[](https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs)
[](https://nixos.org)
**Hey,** you. You're finally awake. You were trying to configure your OS declaratively, right? Walked right into that NixOS ambush, same as us, and those dotfiles over there.
------
| | |
|-|-|
| **Shell:** | zsh + zgen |
| **DM:** | lightdm + lightdm-mini-greeter |
| **WM:** | bspwm + polybar |
| **Editor:** | [Doom Emacs][doom-emacs] (and occasionally [vim]) |
| **Terminal:** | st |
| **Launcher:** | rofi |
| **Browser:** | firefox |
| **GTK Theme:** | [Ant Dracula](https://github.com/EliverLara/Ant-Dracula) |
-----
## Quick start
1. Yoink the latest build of [NixOS 21.05][nixos].
2. Boot into the installer.
3. Do your partitions and mount your root to `/mnt` ([for example](hosts/kuro/README.org))
4. Install these dotfiles:
5. `nix-shell -p git nixFlakes`
6. `git clone https://github.com/hlissner/dotfiles /mnt/etc/nixos`
7. Install NixOS: `nixos-install --root /mnt --flake /mnt/etc/nixos#XYZ`, where
`XYZ` is [the host you want to install](hosts/). Use `#generic` for a
simple, universal config, or create a sub-directory in `hosts/` for your device. See [host/kuro] for an example.
8. Reboot!
9. Change your `root` and `$USER` passwords!
## Management
And I say, `bin/hey`. [What's going on?](http://hemansings.com/)
```
Usage: hey [global-options] [command] [sub-options]
Available Commands:
check Run 'nix flake check' on your dotfiles
gc Garbage collect & optimize nix store
generations Explore, manage, diff across generations
help [SUBCOMMAND] Show usage information for this script or a subcommand
rebuild Rebuild the current system's flake
repl Open a nix-repl with nixpkgs and dotfiles preloaded
rollback Roll back to last generation
search Search nixpkgs for a package
show [ARGS...]
ssh HOST [COMMAND] Run a bin/hey command on a remote NixOS system
swap PATH [PATH...] Recursively swap nix-store symlinks with copies (or back).
test Quickly rebuild, for quick iteration
theme THEME_NAME Quickly swap to another theme module
update [INPUT...] Update specific flakes or all of them
upgrade Update all flakes and rebuild system
Options:
-d, --dryrun Don't change anything; preform dry run
-D, --debug Show trace on nix errors
-f, --flake URI Change target flake to URI
-h, --help Display this help, or help for a specific command
-i, -A, -q, -e, -p Forward to nix-env
```
## Frequently asked questions
+ **Why NixOS?**
Because declarative, generational, and immutable configuration is a godsend
when you have a fleet of computers to manage.
+ **How do you manage secrets?**
With [agenix].
+ **How do I change the default username?**
1. Set the `USER` environment variable the first time you run `nixos-install`:
`USER=myusername nixos-install --root /mnt --flake /path/to/dotfiles#XYZ`
2. Or change `"hlissner"` in modules/options.nix.
+ **Why did you write bin/hey?**
I envy Guix's CLI and want similar for NixOS, but its toolchain is spread
across many commands, none of which are as intuitive: `nix`,
`nix-collect-garbage`, `nixos-rebuild`, `nix-env`, `nix-shell`.
I don't claim `hey` is the answer, but everybody likes their own brew.
+ **How 2 flakes?**
Would it be the NixOS experience if I gave you all the answers in one,
convenient place?
No. Suffer my pain:
+ [A three-part tweag article that everyone's read.](https://www.tweag.io/blog/2020-05-25-flakes/)
+ [An overengineered config to scare off beginners.](https://github.com/nrdxp/nixflk)
+ [A minimalistic config for scared beginners.](https://github.com/colemickens/nixos-flake-example)
+ [A nixos wiki page that spells out the format of flake.nix.](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes)
+ [Official documentation that nobody reads.](https://nixos.org/learn.html)
+ [Some great videos on general nixOS tooling and hackery.](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-cY3DcYladGdFQWIKL90SQ)
+ A couple flake configs that I
[may](https://github.com/LEXUGE/nixos)
[have](https://github.com/bqv/nixrc)
[shamelessly](https://git.sr.ht/~dunklecat/nixos-config/tree)
[rummaged](https://github.com/utdemir/dotfiles)
[through](https://github.com/purcell/dotfiles).
+ [Some notes about using Nix](https://github.com/justinwoo/nix-shorts)
+ [What helped me figure out generators (for npm, yarn, python and haskell)](https://myme.no/posts/2020-01-26-nixos-for-development.html)
+ [What y'all will need when Nix drives you to drink.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eni9PPPPBpg)
[doom-emacs]: https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs
[vim]: https://github.com/hlissner/.vim
[nixos]: https://releases.nixos.org/?prefix=nixos/unstable/
[host/kuro]: https://github.com/hlissner/dotfiles/tree/master/hosts/kuro
[agenix]: https://github.com/ryantm/agenix