nixconfig-starter

A Nix/NixOS configuration using flakes to help you get started quickly

Getting Started

• Fork this repo if you want to be able to save your customizations. For example, name it nixconfig.

NixOS

• Download the ISO and write it to a flash drive
• Install using the GUI installer or terminal

nix-shell -p git
git clone https://github.com/<GITHUB_USER>/nixconfig.git
cd nixconfig
cp /etc/nixos/*.nix systems/nixos

nano flake.nix

• Modify the flake.nix where it says "CHANGE ME" to the user you set up on installation
• Press ctrl+x to exit nano and select yes to save.

nano systems/nixos/configuration.nix

• Allow docker access: Under you user extraGroups add "docker" inside the brackets [ ]
• Use ZSH shell by default: On the line under extraGroups add shell = "/etc/profiles/per-user/USERNAME/bin/zsh"; (replace USERNAME with your username)
• You can remove user specific packages since we are managing them using home-manager, delete the following lines:

    packages = with pkgs; [
      firefox
      kate
    #  thunderbird
    ];

• Press ctrl+x to exit nano and select yes to save.

sudo nixos-rebuild boot --flake .#nixos
sudo reboot

Docker

docker-compose run --name mynix nix bash
home-manager switch --flake .#docker

Note: be careful of running docker system prune while the container is stopped since it will delete it

To restart the container after a reboot run:

docker start -i mynix

Adding software

• You can search for software from this site: https://search.nixos.org/. The name of the package is the red text next to Name in the results
• Add the package to home.packages in home/default.nix or home/graphical.nix if it is GUI software
• Then run:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#

Upgrading

• Updates are manual, so set a calander event every Friday etc. to update your system
• All software, including the OS is locked to the nixpkgs git version in flake.lock, to update this run:

nix flake update

• Then run this to apply and reboot

sudo nixos-rebuild boot --flake .#
sudo reboot

• Once you are confident everything is working, you can remove old generations with

sudo nix-collect-garbage -d