nix-envs

This repository contains various scripts and configurations for setting up a unified Dirac NixOS environment.

There is support for both baremetal installations of NixOS installation in WSL2.

Installation

WSL2 Preconfigured Tarball

Navigate to the engineering folder on the Dirac Google Drive.

Download the dirac-nixos.wsl file to your local machine. Navigate to the file in file explorer. Then, right click in the folder and select "Open in Terminal".

wsl --install
wsl --list --verbose

Ensure this shows WSL version 2. Run the following command to install the tarball:

wsl --install --from-file .\dirac-nixos.wsl --name DiracNixOS

---

To launch the environment, run:

wsl -d DiracNixOS

To set this as the default WSL distribution, run:

wsl --setdefault DiracNixOS

Baremetal NixOS Installation

If attempting this, contact @drew-dirac for assistance. More complicated, but it will be worth it!

---

First, install NixOS using the graphical installation ISO. https://channels.nixos.org/nixos-24.11/latest-nixos-gnome-x86_64-linux.iso

After downloading the ISO, burn it to a USB drive using a tool like Etcher and install NixOS.

⚠️ Warning

• Back up all important data before proceeding with installation
• If dual booting with Windows, ensure you have:
  • Disabled Fast Startup in Windows
  • Disabled Secure Boot in BIOS
  • Created unallocated disk space for NixOS
  • Expanded the EFI boot partition: see this wiki page
  • Generally, dual booting is not recommended. Lots of ways to break the Windows installation.
• The installation will format the target drive/partition, permanently erasing its contents
• If you're unsure about any steps, consult the NixOS Manual or seek assistance (@drew-dirac)

Once you have booted into the live environment, follow the graphical installer prompts to install NixOS.

---

After installation is complete, run the following:

nix --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" run github:diracq/nix-envs

This will clone the nix-envs repository to /etc/nixos/nix-envs and modify /etc/nixos/configuration.nix to import the nix-envs modules.

Initial Setup and Configuration

First, update your system configuration and apply it:

sudo git -C /etc/nixos/nix-envs pull
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --upgrade

Then, run the following to configure github and our monorepo. Be sure to select SSH as the authentication method.

mkdir dirac && cd dirac
gh auth login
gh repo clone diracq/buildos-web -- --recurse-submodules && cd buildos-web
# you may need to explicitly allow the direnv hook
cd buildos-web && direnv allow

You should see a message that states nix environment initialized.

You are now done setting up your NixOS environment! Continue to follow the instructions in the buildos-web README to get the repo configured.

Updating Packages

To update NixOS and rebuild based on your /env/nixos/configuration.nix file, run the following:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --upgrade

You can omit --upgrade if you just want to evaluate the system configuration and not update packages.

Further Customization

Your ~/.zshrc is in the normal place and can be tweaked as you like it.

To install or modify packages, edit the /etc/nixos/configuration.nix file. Guide for the reccomended method

⚠️ Warning: Avoid all use of the nix-env command. It is not declarative. It is much nicer to just add packages to the environment.systemPackages list.

To build the configuration, run sudo nixos-rebuild switch.

Manual WSL2 Tarball Generation

Below are the steps to build and set up a WSL2 tarball manually (in case the preconfigured tarball is not available/functional).

Build the base NixOS WSL Tarball

On a machine with Nix installed (and flakes/nix-command enabled), run the following command to build the tarball:

sudo nix run github:diracq/nix-envs#nixosConfigurations.wsl.config.system.build.tarballBuilder

We build from this repository's flake, as we set the nixpkgs channel to a newer stable version than nix-wsl's default.

This will output a nixos.wsl file in the current directory.

Install the Tarball

wsl --install --from-file nixos.wsl --name DiracNixOS

Run setup script

sudo nix --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" run github:diracq/nix-envs

This will clone the nix-envs repository to /etc/nixos/nix-envs and modify /etc/nixos/configuration.nix to import the nix-envs modules.

Export the Finished Tarball

wsl --export DiracNixOS .\dirac-nixos.wsl