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https://github.com/wintermi/nix-macos-devbox
A simple guide to installing Nix on macOS and then then using the JetPack.io Devbox as your Primary Package Manager.
https://github.com/wintermi/nix-macos-devbox
devbox nix
Last synced: about 1 month ago
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A simple guide to installing Nix on macOS and then then using the JetPack.io Devbox as your Primary Package Manager.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/wintermi/nix-macos-devbox
- Owner: wintermi
- License: apache-2.0
- Created: 2023-11-07T15:07:46.000Z (over 1 year ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2023-11-12T23:43:41.000Z (about 1 year ago)
- Last Synced: 2024-12-25T12:44:22.818Z (about 2 months ago)
- Topics: devbox, nix
- Homepage:
- Size: 9.77 KB
- Stars: 3
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
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README
# **Create a Devbox via Nix on macOS**
[](https://github.com/wintermi/nix-macos-devbox/blob/main/LICENSE)
[](https://jetpack.io/devbox/docs/contributor-quickstart/)
## Overview
A simple guide to installing [Nix](https://nixos.org/) on macOS and then using the [JetPack.io Devbox](https://www.jetpack.io/devbox/) as your Primary Package Manager.
## Installing Nix
> **Note**
> Note: The last time I tested these instructions was November 2023.
To install [`Nix`](https://nixos.org/) on your macOS computer follow these steps.
### Install Dependencies
Install the Xcode Command Line Tools, which is a collection of tools for software developers that run on the command line, in the Terminal application.
```zsh
xcode-select --install
```
### Install Nix
Install Nix using the [Determinate Nix Installer](https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer)! Which is a fast, friendly, and reliable tool to help you use Nix with Flakes everywhere.
Execute the following command from a macOS Terminal application and when prompted select all of the defaults.
```zsh
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install
```
Once the above is complete, you will need to add the following line to your `~/.zshrc` file to ensure the Nix binaries are available within your system path:
```zsh
source '/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/etc/profile.d/nix-daemon.sh'
```
On completion, I would recommend restarting your computer. This is normally not required, although I have encountered certain scenarios when it has been. So to avoid debugging any issues, restart your computer.
## Installing Devbox
There are a couple of options which could be followed when installing the [JetPack.io Devbox](https://www.jetpack.io/devbox/) on macOS. However, since we went through the process of first installing Nix, the best option in my opinion is to install using Nix.
Since we started with a clean install of Nix we must first add the available Nix Package channels which will be used when installing software. This can be achieved by executing the following commands from a macOS Terminal application.
```zsh
nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-23.05-darwin nixpkgs;
nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable unstable;
nix-channel --update;
```
Once complete, execute the following command to install the Devbox package.
```zsh
nix-env -iA unstable.devbox
```
JetPack.io provides a great set of documentation on how to use Devbox, which can be found [here](https://www.jetpack.io/devbox/docs/).
### Using Devbox as your Primary Package Manager
In addition to managing isolated development environments, you can use Devbox as a general package manager. Devbox Global allows you to add packages to a global `devbox.json`. This is useful for installing a standard set of tools you want to use across multiple Devbox Projects.
### Adding and Managing Global Packages
You can install a package using `devbox global add []`, where the package names should be a list of [Nix Packages](https://www.nixhub.io/) you want to install.
For example, if we wanted to install ripgrep, vim, and git to our global profile, we could run:
```zsh
devbox global add ripgrep wget git
```
Once installed, the packages will be available whenever you start a Devbox Shell, even if it's not included in the project's `devbox.json`.
To view a full list of global packages, you can run `devbox global list`:
```zsh
devbox global list
```
### Using Global Packages in your Host Shell
If you want to make your global packages available in your host shell, you can add them to your shell PATH. Running `devbox global shellenv` will print the command necessary to source the packages.
Add the following command to your `~/.zshrc` file:
Once the above is complete, you will need to add the following line to your `.zshrc` file to ensure the Nix binaries are available within your system path:
```zsh
eval "$(devbox global shellenv --init-hook)"
```
Make sure to add this hook before any other hooks that use your global packages.
### Sharing Your Global Config with Git
You can use Git to synchronize your `devbox global` config across multiple machines using `devbox global push ` and `devbox global pull `.
Your global `devbox.json` and any other files in the Git remote will be stored in `$XDG_DATA_HOME/devbox/global/default`. If `$XDG_DATA_HOME` is not set, it will default to `~/.local/share/devbox/global/default`. You can view the current global directory by running `devbox global path`.
## Execute Garbage Collection for Nix
```zsh
nix-collect-garbage
```