229 lines
7 KiB
Plaintext
229 lines
7 KiB
Plaintext
[[ch-nix-flakes]]
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== Nix Flakes
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:nixos-wiki-flakes: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes
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Home Manager is compatible with {nixos-wiki-flakes}[Nix Flakes]. But
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please be aware that the support it is still experimental and may
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change in backwards incompatible ways.
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Just like in the standard installation you can use the Home Manager
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flake in three ways:
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1. Using the standalone `home-manager` tool. For platforms other than
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NixOS and Darwin, this is the only available choice. It is also
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recommended for people on NixOS or Darwin that want to manage their
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home directory independently of the system as a whole. See
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<<sec-flakes-standalone>> for instructions on how to perform this
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installation.
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2. As a module within a NixOS system configuration. This allows the
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user profiles to be built together with the system when running
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`nixos-rebuild`. See <<sec-flakes-nixos-module>> for a description of
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this setup.
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3. As a module within a {nix-darwin}[nix-darwin] system configuration.
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This allows the user profiles to be built together with the system
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when running `darwin-rebuild`. See <<sec-flakes-nix-darwin-module>>
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for a description of this setup.
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[[sec-flakes-prerequisites]]
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=== Prerequisites
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* Install Nix 2.4 or later, or have it in `nix-shell`.
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* Enable experimental features `nix-command` and `flakes`.
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+
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** When using NixOS, add the following to your `configuration.nix` and rebuild your system.
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+
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[source,nix]
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nix = {
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package = pkgs.nixFlakes;
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extraOptions = ''
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experimental-features = nix-command flakes
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'';
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};
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+
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** If you are not using NixOS, add the following to `nix.conf` (located at `~/.config/nix/` or `/etc/nix/nix.conf`).
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+
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[source,bash]
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experimental-features = nix-command flakes
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+
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You may need to restart the Nix daemon with, for example, `sudo systemctl restart nix-daemon.service`.
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+
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** Alternatively, you can enable flakes on a per-command basis with the following additional flags to `nix` and `home-manager`:
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+
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[source,console]
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----
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$ nix --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" <sub-commands>
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$ home-manager --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" <sub-commands>
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----
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* Prepare your Home Manager configuration (`home.nix`).
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+
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Unlike the channel-based setup,
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`home.nix` will be evaluated when the flake is built,
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so it must be present before bootstrap of Home Manager from the flake.
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See <<sec-usage-configuration>> for introduction about
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writing a Home Manager configuration.
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[[sec-flakes-standalone]]
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=== Standalone setup
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To prepare an initial Home Manager configuration for your logged in user,
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you can run the Home Manager `init` command directly from its flake.
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For example, if you are using the unstable version of Nixpkgs or NixOS,
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then to generate and activate a basic configuration run the command
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[source,console]
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$ nix run home-manager/master -- init --switch
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For Nixpkgs or NixOS version 23.11 run
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[source,console]
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$ nix run home-manager/release-23.11 -- init --switch
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This will generate a `flake.nix` and a `home.nix` file in
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`~/.config/home-manager`, creating the directory if it does not exist.
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If you omit the `--switch` option then the activation will not happen.
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This is useful if you want to inspect and edit the configuration before activating it.
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[source,console]
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----
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$ nix run home-manager/$branch -- init
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$ # Edit files in ~/.config/home-manager
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$ nix run home-manager/$branch -- init --switch
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----
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Where `$branch` is one of `master` or `release-23.11`.
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After the initial activation has completed successfully then building
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and activating your flake-based configuration is as simple as
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[source,console]
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$ home-manager switch
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It is possible to override the default configuration directory, if you want.
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For example,
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[source,console]
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----
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$ nix run home-manager/$branch -- init --switch ~/hmconf
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$ # And after the initial activation.
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$ home-manager switch --flake ~/hmconf
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----
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[NOTE]
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====
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The flake inputs are not automatically updated by Home Manager.
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You need to use the standard `nix flake update` command for that.
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If you only want to update a single flake input,
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then the command `nix flake lock --update-input <input>` can be used.
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You can also pass flake-related options
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such as `--recreate-lock-file` or `--update-input <input>`
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to `home-manager` when building or switching,
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and these options will be forwarded to `nix build`.
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See the {nixos-wiki-flakes}[NixOS Wiki page] for details.
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====
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[[sec-flakes-nixos-module]]
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=== NixOS module
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To use Home Manager as a NixOS module,
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a bare-minimum `flake.nix` would be as follows:
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[source,nix]
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----
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{
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description = "NixOS configuration";
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inputs = {
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nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
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home-manager.url = "github:nix-community/home-manager";
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home-manager.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
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};
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outputs = inputs@{ nixpkgs, home-manager, ... }: {
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nixosConfigurations = {
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hostname = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
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system = "x86_64-linux";
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modules = [
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./configuration.nix
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home-manager.nixosModules.home-manager
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{
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home-manager.useGlobalPkgs = true;
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home-manager.useUserPackages = true;
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home-manager.users.jdoe = import ./home.nix;
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# Optionally, use home-manager.extraSpecialArgs to pass
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# arguments to home.nix
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}
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];
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};
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};
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};
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}
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----
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The Home Manager configuration is then part of the NixOS configuration
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and is automatically rebuilt with the system when using the appropriate command
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for the system, such as `nixos-rebuild switch --flake <flake-uri>`.
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You can use the above `flake.nix` as a template in `/etc/nixos` by
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[source,console]
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$ nix flake new /etc/nixos -t github:nix-community/home-manager#nixos
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[[sec-flakes-nix-darwin-module]]
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=== nix-darwin module
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The flake-based setup of the Home Manager nix-darwin module
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is similar to that of NixOS. The `flake.nix` would be:
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[source,nix]
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----
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{
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description = "Darwin configuration";
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inputs = {
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nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
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darwin.url = "github:lnl7/nix-darwin";
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darwin.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
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home-manager.url = "github:nix-community/home-manager";
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home-manager.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
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};
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outputs = inputs@{ nixpkgs, home-manager, darwin, ... }: {
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darwinConfigurations = {
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hostname = darwin.lib.darwinSystem {
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system = "x86_64-darwin";
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modules = [
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./configuration.nix
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home-manager.darwinModules.home-manager
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{
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home-manager.useGlobalPkgs = true;
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home-manager.useUserPackages = true;
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home-manager.users.jdoe = import ./home.nix;
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# Optionally, use home-manager.extraSpecialArgs to pass
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# arguments to home.nix
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}
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];
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};
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};
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};
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}
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----
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and it is also rebuilt with the nix-darwin generations.
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The rebuild command here may be `darwin-rebuild switch --flake <flake-uri>`.
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You can use the above `flake.nix` as a template in `~/.config/darwin` by
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[source,console]
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$ nix flake new ~/.config/darwin -t github:nix-community/home-manager#nix-darwin
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