Nix flake with the following features:
- Ensures a clean system on every reboot by wiping root (rolling back an empty zfs snapshot), while preserving specified files across reboots.
- The files that are designated to persist are all stored in a single location, simplifying the process of creating backups that only include important files.
- The installation of NixOS is made convenient and consistent through declarative partitioning of disks, and a single install ssh command ( + additional setups if encrypted).
- The flake manages the entire system, including secrets.
- The flake is designed to be modular, making it easy to add to, and ensuring that all host outputs, whether NixOS or MacOS, look as similar as possible.
- All NixOS systems are set to automatically check for updates every hour, keeping all hosts in sync and identical as possible.
Build on NixOS
Install a host that already has configuration:
- boot the host into a nixos installer, and set the root password
- complete the following steps on a different x86_64 machine with nix installed, and signed into 1password
- run the script
utilities/nixos-anywhere/remote-install-encrypt.sh HOSTNAME IPADDRESS-OF-TARGET
- let the install complete, then unlock the drive manually (initrd ssh will not work yet)
- hit * to ignore the error after unlocking if needed
- remake the /etc/ssh/initrd host key and rebuild the nixos configuration
- now upon rebooting, the system will have normal behavior and initrd ssh will function
Update the system(rebuild):
nixos-rebuild switch --flake github:yomaq/nix-config
NixDarwin (MacOS) Setup
Install Nix on MacOS: https://nixos.org/download.html#nix-install-macos (not tested, but likely better https://zero-to-nix.com/concepts/nix-installer)
sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install)
Install Nix-Darwin (use all defaults): https://github.com/LnL7/nix-darwin
nix-build https://github.com/LnL7/nix-darwin/archive/master.tar.gz -A installer
./result/bin/darwin-installer
Enable Flakes: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes
mkdir -p ~/.config/nix
echo "experimental-features = nix-command flakes" >> ~/.config/nix/nix.conf
Install Homebrew: https://docs.brew.sh/Installation (a couple packages are installed through homebrew as the nixpkgs appear broke on mac even tho they say it is supported)
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
Get the flake
git clone https://github.com/yomaq/nix-config.git
cd nix-config
Remove the old nix.conf
sudo rm -f /etc/nix/nix.conf
Change computer name to match config
sudo scutil --set HostName midnight
Repeat the following step each time you build new updates
Build Darwin
darwin-rebuild switch --flake .
Or to build without cloning
darwin-rebuild switch --flake github:yomaq/nix-config
ToDo
- Create a module to automatically backup every NixOS machine's /presist/save directories to a signle NixOS nas
- Detail new device setup
- Setup WSL ideally with the option to have nix configured GUI applications as well
- Create Sunshine NixOS module for remote desktop
- Work on module to declare non-NixOS vms in NixOS similar to KubeVirt
- Build a stripped down Template for getting started
- Decide how to manage a kubernetes cluster alongside my nix hosts