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https://github.com/nix-community/dconf2nix

:feet: Convert dconf files (e.g. GNOME Shell) to Nix, as expected by Home Manager [maintainer=@jtojnar]
https://github.com/nix-community/dconf2nix

dconf gnome gnome-shell home-manager nix nixos nixos-configuration

Last synced: 6 days ago
JSON representation

:feet: Convert dconf files (e.g. GNOME Shell) to Nix, as expected by Home Manager [maintainer=@jtojnar]

Host: GitHub
URL: https://github.com/nix-community/dconf2nix
Owner: nix-community
License: apache-2.0
Created: 2020-06-22T21:47:19.000Z (over 4 years ago)
Default Branch: master
Last Pushed: 2024-05-20T00:03:20.000Z (7 months ago)
Last Synced: 2024-12-12T21:37:41.070Z (10 days ago)
Topics: dconf, gnome, gnome-shell, home-manager, nix, nixos, nixos-configuration
Language: Nix
Homepage:
Size: 357 KB
Stars: 247
Watchers: 9
Forks: 5
Open Issues: 7
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE

Awesome Lists containing this project

README

        # dconf2nix

[![CI Status](https://github.com/nix-commmunity/dconf2nix/workflows/Haskell%20CI/badge.svg)](https://github.com/nix-commmunity/dconf2nix/actions)

A convenient converter of [dconf](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/dconf) files to Nix, as expected by [Home Manager's dconf settings](https://rycee.gitlab.io/home-manager/options.xhtml#opt-dconf.settings). So you can Nixify your [GNOME Shell](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell) configuration :wink:

* [Benchmarks](#benchmarks)

* [Introduction](#introduction)

* [Run](#run)

  * [Custom root](#custom-root)

* [Supported types](#supported-types)

* [GNOME Shell configuration](#gnome-shell-configuration)

* [Installation](#installation)

* [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)

* [Development](#development)

---

### Benchmarks

Take it with a grain of salt but on my machine it takes an average of 7.1ms to process a 349 lines configuration and generate a Nix file with 433 lines.

![benchmarks](img/benchmarks.png)

### Introduction

Given the following `dconf` settings:

```init

[org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/mouse]

natural-scroll=false

speed=-0.5

[org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/touchpad]

tap-to-click=false

two-finger-scrolling-enabled=true

[org/gnome/desktop/input-sources]

current=uint32 0

sources=[('xkb', 'us')]

xkb-options=['terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp', 'lv3:ralt_switch', 'caps:ctrl_modifier']

[org/gnome/desktop/screensaver]

picture-uri='file:///home/gvolpe/Pictures/nixos.png'

```

You will get the following output when running `dconf2nix`:

```nix

{ lib, ... }:

with lib.hm.gvariant;

{

  dconf.settings = {

    "org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/mouse" = {

      natural-scroll = false;

      speed = -0.5;

    };

    "org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/touchpad" = {

      tap-to-click = false;

      two-finger-scrolling-enabled = true;

    };

    "org/gnome/desktop/input-sources" = {

      current = mkUint32 0;

      sources = [ (mkTuple [ "xkb" "us" ]) ];

      xkb-options = [ "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp" "lv3:ralt_switch" "caps:ctrl_modifier" ];

    };

    "org/gnome/desktop/screensaver" = {

      picture-uri = "file:///home/gvolpe/Pictures/nixos.png";

    };

  };

}

```

It makes use of the Home Manager's [dconf.settings](https://rycee.gitlab.io/home-manager/options.html#opt-dconf.settings) key.

You can make changes in the UI and create a dump of your `dconf` file at any time, which you can Nixify so Home Manager can restore the next time you run `home-manager switch`. To create a dump, run the following command:

```shell

dconf dump / > dconf.settings

```

### Run

The easiest way is to pipe the standard input to `dconf2nix` and expect the result in the standard output:

```shell

dconf dump / | dconf2nix > dconf.nix

```

If you have an input file instead, you can run the following command:

```shell

dconf2nix -i data/dconf.settings -o output/dconf.nix

```

Type `--help` for some more information.

```shell

dconf2nix - Nixify dconf configuration files

Usage: dconf2nix [-v|--version] [-r|--root ARG] [--verbose]

                 [(-i|--input ARG) (-o|--output ARG)]

  Convert a dconf file into a Nix file, as expected by Home Manager.

Available options:

  -h,--help                Show this help text

  -v,--version             Show the current version

  -r,--root ARG            Custom root path. e.g.: system/locale/

  --verbose                Verbose mode (debug)

  -i,--input ARG           Path to the dconf file (input)

  -o,--output ARG          Path to the Nix output file (to be created)

```

#### Custom root

By default, `dconf2nix` expects the root to be `/`. If you want to create a dump of a custom root, you can use the `--root` flag. For example:

```shell

dconf dump /system/locale/ | dconf2nix --root system/locale > dconf.nix

```

This will generate an output similar to the one below.

```nix

{

  dconf.settings = {

    "system/locale" = {

      region = "en_US.UTF-8";

    };

  };

}

```

### Supported types

With some minor spots (e.g. hexadecimal floats), the complete [GVariant text format](https://docs.gtk.org/glib/gvariant-text-format.html) is supported. But because Nix and GVariant data models are quite different, the Nix format can be a bit verbose, relying on constructor functions.

### GNOME Shell configuration

Once you have your `dconf.nix`, you can import it via Home Manager.

```nix

{

  programs.home-manager.enable = true;

  imports = [

    ./dconf.nix

  ];

}

```

If you are using the Home Manager module for NixOS you can import it like so:

```nix

{

  home-manager.users.joe = { pkgs, ... }: {

    imports = [ ./dconf.nix ];

    # ...

  };

}

```

### Installation

`dconf2nix` is available in [Nixpkgs](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs) and can be installed as any other package. It can also be used without installing. For example, with flakes.

```console 

$ nix run nixpkgs#dconf2nix -- --version

<<< DCONF2NIX >>>

Version: 0.0.12

Maintainers: Nix Community

Source code: https://github.com/nix-commmunity/dconf2nix

```

To build it from source, it is recommend to use [Cachix](https://app.cachix.org/cache/dconf2nix) to reduce the compilation time.

Have a look at the [latest releases](https://github.com/nix-commmunity/dconf2nix/releases) for more information.

### Troubleshooting

Do consider the caveats mentioned above in the [Supported Types](#supported-types) section.

### Development

To compile and run the tests locally.

```shell

cabal new-configure

cabal new-run dconf2nix-tests

```

To generate the static binary.

```shell

cabal new-configure --disable-executable-dynamic --ghc-option=-optl=-static --ghc-option=-optl=-pthread

nix-build

```

If everything goes well, the binary should be under `result/bin/`.