I finally have some time trying to grok flakes and redo my NixOS config from scratch after leaving it for some time (because I have work and have to quickly set things up without me trying to debug how NixOS works).
You've fell into the rabbit hole we call Nix where it leads to other rabbit holes such as functional package management, reproducibility, declarative systems, and immutable operating systems.
This is one of the many tickets to that rabbit hole, allow me to be your guide in this mark:[painful] wonderful declarative journey.
If you're going to install one of my NixOS configs, be sure to download the unstable versions from link:https://releases.nixos.org/?prefix=nixos/unstable/[their release page].
As an additional option, you can also use link:https://github.com/foo-dogsquared/nixos-config/releases/tag/latest[my personalized NixOS installers] which is primarily intended for me configs.
However, you have to keep some limitations and guidelines in mind.
* It exports an attribute based from the link:https://github.com/nix-community/NUR/[NUR template].
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Several exports includes...
* My custom library at `lib`.
* Custom NixOS modules at `modules`.
* Custom home-manager modules at `hmModules`.
* An overlay of my custom packages at `overlays.foo-dogsquared-pkgs`.
* My packages as the rest of the top-level attributes from the attrset.
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* Keep in mind it doesn't export the NixOS hosts and home-manager user configurations.
It would be pointless as it is duplicating effort plus I __really like managing my NixOS config more with the flakes way__ compared to setting up channels.
It has a lot of advantages such as the ease of provisioning and updating your setups along with its dependencies, enforcing certain values in a certain attribute that can be seen in the revised Nix CLI, and nicer interface overall.
While possible with channels, this is just better experience overall and I have no interest in maintaining setups in both ways.
footnote:[This is more useful than my NixOS modules.]
* `nixosModules` are composed from NixOS modules defined in link:./modules/nixos[`./modules/nixos`].
It can be used as additional modules for your own NixOS config in case you want to use mine for whatever reason.
There are some niceties in there.
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A few examples include:
* A NixOS module for Pop launcher plugins and scripts.
* Several service modules for archiving with link:https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp[yt-dlp], link:https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl/[gallery-dl], and link:https://archivebox.io/[ArchiveBox].
* My themes which contain full desktop environments which is nice for quickly initializing a NixOS configuration.
* `homeConfigurations` contains my various link:https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager[home-manager] configurations from link:./users/home-manager/[`./users/home-manager/`].
* `nixosConfigurations` which is where you can install my various NixOS configurations directly (e.g., `nixos-install --flake {canonical_flake_url}#HOST`).
- Associated private keys: GPG, SSH, age, you name it.
They are used with a secret management tool (see <<secrets-management>> for more information) to encrypt the more sensitive parts of the system such as credentials and environment files.
- Disposable hosts configurations.
They will typically just make a messier mess than the current situation.
Though the unreproducible part is only like 10% of the whole configuration, it can be successfully deployed by anyone.
Keep in mind, it comes with a few restrictions due to the lack of the appropriate credentials.
An example would be the link:./modules/nixos/tasks/backup-archive[Borg backup task] where it needs several files and credentials locked from the secrets management tool.
- Certain components will be missing.
Most notably, the associated SSH key for the hosts.
You won't be able to connect to the host if you don't have the private key.
- Not to mention not all modules listed committed here are up-to-date.
Though this only applies to non-critical services like the link:./modules/nixos/tasks/multimedia-archive[multimedia archiving service].
My configuration takes a lot of cues from link:{devos_link}[devos] (which is unfortunately is a lot to take if you're just beginning to grok Nix as a whole).
One of the more notable files here when first start looking is the link:./images.toml[`./images.toml`] file where it contains a description of the images.
* link:./secrets/[`./secrets/`] contains my cluster-wide secrets managed with link:https://github.com/mozilla/sops[sops] and link:https://github.com/Mic92/sops-nix[sops-nix].
Take note, each component (e.g., hosts, modules, users) could have their own specific secrets.
Similarly to <<declarative-host-management>>, this project also provides a way to declare home-manager users.
Similar to `images.toml`, it expects a table of users with each representing one of the users from link:./users/home-manager/[`./users/home-manager/`].
These are then included as part of `homeConfigurations` for easier installation with the standalone home-manager tool.
Of which they are then included as part of deploy nodes for deploy-rs (also for easier deployment).
If you're going to use my stuff, why don't take a gander and try my non-personal parts of the configuration such as my link:./modules/nixos/[NixOS modules] and link:./modules/home-manager[home-manager modules]?
In that case, you can simply plop them into your list of imports for your NixOS configuration like so.
# Use my GNOME desktop configuration for some reason.
workflows.workflows.a-happy-gnome.enable = true;
}
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[#using-my-config-with-channels]
=== With channels
The traditional way of managing stuff with link:https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/package-management/channels.html[channels].
Though, I have made some efforts to make it easy to use without flakes, I cannot guarantee it's good compared to using it with flakes.
WARNING: You cannot install my NixOS configurations at all with channels so there's another reason why (whether is valid or not is completely up to you).
To start, as root, you have to add my project into the channels list...
You can see link:./default.nix[`./default.nix`] to see more details but there are general guidelines to the attributes that is contained in this file which is outlined in <<channels-support>> section.
Here's an example snippet in a NixOS config making use of my configuration without flakes:
# Still using my GNOME desktop configuration for some reason.
workflows.workflows.a-happy-gnome.enable = true;
}
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=== With manual fetching
If you really don't want to manage stuff with channels or with flakes for some reason, I suppose you can just use something like link:https://github.com/nmattia/niv/[niv].
You could also pin my config similarly to link:https://nix.dev/tutorials/towards-reproducibility-pinning-nixpkgs[how you can pin nixpkgs] then use it as if you manage it as described from <<using-my-config-with-channels>>.
Here's a snippet of using it as part of a NixOS configuration.
* [x] Make use of other established utilities such as link:https://github.com/divnix/digga/[digga], link:https://github.com/gytis-ivaskevicius/flake-utils-plus[flake-utils-plus], and link:https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager[home-manager] once I'm familiar to create my own Nix programs.
I just chose it to make it easier to upstream parts of this project to nixpkgs and to make it easier to copy it without much problems (just don't forget to add attribution as indicated from the license).
Please see link:./LICENSE[`./LICENSE`] for the full text.
