My nix configuration

This is a nix flake defining my system and user configurations. It is a constant work-in-progress and not intended as a template, although you may find some bits interesting.

Initial bootstrap

If the experimental feature nix-command and flakes not enabled, run nix-shell from this directory to enable them.

Installing

Run nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#config to install the NixOS system, replacing config with the name of the configuration. The .#config part is optional if your system hostname matches the name of the configuration.

If the host is not running NixOS (or is configured separately from home-manager) use home-manager instead of nixos-rebuild to build the standalone config: E.g. home-manager switch --flake .#matt@desktop.

Fresh install

To install for the first time, from a live USB, first run disko to create the partition layout, then run nixos-install.

sudo disko --flake github:MattSturgeon/nix-config#matebook --mode disko
sudo nixos-install --flake github:MattSturgeon/nix-config#matebook --no-root-password

disko will wipe the disk specified in matebook's disko config, create the partitions, and mount them at /mnt.

nixos-install will install the matebook nixos configuration into /mnt.

TPM2 unlock

If the disk partitions are encrypted, you may wish to enroll TPM2 to automatically unlock them during boot.

This should be done while booted into the installed system:

# E.g.
disk=/dev/nvme0n1p2
pcrs="1+5+7+12+14"
sudo systemd-cryptenroll --wipe-slot tpm2 --tpm2-device auto --tpm2-pcrs $pcrs $disk

See TPM2 PCRs and policies on systemd-cryptenroll's man page.

Live USB

A custom bootable ISO can be generated using nix build .#installer and then flashed using dd, gnome-disks or similar.

The bootable ISO contains much of my normal configuration for convenience. As time goes on I plan to ensure that useful tools and scripts are also included.

Updating

Update the flake lock file by using nix flake update, optionally with --commit-lock-file.

Once the lock file is updated you'll still need to install using nixos-rebuild or home-manager. See the installing section above.

On a non-NixOS system, the nix package manager will also need to be managed separately. It can be updated using nix upgrade-nix.