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https://github.com/clo4/nix-dotfiles

Manages my nix-darwin Mac, standalone Home Manager Mac, and NixOS home server. Public domain, unless noted otherwise.
https://github.com/clo4/nix-dotfiles

dotfiles nix-darwin nix-flake nixos-configuration

Last synced: 2 months ago
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Manages my nix-darwin Mac, standalone Home Manager Mac, and NixOS home server. Public domain, unless noted otherwise.

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README 

        
# clo4's configuration



This is my dead-simple configuration. Maybe something to take inspiration from

if you're getting stuck configuring your own Nix flake setup! I currently

actively maintain my nix-darwin and standalone Home Manager configurations, but

supporting NixOS or WSL would be as simple as adding another entry to `hosts`.



Traditional Nix system configuration requires a rebuild to apply, but I found

that this was slowing me down and disincentivising me from changing things on my

system. This time around, everything about the way my config is structured is to

allow me to iterate raplidly:



- Home Manager symlinks my config to the right location. This results in the

  normal instant feedback loop of editing your dotfiles, but with the certainty

  that you can reapply it at any point exactly the same way it is now.

- The flake uses [Blueprint](https://github.com/numtide/blueprint), which gets

  rid of all the glue code I would otherwise need. Creating hosts is as simple

  as creating a directory in `hosts`, or making a package, creating a file in

  `packages`.



Program configuration is all stored in [config](/config).



My shared Home Manager config applies this configuration:

[users/robert/home-configuration.nix](/users/robert/home-configuration.nix)



This configuration is applied per-host with tweaks on top of it: [hosts](/hosts)



## Custom stuff



I keep finding yaks to shave.



- Fish is my interactive shell, but all _initial_ environment setup is delegated

  to ZSH. This means the login shell is always guaranteed to be POSIX-enough to

  work, but I still get to benefit from using the _best_ shell. I'm particularly

  proud that the `$PATH` works flawlessly on my Darwin systems, which has been a

  known issue with Fish + Nix.

- I implemented a Fish plugin manager in Nix for declarative plugins with

  imperative configuration. Plugins don't clutter up my config, nor can they

  accidentally clobber any files. Updates are done by updating the Nix plugin

  package definitions.

- This config uses

  [mattwparas' fork of Helix](https://github.com/mattwparas/helix/tree/steel-event-system)

  with support for plugins, though I haven't set up or written any plugins yet.

  I had to fork it to get the Steel language server integration working. A build

  that uses this version and has working a working scheme language server for

  building plugins is available by running

  `nix run github:clo4/nix-dotfiles#helix`.

- Homebrew is installed automatically and managed declaratively with

  [nix-homebrew](https://github.com/zhaofengli/nix-homebrew)

- Since fish is the best language for shell scripting, I wrote a custom command

  runner for fish functions. It replaces tools like `just` and common abuse of

  `make`. You just write fish functions in `run.fish`, then run them with `run`.

  This is also usable as `nix run github:clo4/nix-dotfiles#run`.

- My server hosts a Minecraft server using `virtualisation.oci-containers` with

  podman. The container is launched as root, but switched to a system

  user/group. Its data is stored in `/srv/minecraft/family`. It restarts every

  day at 4 am local-time. It has a DDNS client. I think this may be the best

  reference configuration for setting up a Minecraft server on NixOS.

- I built a simple DDNS client for Cloudflare to keep my DNS record up to date

  with my home internet's IP address. It's a simple Go program, it compiles

  quickly, it caches IP to minimise useless updates. The credentials are stored

  encrypted with Agenix. It's been moved into its own repository:

  [clo4/clouddns](https://github.com/clo4/clouddns)



More of my custom things will be documented in the future.



## Hosts



- `macmini`

  - This is my main dev machine. Most configuration will be up-to-date for it.

    It's a nix-darwin system that also configures my user using Home Manager.

- `macbook-air`

  - This is my secondary computer. It's owned by my partner, so I haven't

    installed nix-darwin. Instead, this is a standalone configuration.

- `homeserver1`

  - This is my personal server. It's a Minisforum NAB6 Lite running an Intel

    Core i5 12600, so it uses <9w at idle.

  - Hopefully not the first of many, but knowing me, it's best to start adding

    versioning to the names.



### Building and switching



As a way to make sure I always get the commands right, there's a command runner

included in the developer environment named `run`. Run `run` with no arguments

to print the available commands.



Switching `macmini` and `macbook-air` will attempt to switch the currently

active device, but switching `homeserver1` will cause the server to rebuild and

switch remotely, allowing the command to be run from whatever device is being

used without an SSH connection. The only requirement is that Tailscale is up and

connected.



`run` can be used from any shell, but is intended for use within Fish.



### Bootstrapping homeserver1



This isn't included in `run.fish` because it has to be executed from the system

itself or over SSH.



```bash

sudo nix --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' run github:clo4/nix-dotfiles/vps#homeserver1-install

```



## Personal notes



### Moving configuration directories



To migrate from one directory to another, create an exact copy of the

configuration in the new destination **without removing the existing

configuration.** Once created, edit the new configuration, changing

`my.config.directory` to whatever the new path is. Now you can reapply the

configuration from the new directory.