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

NixOS Vagrant boxes [maintainer=@ifurther]
https://github.com/nix-community/nixbox

libvirt nix nixos packer qemu vagrant virtualbox

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NixOS Vagrant boxes [maintainer=@ifurther]

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README 

        
NixOS boxes for Vagrant

=======================



[NixOS](http://nixos.org) is a linux distribution based on a purely functional

package manager. This project builds [vagrant](http://vagrantup.com) .box

images.



Status

------



stable



Usage

-----



```shell

vagrant init nixbox/nixos --box-version 23.11

```



Also have a look at the accompanying nixos vagrant plugin:



Auto Vars File

--------------



### iso_checksums



The `nixos.auto.pkvars.hcl` file contains two defined variables that are

required to build a box. The packer template will dereference the iso checksum

from the `iso_checksums` variable. If a checksum does not exist for the version

and architecture you are trying to build, the packer build will fail. Be sure

to add the proper checksum for the ISO you would like to use to the

`iso_checksums` map, if it does not already exist, before building.



### version



Use the `version` variable to set the version of NixOS you want to build. By

convention, this is usually set to the latest stable version of NixOS.



Building the images

-------------------



First install [packer](http://packer.io) and

[virtualbox](https://www.virtualbox.org/).



Four packer builders are currently supported:



- BIOS

	- Virtualbox (`BUILDER=virtualbox-iso.virtualbox`)

	- qemu / libvirt (`BUILDER=qemu.qemu`)

	- VMware (`BUILDER=vmware-iso.vmware`)

	- Hyper-V (`BUILDER=hyperv-iso.hyperv`)

- UEFI

        - Virtualbox (`BUILDER=virtualbox-iso.virtualbox-efi`)

        - qemu / libvirt (`BUILDER=qemu.qemu-efi`)



Have a look at the different `make build` target to build your image.



```shell

make build-all # Build latest version for all architectures

make VERSION=23.11 build # Build specific version for x86_64 architecture

make VERSION=23.11 ARCH=i686 build # Build specific version for specific architecture



make vagrant-add

make vagrant-push

```



If you build on a host that does not support Makefile, here are some examples:



```shell

packer build --only=virtualbox-iso.virtualbox -var version=23.11 --except=vagrant-cloud nixos.pkr.hcl

packer build --only=qemu.qemu -var version=23.11 --except=vagrant-cloud nixos.pkr.hcl

packer build --only=vmware-iso.vmware -var version=23.11 --except=vagrant-cloud nixos.pkr.hcl

packer build --only=hyperv-iso.hyperv -var version=23.11 --except=vagrant-cloud nixos.pkr.hcl

```



The vagrant .box image is now ready to go and you can use it in vagrant:



```shell

vagrant box add nixbox32 nixos-23.11-libvirt-i686.box

# or

vagrant box add nixbox64 nixos-23.11-virtualbox-x86_64.box

```



Troubleshooting

---------------



- If you build on a Windows OS, please make sure you keep the unix file

  encoding of the generated configuration files (see [issue\#30](https://github.com/nix-community/nixbox/issues/30)



- Timeouts are a common issue for build failures. These can be a bit tough to

  figure out. increase the `boot_wait` value in `nixos.auto.pkvars.hcl` if you

  think timeouts may be the cause of your build failures.



Sample Vagrantfile

------------------



```ruby

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|



  # Disable shared virtualbox mount path (not vboxsf installed on guest)

  config.vm.synced_folder '.', '/vagrant', disabled: true



  # Use a suitable NixOS base. VM built with nixbox are tested to work with

  # this plugin.

  config.vm.box = "nixos-23.11"



  # Add the htop package

  config.vm.provision :nixos,

    run: 'always',

    expression: {

      environment: {

        systemPackages: [ :htop ]

      }

    }



end

```



License

-------



Copyright 2022 under the MIT

Copyright 2015 under the MIT