https://github.com/novoid/nixos-config

NixOS + flakes + home-manager with xfce, zsh, tmux, ...
https://github.com/novoid/nixos-config

Last synced: 3 months ago
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NixOS + flakes + home-manager with xfce, zsh, tmux, ...

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/novoid/nixos-config
• Owner: novoid
• License: other
• Created: 2023-08-03T17:18:47.000Z (over 1 year ago)
• Default Branch: main
• Last Pushed: 2024-08-27T17:42:07.000Z (5 months ago)
• Last Synced: 2024-08-27T19:34:26.416Z (5 months ago)
• Language: Nix
• Size: 238 KB
• Stars: 38
• Watchers: 3
• Forks: 0
• Open Issues: 0
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.org
  • License: LICENSE.org

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• my-awesome-github-stars - novoid/nixos-config - NixOS + flakes + home-manager with xfce, zsh, tmux, ... (Nix)

README

        
* NixOS Configuration With Flakes, Home-manager

I wrote [[https://karl-voit.at/2023/09/12/nix/][a long article about my journey to Nix, NixOS, Home Manager

and flakes]] where you may find more background information about this

repository and its goals.

** Basic Concept

My setup is using the =flake.nix= as a central point.

=flake.nix= is calling most of the other files depending on the set hostname:

- =hosts/$HOSTNAME/default.nix=

- =configuration.nix=

- all files related to =home-manager=: =homemanager.nix= and =homemanager/*=

The directory =assets= contain various configuration and binary files

I wanted to keep close to my NixOS configuration files.

** Wrapper Shell Scripts

:PROPERTIES:

:CREATED:  [2023-12-25 Mon 21:56]

:END:

I wrote several shell scripts so that I don't have to remember the

commands for updating and so forth.

you can update the setup using =nixos-rebuild_switch_flake.sh= which

basically invokes the command:

: sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake /home/vk/nixos

In practice, I'm using =nh-os-switch.sh= to update my setup to meet

the stored configuration. This is a visually appealing wrapper that is

using [[https://github.com/viperML/nh][nh]] to run:

: nh os switch --ask "/home/vk/nixos"

You may need to adapt the paths to meet your path, of course.

You should start with the =nixos-rebuild= command and then optionally

switch to =nh= when everything is working so far.

=update-flake.sh= is updating the flake definitions to the most

current ones and commit them to the git repository. Therefore, as long

as you don't invoke this command, no package updates will be

downloaded from the remote repositories.

From time to time, you may want to invoke =garbage-collecting.sh= to

get rid of older data which is not required any more.

=configuration.nix= also contains a weekly garbage collection but I'm

not sure when and how this is invoked. If you need more space at a

certain point in time, you're save to invoke =garbage-collecting.sh=

any time.

** Hosts

As of 2023-12-25, I do have four different hosts running this NixOS configuration:

*jackson* is my business notebook (Lenovo T490) which I'm using during a

business week. This is the most intensly used NixOS system at the

moment by far.

*floyd* is my personal notebook (Lenovo X260) which I was using to

test NixOS without affecting my main systems that are running Xubuntu

LTS or Debian stable. I don't work on it much. It's mostly used for

FOSS conferences I attend.

*nixosvmr* and *nixosvms* are two qemu virtual machines in order to

test multi-host setup or to play with my NixOS configuration without

having floyd around. Notice that as of 2023-08-09, 20GB (virtual) disk space 

is too small. NixOS really adds up lots of space in comparison to Debian-based 

distributions. I'm using the VMs rarely since I started with floyd and jackson.

** Installation

1) Download installer ISO                                                           :focus:

   - https://nixos.org/download.html#nixos-iso

     - Don't use the "Minimal ISO" since it might not come with some GUI stuff we need.

     - I was using "GNOME 64 Bit"

       - [2023-07-29 Sat] I used: https://channels.nixos.org/nixos-23.05/latest-nixos-gnome-x86_64-linux.iso

2) Install NixOS using that ISO

   - Learn how to set up a USB thumb drive and boot from it for installing the basic OS

3) Modify default configuration.nix:

   1. Start an editor:

     : sudo nano /etc/nixos/configuration.nix

   2. Change hostname on new host from default if necessary:

      - https://borretti.me/article/nixos-for-the-impatient#postinstall

        - by setting =networking.hostName= from "nixos" to a new hostname

  

   3. Activate flakes: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes

      "On NixOS set the following options in =configuration.nix= and run =nixos-rebuild="

    

      #+begin_src nix

      { pkgs, ... }: {   # usual, this line is already there

  

        nix.settings.experimental-features = [ "nix-command" "flakes" ];

  

      }                  # usual, this line is already there

      #+end_src

   4. Add the =git= and package. Also add your favourite editor as well for fixing miscellaneous things. I'm using =vim= for that.

      - Just write [[https://search.nixos.org/packages][the corresponding package name]] where =firefox= is installed in the =configuration.nix=.

   5. OPTIONALLY: Install packages like vim, sshd, flakes in case you need to play around more

      - Just write [[https://search.nixos.org/packages][the corresponding package name]] where =firefox= is installed in the =configuration.nix=.

   6. Update and activate your setup

      : sudo nixos-rebuild switch

4) Get this NixOS configuration git repository via (=scp= or =git clone https://github.com/novoid/nixos-config.git ~/nixos=)

   - target directory: =~/nixos/nixos-configuration=

     - I'm using following command at my LAN:

       : scp -r [email protected]:src/nixos-configuration ~/ && mv ~/nixos-configuration ~/nixos

  

5) Create a configuration for the =$HOSTNAME= in the nixos-configuration git repo

   1. Adapt =flakes.nix=

   2. Create =~/nixos/hosts/$HOSTNAME= (from an existing host as template)

   3. Get the =hardware-configuration.nix= into your new setup

      #+BEGIN_SRC sh

      cd ~/nixos

      cp /etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix ~/nixos/hosts/$HOSTNAME/

      cp /etc/nixos/configuration.nix ~/nixos/hosts/$HOSTNAME/default.nix

      git add 

      #+END_SRC

6) *Check for things that won't work or need attention when you're not Karl Voit*:

   - Check out all spots marked with "SPECIFICTOKARL" for things that are different on your side:

     : git grep -B 1 -A 2 SPECIFICTOKARL

     - =flake.nix=: =description=, =system.stateVersion=, username "vk", ...

   - Check out all spots marked with "FIXXME" for things that may need attention to fix:

     : git grep -B 1 -A 2 FIXXME

   - Check out all spots marked with "DEPENDENCY" for things that are referring to stuff which is *not available in this NixOS repository*:

     : git grep -B 1 -A 2 DEPENDENCY

     - Usually, you might want to get rid of those things because the would result in errors in your situation.

7) Run flakes with the new setup:

   1. Switch to nixos-config dir

   2. Double-check: make sure that hostname matches a config

   3. Run flakes with current nixos-config dir:

      : sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .

   4. Fix any error that may arise at this point.

      - Yes, this can be frustrating. I wish you good luck here.

      - Usually, you just have to remove stuff from

        =~/nixos/hosts/$HOSTNAME/default.nix= when it is also defined

        in =flakes.nix= or other existing files.

      - Futhermore, you might have to create (and =git add=)

        configuration files that are assumed to exist such as

        =assets/.tmuxp/$HOSTNAME.yaml=.

   5. I do recommend a reboot here to cleanly boot the updated OS with

      all of its settings.

   6. Execute store optimization (replacing copies with hardlinks):

      : nix-store --optimise

   7. OPTIONALLY: Symlink =/etc/nixos= to =~/nixos= if you want to use =nixos-rebuild= without the optional parameter for the path.

** Setup GitHub ssh authentication

:PROPERTIES:

:CREATED:  [2023-08-06 Sun 21:11]

:END:

This is quite handy to be included here because this is what I

typically do right after setting up NixOS if I don't take over the old

keys via my previous dotfiles.

- [[https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/generating-a-new-ssh-key-and-adding-it-to-the-ssh-agent][main source for this]] 

-----

Please do replace =$HOST= (your hostname), =$USER= (your local

username) and =$GITHUBUSER= (username at GitHub) accordingly:

1. execute

   : ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

   - This creates a new SSH key, using the provided email as a label.

2. At the prompt, type a secure passphrase.

3. Choose a file name:

   : /home/$USER/.ssh/id_ed25519_Git_$HOST

4. adding to ssh-agend:

   : ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_Git_$HOST

5. visit https://github.com/settings/keys

6. click on "New SSH key"

7. insert a name and paste the content of the following file:

   : ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_Git_$HOST.pub

8. add the following lines to your =~/.ssh/config= file (create if it doesn't exist):

   : host github.com

   :     IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_Git_$HOST

   :     User $GITHUBUSER

** License

If not specified otherwise, this configuration is licensed under a

[[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/][Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License]]