177 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
177 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
Home Manager using Nix
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======================
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This project provides a basic system for managing a user environment
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using the [Nix][] package manager together with the Nix libraries
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found in [Nixpkgs][]. It allows declarative configuration of user
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specific (non global) packages and dotfiles.
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Before attempting to use Home Manager please read the warning below.
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For a more systematic overview of Home Manager and its available
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options, please see the [Home Manager manual][manual].
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Words of warning
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----------------
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Unfortunately, it is quite possible to get difficult to understand
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errors when working with Home Manager, such as infinite loops with no
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clear source reference. You should therefore be comfortable using the
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Nix language and the various tools in the Nix ecosystem. Reading
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through the [Nix Pills][] document is a good way to familiarize
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yourself with them.
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If you are not very familiar with Nix but still want to use Home
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Manager then you are strongly encouraged to start with a small and
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very simple configuration and gradually make it more elaborate as you
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learn.
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In some cases Home Manager cannot detect whether it will overwrite a
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previous manual configuration. For example, the Gnome Terminal module
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will write to your dconf store and cannot tell whether a configuration
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that it is about to be overwritten was from a previous Home Manager
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generation or from manual configuration.
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Home Manager targets [NixOS][] unstable and NixOS version 21.11 (the
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current stable version), it may or may not work on other Linux
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distributions and NixOS versions.
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Also, the `home-manager` tool does not explicitly support rollbacks at
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the moment so if your home directory gets messed up you'll have to fix
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it yourself. See the [rollbacks](#rollbacks) section for instructions
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on how to manually perform a rollback.
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Now when your expectations have been built up and you are eager to try
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all this out you can go ahead and read the rest of this text.
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Contact
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-------
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You can chat with us on IRC in the channel [#home-manager][] on
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[OFTC][].
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Installation
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------------
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Home Manager can be used in three primary 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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[Standalone installation][manual standalone install] in the manual
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for instructions on how to perform this 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 [NixOS module installation][manual nixos
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install] in the manual for a description of this setup.
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3. As a module within a [nix-darwin][] system configuration. This
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allows the user profiles to be built together with the system when
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running `darwin-rebuild`. See [nix-darwin module
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installation][manual nix-darwin install] in the manual for a
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description of this setup.
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Nix Flakes
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----------
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Home Manager includes a `flake.nix` file for compatibility with [Nix Flakes][]
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for those that wish to use it as a module. A bare-minimum `flake.nix` would be
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as follows:
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```nix
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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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};
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outputs = { home-manager, nixpkgs, ... }: {
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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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If you are not using NixOS you can place the following flake in
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`~/.config/nixpkgs/flake.nix` to load your standard Home Manager
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configuration:
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```nix
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{
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description = "A Home Manager flake";
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inputs = {
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nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-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: {
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homeConfigurations = {
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jdoe = inputs.home-manager.lib.homeManagerConfiguration {
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system = "x86_64-linux";
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homeDirectory = "/home/jdoe";
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username = "jdoe";
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configuration.imports = [ ./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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Note, the Home Manager library is exported by the flake under
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`lib.hm`.
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When using flakes, switch to new configurations as you do for the
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whole system (e. g. `nixos-rebuild switch --flake <path>`) instead of
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using the `home-manager` command line tool.
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Releases
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--------
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Home Manager is developed against `nixpkgs-unstable` branch, which
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often causes it to contain tweaks for changes/packages not yet
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released in stable NixOS. To avoid breaking users' configurations,
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Home Manager is released in branches corresponding to NixOS releases
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(e.g. `release-21.11`). These branches get fixes, but usually not new
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modules. If you need a module to be backported, then feel free to open
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an issue.
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License
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-------
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This project is licensed under the terms of the [MIT license](LICENSE).
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[Nix]: https://nixos.org/nix/
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[NixOS]: https://nixos.org/
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[Nixpkgs]: https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/
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[manual]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/
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[manual usage]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/#ch-usage
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[configuration options]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/options.html
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[#home-manager]: https://webchat.oftc.net/?channels=home-manager
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[OFTC]: https://oftc.net/
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[Nix Pills]: https://nixos.org/nixos/nix-pills/
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[Nix Flakes]: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes
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[nix-darwin]: https://github.com/LnL7/nix-darwin/
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[manual standalone install]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/index.html#sec-install-standalone
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[manual nixos install]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/index.html#sec-install-nixos-module
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[manual nix-darwin install]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/index.html#sec-install-nix-darwin-module
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