Setting up a Darwin Environment

0. Clone the Repository

Clone your dotfiles repository to the desired location on your system:

git clone git@github.com:yeonhwan/dotfiles.git ~/dotfiles
# if you have not set up SSH keys, use HTTPS
git clone https://github.com/LnL7/nix-darwin.git ~/dotfiles

1. Install Nix

Follow the Nix installation process as described on the official website: https://nixos.org/download/.

Alternatively, you can use the following command:

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

2. Build the Flake

Build and apply the nix-darwin configuration using your flake.nix:

# you should enable nix flake and nix-command first

mkdir -p ~/.config/nix && echo 'experimental-features = nix-command flakes' >> ~/.config/nix/nix.conf

# this is the default flake for all environments (not plan to support multiple environments yet)
nix run nix-darwin -- switch --impure --flake ~/.dotfiles/nix/.config/nix#default

3. Stow Dotfiles

Use GNU Stow to link your dotfiles to their appropriate locations in the home directory:

• To stow all configurations at once:

  cd ~/dotfiles
  stow .

• To stow specific configurations (e.g., Neovim and Nix only):

  stow nvim nix

Verifications

After completing the steps, verify the setup:

1. Check the Nix installation:

   nix --version

2. Verify that nix-darwin is installed and functioning:

   darwin-rebuild --version

3. Confirm that GNU Stow has correctly applied the dotfiles by inspecting your home directory.

Notes and Troubleshooting

1. Using darwin-rebuild Instead of nix run: After the initial nix-darwin setup, you can use the following command to rebuild and apply configuration changes: Note : --impure flag is needed to access system enviornment variables

   darwin-rebuild switch --impure --flake ~/.dotfiles/nix
   
   # can use shell alias after building the flake
   buildflake

2. Homebrew is not installed:

   if the nix-darwin doesn't install homebrew, you can install it manually by running the following command:

     /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. Preview Stow Changes: Before applying stow, preview the changes to avoid overwriting existing files:

   stow --no .

4. SSH Key Issues with Git: Ensure your SSH keys are properly set up for GitHub. Test them with:

   ssh -T git@github.com

5. If you encounter Brew package error with Application.app:

   Delete the Application.app from the /Applications directory and reinstall the package with brew.

6. Commands:

    # Update packages and rebuild the flake (brew packages are updated when rebuilding is done)
    nix flake update
    # Garbage Collecting
    sudo nix-collect-garbage -d
   
    # Rollback to certain version
    # switch to certain commit and rebuild the system

7. If xCode is not installed

   xcode-select --install