Unclear instructions for uninstalling existing Nix #12244
Open
Description
I'm trying to install Nix, but apparently it's not the first time I do so. 😄 But I'm running into some issues with the installer because of that, and it seems like the on-screen instructions does not work fully to uninstall my old Nix.
Platform
- Linux:
- macOS
- WSL
Additional information
I tried running sudo rm -rf "/etc/nix" "/nix" "/root/.nix-profile" "/root/.nix-defexpr" "/root/.nix-channels" "/root/.local/state/nix" "/root/.cache/nix" "/home/andreas/.nix-profile" "/home/andreas/.nix-defexpr" "/home/andreas/.nix-channels" "/home/andreas/.local/state/nix" "/home/andreas/.cache/nix", as suggested by the installer, but that seems not not be sufficient.
Output
Output
$ sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install) --daemon 130 ↵
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 0
100 4267 100 4267 0 0 6396 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 173k
downloading Nix 2.25.3 binary tarball for x86_64-linux from 'https://releases.nixos.org/nix/nix-2.25.3/nix-2.25.3-x86_64-linux.tar.xz' to '/tmp/nix-binary-tarball-unpack.Z3GjipbQfn'...
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 22.5M 100 22.5M 0 0 27.3M 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 27.3M
Note: a multi-user installation is possible. See https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/installation/installing-binary.html#multi-user-installation
Switching to the Multi-user Installer
Welcome to the Multi-User Nix Installation
This installation tool will set up your computer with the Nix package
manager. This will happen in a few stages:
1. Make sure your computer doesn't already have Nix. If it does, I
will show you instructions on how to clean up your old install.
2. Show you what I am going to install and where. Then I will ask
if you are ready to continue.
3. Create the system users (uids [30001..30032]) and groups (gid 30000)
that the Nix daemon uses to run builds. To create system users
in a different range, exit and run this tool again with
NIX_FIRST_BUILD_UID set.
4. Perform the basic installation of the Nix files daemon.
5. Configure your shell to import special Nix Profile files, so you
can use Nix.
6. Start the Nix daemon.
Would you like to see a more detailed list of what I will do?
[y/n] n
---- let's talk about sudo -----------------------------------------------------
This script is going to call sudo a lot. Every time I do, it'll
output exactly what it'll do, and why.
Just like this:
---- sudo execution ------------------------------------------------------------
I am executing:
$ sudo echo
to demonstrate how our sudo prompts look
This might look scary, but everything can be undone by running just a
few commands. I used to ask you to confirm each time sudo ran, but it
was too many times. Instead, I'll just ask you this one time:
Can I use sudo?
[y/n] y
Yay! Thanks! Let's get going!
~~> Checking for artifacts of previous installs
Before I try to install, I'll check for signs Nix already is or has
been installed on this system.
---- warning! ------------------------------------------------------------------
Nix already appears to be installed. This installer may run into issues.
If an error occurs, try manually uninstalling, then rerunning this script.
Uninstalling nix:
1. Delete the files Nix added to your system:
sudo rm -rf "/etc/nix" "/nix" "/root/.nix-profile" "/root/.nix-defexpr" "/root/.nix-channels" "/root/.local/state/nix" "/root/.cache/nix" "/home/andreas/.nix-profile" "/home/andreas/.nix-defexpr" "/home/andreas/.nix-channels" "/home/andreas/.local/state/nix" "/home/andreas/.cache/nix"
and that is it.
---- Nix config report ---------------------------------------------------------
Temp Dir: /tmp/tmp.CfS82a9pHu
Nix Root: /nix
Build Users: 32
Build Group ID: 30000
Build Group Name: nixbld
build users:
Username: UID
nixbld1: 30001
nixbld2: 30002
nixbld3: 30003
nixbld4: 30004
nixbld5: 30005
nixbld6: 30006
nixbld7: 30007
nixbld8: 30008
nixbld9: 30009
nixbld10: 30010
nixbld11: 30011
nixbld12: 30012
nixbld13: 30013
nixbld14: 30014
nixbld15: 30015
nixbld16: 30016
nixbld17: 30017
nixbld18: 30018
nixbld19: 30019
nixbld20: 30020
nixbld21: 30021
nixbld22: 30022
nixbld23: 30023
nixbld24: 30024
nixbld25: 30025
nixbld26: 30026
nixbld27: 30027
nixbld28: 30028
nixbld29: 30029
nixbld30: 30030
nixbld31: 30031
nixbld32: 30032
Ready to continue?
[y/n] y
~~> Setting up the build group nixbld
---- oh no! --------------------------------------------------------------------
It seems the build group nixbld already exists, but
with the UID 998. This script can't really handle
that right now, so I'm going to give up.
You can export NIX_BUILD_GROUP_ID=998 and re-run.
We'd love to help if you need it.
You can open an issue at
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/new?labels=installer&template=installer.md
Or get in touch with the community: https://nixos.org/community
Checklist
- checked latest Nix manual (source)
- checked open installer issues and pull requests for possible duplicates
Add 👍 to issues you find important.