NixOS Dotfiles

deathbymanatee's nixos dotfiles

Requirements

1. Internet connection (duh)
2. NixOS installed and working with a user account set up
3. hardware-configuration.nix created
4. SSH key enabled and set up (contributors only)

Structure

See tree.md for the current overall file structure.

Installation

1. git clone --recurse-submodules git@github.com:deathbymanatee/nixos-dotfiles.git ~/.config/nixos/
2. CD into .config/nixos
3. make new host directory in hosts/
4. copy your hardware-configuration.nix from /etc/nixos/ into your new host folder
5. create a user.nix file inside of your new host folder and include configuration options you want - users, modules, environment packages, home-manager modules, etc.
   • copy previous configurations if you need a starting place
6. add an entry to the nixosConfigurations attribute set in flake.nix matching the network hostname you configured in user.nix. here, you need to add the following to the modules attribute:
   • home-manager.nixosModules.home-manager
   • ./modules/system/configuration.nix
   • ./hosts/<your-hostname>/user.nix
7. once you configure to your liking, run sudo nixos-build switch --flake .#your-hostname for a first time installation

Post-install

I opted to abstain configuring individual programs using Nix and home-manager, as it created a read-only filesystem nightmare for someone who's configurations are (mostly) always being updated. I also didn't feel like doing a full rebuild or home-switch when experimenting with one or two changes at a time. I instead chose to use mkOutOfStoreSymlink and used relative paths to the various modules' config directories which seems to be working much better for my use case.

Module setup

Certain modules require a core.nix component for configuring system services. You will need to include them inside the imports list in your user.nix configuration file.

Plasma

To enable plasma and my plasma config, you will need to import ./modules/plasma/core.nix into your ./hosts/hostname/user.nix file to enable the necessary system level services.

Sway

Import modules/sway/core.nix into your top level import statement in user.nix. Then, enable the sway home module.

In order for backlight controls, storage volume mounting, audio control, and the like to work, your user must be a member of the following groups:

1. input
2. seat
3. audio
4. video
5. power
6. storage

Writing home-level modules

1. cd into ./modules/
2. Create a directory for your module: mkdir modulename
3. Create a default.nix file: touch default.nix
4. Copy the template.nix contents, paste it into default.nix, and replace instances of PROGRAM with your module's name
5. Add your home.OPTION configuration options inside of the mkIf block
6. Include your module in the modules/default.nix imports list
7. Enable your module inside of your user.nix file home configuration block