nix-config

Declarative home environment using Nix and Home Manager.

Structure

.
├── flake.nix                           # Entrypoint, defines all host configurations
├── flake.lock                          # Pinned dependency versions
├── modules/
│   ├── common.nix                      # Shared config across all hosts
│   └── neovim.nix                      # Neovim + LSP configuration
└── hosts/
    ├── thinkpad25-wsl/
    │   └── home.nix                    # WSL2-specific overrides
    ├── nixbox/
    │   ├── configuration.nix           # NixOS system configuration
    │   ├── hardware-configuration.nix  # Generated during install
    │   └── home.nix                    # nixbox-specific Home Manager overrides
    └── contabo-vps/
        └── home.nix                    # VPS-specific Home Manager overrides

Hosts

Host	Type	User	System
xmixa@thinkpad25	WSL2 standalone Home Manager	xmixa	x86_64-linux
nixbox	NixOS + Home Manager module	cm	x86_64-linux
christos@contabo-vps	VPS standalone Home Manager	christos	x86_64-linux

Bootstrap — WSL2

Prerequisites

• WSL2 Ubuntu instance
• SSH key at ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 configured for GitHub

1. Install Nix (multi-user)

sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install) --daemon

2. Enable flakes

echo "experimental-features = nix-command flakes" | sudo tee -a /etc/nix/nix.conf
sudo systemctl restart nix-daemon

3. Clone repo

git clone https://github.com/christosm-dev/nix-config.git ~/.config/home-manager

4. Apply configuration

nix run nixpkgs#home-manager -- switch -b backup --flake ~/.config/home-manager#"xmixa@thinkpad25"

Home Manager will automatically back up any conflicting files (e.g. .bashrc.backup, .profile.backup).

5. Reload shell

source ~/.bashrc

Bootstrap — NixOS (nixbox)

Prerequisites

• NixOS minimal ISO flashed to USB
• SSH key at ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

1. Boot NixOS live environment and partition drive

# Format partitions
sudo mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sda1   # EFI partition
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2         # root partition

# Mount partitions
sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/boot
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

2. Generate hardware configuration

sudo nixos-generate-config --root /mnt

Copy /mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix to hosts/nixbox/ in the repo and commit it.

3. Install NixOS

# Clone repo and copy configuration
git clone https://github.com/christosm-dev/nix-config.git /tmp/nix-config
sudo cp /tmp/nix-config/hosts/nixbox/configuration.nix /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
sudo cp /tmp/nix-config/hosts/nixbox/hardware-configuration.nix /mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix

# Install
sudo nixos-install

4. First boot

After rebooting into NixOS, log in as root and set the cm user password:

passwd cm

Add your SSH public key:

mkdir -p /home/cm/.ssh
echo "your-public-key" > /home/cm/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 700 /home/cm/.ssh
chmod 600 /home/cm/.ssh/authorized_keys
chown -R cm:users /home/cm/.ssh

5. Apply configuration

SSH in as cm and clone the repo:

git clone https://github.com/christosm-dev/nix-config.git ~/.config/home-manager
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/.config/home-manager#nixbox

Bootstrap — Contabo VPS

Prerequisites

• SSH access to the VPS
• SSH key at ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 configured for GitHub

1. Install Nix (multi-user)

sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install) --daemon

2. Enable flakes

echo "experimental-features = nix-command flakes" | sudo tee -a /etc/nix/nix.conf
sudo systemctl restart nix-daemon

3. Add Nix to PATH

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.nix-profile/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

4. Clone repo

git clone https://github.com/christosm-dev/nix-config.git ~/.config/home-manager

5. Apply configuration

nix run nixpkgs#home-manager -- switch -b backup --flake ~/.config/home-manager#"christos@contabo-vps"

6. Reload shell

source ~/.bashrc

Usage

# Apply config changes on WSL2
home-manager switch --flake ~/.config/home-manager#"xmixa@thinkpad25"

# Apply config changes on nixbox
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/.config/home-manager#nixbox

# Apply config changes on Contabo VPS
home-manager switch --flake ~/.config/home-manager#"christos@contabo-vps"