for Linux and Unix systems that ensures reproducible, declarative, and reliable software management.

This repository contains configuration for a general-purpose development environment that runs Nix on macOS, NixOS, or both simultaneously.

I use it daily on my 🧑🏻‍💻 Macbook Pro and an x86 PC in my home office. It also runs as a VM on your Mac. Many others have reported that it's working for them too.

Check out the step-by-step commands below to get started!

Nix Config for macOS + NixOS

Layout

.
├── apps         # Nix commands used to bootstrap and build configuration
├── hosts        # Host-specific configuration
├── modules      # macOS and nix-darwin, NixOS, and shared configuration
├── overlays     # Drop an overlay file in this dir, and it runs. So far, mainly patches.
├── templates    # Starter versions of this configuration

Features

Nix Flakes: 100% flake driven, no confusing configuration.nix entry point, no Nix channels─ just flake.nix
Same Environment Everywhere: Easily share config across Linux and macOS (both Nix and Home Manager)
macOS Dream Setup: Fully declarative macOS (Apple / Intel) w/ UI, dock and macOS App Store apps
Simple Bootstrap: Simple Nix commands to start from zero, both x86 and macOS platforms
Managed Homebrew: Zero maintenance homebrew environment with nix-darwin and nix-homebrew
Disk Management: Declarative disk management with disko, say goodbye to disk utils
Secrets Management: Declarative secrets with agenix for SSH, PGP, syncthing, and other tools
Super Fast Emacs: Bleeding edge Emacs that fixes itself, thanks to a community overlay
Built In Home Manager: home-manager module for seamless configuration (no extra clunky CLI steps)
NixOS Environment: Extensively configured NixOS including clean aesthetic + window animations
Nix Overlays: Auto-loading of Nix overlays: drop a file in a dir and it runs (great for patches!)
Declarative Sync: No-fuss Syncthing: managed keys, certs, and configuration across all platforms
Emacs Literate Configuration: Large Emacs literate configuration to explore (if that's your thing)
Simplicity and Readability: Optimized for simplicity and readability in all cases, not small files everywhere
Backed by Continuous Integration: Flake auto updates weekly if changes don't break starter build

Disclaimer

Installing Nix on macOS will create an entirely separate volume. It may exceed many gigabytes in size.

Some folks don't like this. If this is you, turn back now!

Note

Don't worry, you can always uninstall Nix later.

Videos

macOS

Updating dependencies with one command

Build.mov

Instant Emacs 29 thanks to daemon mode

GUI

Emacs.mov

Terminal

Emacs_Terminal.mov

NixOS

NixOS.mp4

Installing

For macOS (October 2024)

This configuration supports both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

1. Install dependencies

xcode-select --install

2. Install Nix

Thank you for the installer, Determinate Systems!

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install

After installation, open a new terminal session to make the nix executable available in your $PATH. You'll need this in the steps ahead.

Important

If using the official installation instructions instead, flakes and nix-command aren't available by default.

You'll need to enable them.

Add this line to your /etc/nix/nix.conf file

experimental-features = nix-command flakes

Specify experimental features when using nix run below

nix --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' run .#<command>

3. Initialize a starter template

Choose one of two options

Simplified version without secrets management

Great for beginners, enables you to get started quickly and test out Nix.
Forgoing secrets just means you must configure apps that depend on keys, passwords, etc., yourself.
You can always add secrets later.

mkdir -p nixos-config && cd nixos-config && nix flake --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' init -t github:dustinlyons/nixos-config#starter

Full version with secrets management

Choose this to add more moving parts for a 100% declarative configuration.
This template offers you a place to keep passwords, private keys, etc. as part of your configuration.

mkdir -p nixos-config && cd nixos-config && nix flake --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' init -t github:dustinlyons/nixos-config#starter-with-secrets

4. Make apps executable

find apps/$(uname -m | sed 's/arm64/aarch64/')-darwin -type f \( -name apply -o -name build -o -name build-switch -o -name create-keys -o -name copy-keys -o -name check-keys \) -exec chmod +x {} \;

5. Apply your current user info

Run this Nix command to replace stub values with your system properties, username, full name, and email.

Your email is only used in the git configuration.

nix run .#apply

Note

If you're using a git repository, only files in the working tree will be copied to the Nix Store.

You must run git add . first.

6. Decide what packages to install

You can search for packages on the official NixOS website.

Review these files

7. Review your shell configuration

Add anything from your existing ~/.zshrc, or just review the new configuration.

Review these files

8. Optional: Setup secrets

If you are using the starter with secrets, there are a few additional steps.

8a. Create a private Github repo to hold your secrets

In Github, create a private nix-secrets repository with at least one file (like a README). You'll enter this name during installation.

8b. Install keys

Before generating your first build, these keys must exist in your ~/.ssh directory. Don't worry, I provide a few commands to help you.

Key Name	Platform	Description
id_ed25519	macOS / NixOS	Download secrets from Github. Used only during bootstrap.
id_ed25519_agenix	macOS / NixOS	Copied over, used to encrypt and decrypt secrets.

Run one of these commands:

Copy keys from USB drive

This command auto-detects a USB drive connected to the current system.

Keys must be named id_ed25519 and id_ed25519_agenix.

nix run .#copy-keys

Create new keys

nix run .#create-keys

Note

If you choose this option, make sure to save the value of id_ed25519.pub to Github.

cat /Users/$USER/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | pbcopy # Copy key to clipboard

Check existing keys

If you're rolling your own, just check they are installed correctly.

nix run .#check-keys

9. Install configuration

Ensure the build works before deploying the configuration, run:

nix run .#build

Note

If you're using a git repository, only files in the working tree will be copied to the Nix Store.

You must run git add . first.

Warning

You may encounter error: Unexpected files in /etc, aborting activation if nix-darwin detects it will overwrite an existing /etc/ file. The error will list the files like this:

The following files have unrecognized content and would be overwritten:

  /etc/nix/nix.conf
  /etc/bashrc

Please check there is nothing critical in these files, rename them by adding .before-nix-darwin to the end, and then try again.

Backup and move the files out of the way and/or edit your Nix configuration before continuing.

10. Make changes

Finally, alter your system with this command:

nix run .#build-switch

Caution

~/.zshrc will be replaced with the zsh configuration from this repository. Make sure this is what you want.

For NixOS

This configuration supports both x86_64 and aarch64 platforms.

1. Burn and use the latest ISO

Download and burn the minimal ISO image to a USB, or create a new VM with the ISO as base. Boot the installer.

If you're building a VM on an Apple Silicon Mac, choose 64-bit ARM.

Quick Links

2. Optional: Setup secrets

If you are using the starter with secrets, there are a few additional steps.

2a. Create a private Github repo to hold your secrets

In Github, create a private nix-secrets repository with at least one file (like a README). You'll enter this name during installation.

2b. Install keys

Before generating your first build, these keys must exist in your ~/.ssh directory. Don't worry, I provide a few commands to help you.

Key Name	Platform	Description
id_ed25519	macOS / NixOS	Download secrets from Github. Used only during bootstrap.
id_ed25519_agenix	macOS / NixOS	Copied over, used to encrypt and decrypt secrets.

Run one of these commands:

Copy keys from USB drive

This command auto-detects a USB drive connected to the current system.

Keys must be named id_ed25519 and id_ed25519_agenix.

sudo nix run --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' github:dustinlyons/nixos-config#copy-keys

Create new keys

sudo nix run --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' github:dustinlyons/nixos-config#create-keys

Check existing keys

If you're rolling your own, just check they are installed correctly.

sudo nix run --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' github:dustinlyons/nixos-config#check-keys

3. Install configuration

Pick your template

Important

For Nvidia cards, select the second option, nomodeset, when booting the installer, or you will see a blank screen.

Caution

Running this will reformat your drive to the ext4 filesystem.

Simple

Great for beginners, enables you to get started quickly and test out Nix.
Forgoing secrets means you must configure apps that depend on keys or passwords yourself.
You can always add secrets later.

sudo nix run --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' github:dustinlyons/nixos-config#install

With secrets

Choose this to add more moving parts for a 100% declarative configuration.
This template offers you a place to keep passwords, private keys, etc. as part of your configuration.

sudo nix run --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' github:dustinlyons/nixos-config#install-with-secrets

4. Set user password

On first boot at the login screen:

Use shortcut Ctrl-Alt-F2 (or Fn-Ctrl-Option-F2 if on a Mac) to move to a terminal session
Login as root using the password created during installation
Set the user password with passwd <user>
Go back to the login screen: Ctrl-Alt-F7

How to create secrets

To create a new secret secret.age, first create a secrets.nix file at the root of your nix-secrets repository. Use this code:

Note

secrets.nix is interpreted by the imperative agenix commands to pick the "right" keys for your secrets.

Think of this file as the config file for agenix. It's not part of your system configuration.

secrets.nix

let
  user1 = "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIL0idNvgGiucWgup/mP78zyC23uFjYq0evcWdjGQUaBH";
  users = [ user1 ];

  system1 = "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIPJDyIr/FSz1cJdcoW69R+NrWzwGK/+3gJpqD1t8L2zE";
  systems = [ system1 ];
in
{
  "secret.age".publicKeys = [ user1 system1 ];
}

Values for user1 should be your public key, or if you prefer to have keys attached to hosts, use the system1 declaration.

Now that we've configured agenix with our secrets.nix, it's time to create our first secret.

Run the command below.

EDITOR=vim nix run github:ryantm/agenix -- -e secret.age

This opens an editor to accept, encrypt, and write your secret to disk.

The command will look up the public key for secret.age, defined in your secrets.nix, and check for its private key in ~/.ssh/.

To override the SSH path, provide the -i flag with a path to your id_ed25519 key.

Write your secret in the editor, save, and commit the file to your nix-secrets repo.

Now we have two files: secrets.nix and our secret.age.

Here's a more step-by-step example:

Secrets Example

Let's say I wanted to create a new secret to hold my Github SSH key.

I would cd into my nix-secrets repo directory, verify the agenix configuration (named secrets.nix) exists, then run

EDITOR=vim nix run github:ryantm/agenix -- -e github-ssh-key.age

This would start a vim session.

I would enter insert mode :i, copy+paste the key, hit Esc and then type :w to save it, resulting in the creation of a new file, github-ssh-key.age.

Then, I would edit secrets.nix to include a line specifying the public key to use for my new secret. I specify a user key, but I could just as easily specify a host key.

secrets.nix

let
  dustin = "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIL0idNvgGiucWgup/mP78zyC23uFjYq0evcWdjGQUaBH";
  users = [ dustin ];
  systems = [ ];
in
{
  "github-ssh-key.age".publicKeys = [ dustin ];
}

Finally, I'd commit all changes to the nix-secrets repository, go back to my nixos-config and run nix flake update to update the lock file.

The secret is now ready to use. Here's an example from my configuration. In the end, this creates a symlink to a decrypted file in the Nix Store that reflects my original file.

Making changes

With Nix, changes to your system are made by

editing your system configuration
building the system closure
creating a new generation based on this closure and switching to it

This is all wrapped up in the build-switch run command.

Development workflow

So, in general, the workflow for managing your environment will look like

make changes to the configuration
run nix run .#build-switch
watch Nix, nix-darwin, home-manager, etc do their thing
go about your way and benefit from a declarative environment

Trying packages

For quickly trying a package without installing it, I usually run

nix shell nixpkgs#hello

where hello is the package name from nixpkgs.

Compatibility and Feedback

Platforms

This configuration has been tested and confirmed to work on the following platforms:

Newer M1/M2/M3 Apple Silicon Macs
Older x86_64 (Intel) Macs
Bare metal x86_64 PCs
NixOS VMs inside VMWare on macOS
macOS Sonoma VMs inside Parallels on macOS

Feedback and Questions

Have feedback or questions? Feel free to use the discussion forum.

Contributing

Interested in contributing to this project? Here's how you can help:

Code Contributions: If you're interested in contributing code, please start by looking at open issues or feature requests. Fork the repository, make your changes, and submit a pull request. Make sure your code adheres to the existing style. For significant changes, consider opening an issue for discussion before starting work.
Reporting Bugs: If you encounter bugs or issues, please help by reporting them. Open a GitHub Issue and include as much detail as possible: what you were doing when the bug occurred, steps to reproduce the issue, and any relevant logs or error messages.

Appendix

Why Nix Flakes

Reasons to jump into flakes and skip nix-env, Nix channels, etc

Flakes work just like other package managers you already know: npm, cargo, poetry, composer, etc. Channels work more like traditional Linux distributions (like Ubuntu), which most devs don't know.
Flakes encapsulate not just project dependencies, but Nix expressions, Nix apps, and other configurations in a single file. It's all there in a single file. This is nice.
Channels lock all packages to one big global nixpkgs version. Flakes lock each individual package to a version, which is more precise and makes it much easier to manage overall.
Flakes have a growing ecosystem (see Flake Hub or Dev Env), so you're future-proofing yourself.

NixOS Components

Component	Description
Window Manager	Xorg + bspwm
Terminal Emulator	alacritty
Bar	polybar
Application Launcher	rofi
Notification Daemon	dunst
Display Manager	lightdm
File Manager	thunar
Text Editor	emacs daemon mode
Media Player	cider
Image Viewer	feh
Screenshot Software	flameshot

License

This project is released under the BSD-3-Clause license.

Support

Did you find my project useful or learn more about Nix than you thought? Your support is appreciated.

Stars

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." - J.R.R. Tolkien

paixaop/nixos-config

General Purpose Nix Config for macOS + NixOS

Overview

Table of Contents

Layout

Features

Disclaimer

Videos

macOS

Updating dependencies with one command

Instant Emacs 29 thanks to daemon mode

NixOS

Installing

For macOS (October 2024)

1. Install dependencies

2. Install Nix

3. Initialize a starter template

4. Make apps executable

5. Apply your current user info

6. Decide what packages to install

7. Review your shell configuration

8. Optional: Setup secrets

8a. Create a private Github repo to hold your secrets

8b. Install keys

Copy keys from USB drive

Create new keys

Check existing keys

9. Install configuration

10. Make changes

For NixOS

1. Burn and use the latest ISO

2. Optional: Setup secrets

2a. Create a private Github repo to hold your secrets

2b. Install keys

Copy keys from USB drive

Create new keys

Check existing keys

3. Install configuration

Pick your template

4. Set user password

How to create secrets

Secrets Example

Making changes

Development workflow

Trying packages

Compatibility and Feedback

Platforms

Feedback and Questions

Contributing

Appendix

Why Nix Flakes

NixOS Components

License

Support

Stars