dots

Installation

1. Download latest nixos-unstable image from https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-unstable.

2. Make a bootable usb. For example:

   # Obviously run `lsblk -f` first to get the correct 'of' path to your usb.
   #
   # NOTE: Not using the correct 'of' path could erase your hard drive so be
   # very careful to use the right one!
   dd if=path/to/image of=/dev/sdb # As root.
   

3. Boot into live image and log in as root with empty password (if it doesn't automatically log you in).

4. Get internet access.

   1. ip a will bring up a list of network interfaces.

   2. iwlist <interface> scan | less to see if your wifi is available.

   3. Edit /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf with your network details.

   4. wpa_supplicant -B -i<interface> -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -Dwext.

   5. dhclient <interface> or dhcpcd <interface> if dhclient command doesn't exist.

5. Partition and format disks.

   • lsblk -f lists your devices.

   • mkfs.ext4 -L nixos <device> to format a device.

   • mkswap -L swap <device> to make a swap partition.

6. (optional) Activate swap device: swapon <device>.

7. Mount target filesystems under /mnt:

   mount /dev/disk/by-label/nixos /mnt
   

8. Generate /etc/nixos configuration files:

   nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
   

9. Inspect the generated /mnt/etc/configuration.nix to see if any bootloader options were put in there to hint on which bootloader options to use.

10. If using systemd-boot, mount the boot partition under /mnt/boot and perform step 8 again to get an updated hardware-configuration.nix with the /mnt/boot filesystem entry.

11. Backup hardware-configuration.nix:

    cp /mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix \
       /mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.modified.nix
    

12. Edit hardware-configuration.modified.nix to put the correct bootloader options in it, and also put system.stateVersion from configuration.nix into hardware-configuration.modified.nix.

13. Copy wpa_supplicant.conf to target filesystem:

    cp /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf /mnt/etc
    

    This allows wpa_supplicant to automatically connect to internet when rebooting into the installed system.

14. nixos-install -I nixos-config=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vyp/dots/master/nixos/minimal.nix

15. Reboot and login with root and set password for user "u":

    passwd u
    

16. Login as user and retrieve this repository:

    git clone https://vyp@github.com/vyp/dots
    

17. ./dots/bootstrap.

18. sudo nixos-rebuild boot and reboot (with sudo shutdown now).