eliaskohout/nix-los

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Elias Kohout 0cec50d607 init by ai

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Setup Guide - Step by Step

This guide walks you through setting up your portable NixOS configuration from scratch.

Prerequisites

For new NixOS machines: NixOS ISO boot media
For existing NixOS: SSH access or local terminal
For non-NixOS: curl, bash

Phase 1: Initialize Secrets (One-time)

Generate Your Age Key

# Create age directory
mkdir -p ~/.config/sops/age

# Generate keypair
age-keygen -o -f ~/.config/sops/age/keys.txt

# Extract public key
age-keygen -y ~/.config/sops/age/keys.txt
# Output: age1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Update Encryption Config

Edit secrets/.sops.yaml:

keys:
  - &users |
    - -----BEGIN AGE PUBLIC KEY-----
      age1YOUR_KEY_HERE_FROM_ABOVE
      -----END AGE PUBLIC KEY-----

Encrypt Your Secrets

# First install sops and age
nix shell nixpkgs#sops nixpkgs#age

# Edit secrets
sops secrets/secrets.yaml

# Add your SSH keys, API keys, etc.
# File will be encrypted automatically on save

Phase 2: Personalize Configuration

Step 1: Update flake.nix

Replace youruser with your actual username:

sed -i 's/youruser/myusername/g' flake.nix
sed -i 's/youruser/myusername/g' home/default.nix

Step 2: Configure Your Laptop Host

Edit hosts/laptop/default.nix:

{
  networking.hostName = "mylaptop";  # Change this

  disko.devices = {
    disk.main = {
      type = "disk";
      device = "/dev/sda";  # Run 'lsblk' to find your disk

      # For NVMe: device = "/dev/nvme0n1";
      # For SATA: device = "/dev/sda";
      # For RAID: add multiple disks
    };
    # ... rest stays the same
  };

  # Enable tools you want
  custom.development.enable = true;
  custom.development.languages = [ "rust" "python" "nodejs" ];
}

Step 3: Customize Home Configuration

Edit home/default.nix:

home.username = "myusername";  # Match your username
home.homeDirectory = "/home/myusername";

Edit home/modules/git.nix:

programs.git = {
  enable = true;
  userName = "Your Real Name";
  userEmail = "you@example.com";
  # ... rest of config
};

Phase 3: Deploy Strategy Based on Your Situation

Scenario A: Deploying to Existing NixOS

# 1. Clone repo to your home directory
git clone <your-repo> ~/nix-config
cd ~/nix-config

# 2. Test the configuration (dry-run)
sudo nixos-rebuild test --flake .#laptop

# 3. If tests pass, apply the configuration
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#laptop

# 4. Also apply home-manager
home-manager switch --flake .#myusername@linux

Scenario B: Fresh NixOS Installation (with Auto-Partitioning)

On a machine running the NixOS ISO:

# 1. Boot NixOS live ISO
# 2. Connect to network (if needed)
# 3. Clone the repo (copy files via USB or git clone)

nix flake update  # Update to latest packages

# Option 1: Use disko directly
sudo nix run github:nix-community/disko -- \
  --mode zap \
  --flake .#laptop

# Option 2: Use nixos-anywhere from another machine
nix run github:nix-community/nixos-anywhere -- \
  --flake .#laptop \
  --build-on-remote \
  root@<your-target-ip>

# Option 3: Manual installation
# 1. Partition disk manually: `sudo fdisk /dev/sda`
# 2. Mount partitions: `sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt && sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot`
# 3. Generate initial config: `sudo nixos-generate-config --root /mnt`
# 4. Copy your flake.nix to /mnt/etc/nixos/flake.nix
# 5. Install: `sudo nixos-install --flake .#laptop`

Scenario C: Non-NixOS Machine (Linux/macOS)

# 1. Install nix (if not present)
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | \
  sh -s -- install

# 2. Clone and apply home-manager
git clone <your-repo> ~/nix-config
cd ~/nix-config

# 3. Install home-manager
nix run home-manager/release-24.11 -- init --switch

# 4. Apply your config
home-manager switch --flake .#myusername@linux

Phase 4: Verify Everything Works

# Check flake validity
nix flake check

# Inspect what will be built
nix flake show

# Check secrets decryption (if using sops)
sops -d secrets/secrets.yaml

# Verify home-manager config
home-manager packages 2>&1 | head -20

# Verify NixOS config (on NixOS machines)
sudo nixos-option system.nixos.version

Phase 5: Enable Advanced Features (Optional)

Using Unstable Packages

In any module, use unstable versions:

# In home/modules/dev-tools.nix
home.packages = with pkgs; [
  stable_package
  pkgs-unstable.latest_package
];

Adding Secrets to NixOS Config

Create nixos/modules/secrets.nix:

{ config, sops-nix, ... }:

{
  imports = [ sops-nix.nixosModules.sops ];

  sops.defaultSopsFile = ./secrets/secrets.yaml;
  sops.age.keyFile = "/home/youruser/.config/sops/age/keys.txt";

  sops.secrets."ssh/github_key" = {
    owner = "youruser";
    group = "users";
    mode = "0600";
  };

  # Use in config:
  # environment.variables.GITHUB_SSH_KEY = "${config.sops.secrets."ssh/github_key".path}";
}

Custom Per-Language Development Shells

Create .envrc:

use flake

# Per-project overrides
layout python

Then:

direnv allow

Common Customizations

Add a New Programming Language