FAQ/Bare Metal Deployment - Revision history

Phanirithvij: fix nix stable manual link

2024-09-15T09:29:03Z

fix nix stable manual link

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:29, 15 September 2024
Line 25:		Line 25:

	These integration tests and builds can be robustly distributed across		These integration tests and builds can be robustly distributed across
	a build fleet using [https://~~nixos~~.~~org~~/nix/~~manual~~/~~index.html#chap~~-distributed-builds Nix's built in distributed build mechanism].		a build fleet using [https://nix.dev/manual/nix/stable/advanced-topics/distributed-builds Nix's built in distributed build mechanism].
	Unlike Jenkins and many other CI tools, the remote builders require no		Unlike Jenkins and many other CI tools, the remote builders require no
	additional setup or specific software installed, beyond the standard		additional setup or specific software installed, beyond the standard

imported>Roberth: Make the first paragraph nicer + minor edits

2020-03-05T14:36:47Z

Make the first paragraph nicer + minor edits

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:36, 5 March 2020
Line 1:		Line 1:
	NixOS's [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-writing-modules module system]
	~~would replace Puppet/Chef/etc's~~ per-host configuration mechanisms,		Non-Nix bare metal deployments are typically maintained with a "converging" configuration manager like Puppet or Chef. NixOS's [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-writing-modules module system]
			replaces these tools for per-host configuration mechanisms,
	like declaring various services, monitoring options, and configuration		like declaring various services, monitoring options, and configuration
	file contents.		file contents. This makes the installation and configuration of your deployment fully declarative.

	This module system can be used to easily create virtual machines		This module system can also be used to easily create virtual machines
	equivalent to the finally deployed image. This VM can then be used to		equivalent to the finally deployed image. This VM can then be used to
	run testing to ensure the service would behave as required.		run testing to ensure the service would behave as required.

	Hydra is the Nix ecosystem's build ~~system~~, which can provide a nice		Hydra is the Nix ecosystem's build server, which can provide a nice
	breakdown of dependencies and more naturally (when compared to Jenkins		breakdown of dependencies and more naturally (when compared to Jenkins
	etc.) understands the robust build dependency tree inherent to Nix's		etc.) understands the robust build dependency tree inherent to Nix's
Line 18:		Line 19:
	[https://hydra.nixos.org/job/nixos/trunk-combined/tested#tabs-constituents https://hydra.nixos.org/job/nixos/trunk-combined/tested#tabs-constituents].		[https://hydra.nixos.org/job/nixos/trunk-combined/tested#tabs-constituents https://hydra.nixos.org/job/nixos/trunk-combined/tested#tabs-constituents].

	The VMs that are ~~build~~ from a machine's configuration can easily be		The VMs that are built from a machine's configuration can easily be
	integrated with [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-nixos-tests NixOS's test infrastructure]		integrated with [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-nixos-tests NixOS's test infrastructure]
	and Hydra to automatically verify package updates and system		and Hydra to automatically verify package updates and system

imported>Grahamc at 17:24, 11 January 2018

2018-01-11T17:24:14Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:24, 11 January 2018
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	~~When it comes down to it, Nix is just a fairly basic build tool, and~~
	~~Nixpkgs brings some fancy build helpers.~~

	NixOS's [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-writing-modules module system]		NixOS's [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-writing-modules module system]
	would replace Puppet/Chef/etc's per-host configuration mechanisms,		would replace Puppet/Chef/etc's per-host configuration mechanisms,

imported>Grahamc at 17:23, 11 January 2018

2018-01-11T17:23:45Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:23, 11 January 2018
Line 44:		Line 44:
	NixOS ecosystem, however can be accomplished using PXE-boot images and		NixOS ecosystem, however can be accomplished using PXE-boot images and
	auto-run boot up phases which run disk formatting steps. For some		auto-run boot up phases which run disk formatting steps. For some
	prior work, check out [~~http~~://github.com/grahamc/packet-provision-nixos-ipxe/ ~~http~~://github.com/grahamc/packet-provision-nixos-ipxe/].		prior work, check out [https://github.com/grahamc/packet-provision-nixos-ipxe/ https://github.com/grahamc/packet-provision-nixos-ipxe/].
	The parts around system configuration and package installation is		The parts around system configuration and package installation is
	completely and thoroughly covered by the module system and system		completely and thoroughly covered by the module system and system
	configuration options that exist.		configuration options that exist.

imported>Grahamc: Created page with "When it comes down to it, Nix is just a fairly basic build tool, and Nixpkgs brings some fancy build helpers. NixOS's [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-writing-m..."

2018-01-11T17:23:15Z

Created page with "When it comes down to it, Nix is just a fairly basic build tool, and Nixpkgs brings some fancy build helpers. NixOS's [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-writing-m..."

New page

When it comes down to it, Nix is just a fairly basic build tool, and
Nixpkgs brings some fancy build helpers.

NixOS's [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-writing-modules module system]
would replace Puppet/Chef/etc's per-host configuration mechanisms,
like declaring various services, monitoring options, and configuration
file contents.

This module system can be used to easily create virtual machines
equivalent to the finally deployed image. This VM can then be used to
run testing to ensure the service would behave as required.

Hydra is the Nix ecosystem's build system, which can provide a nice
breakdown of dependencies and more naturally (when compared to Jenkins
etc.) understands the robust build dependency tree inherent to Nix's
build model: [https://hydra.nixos.org/ https://hydra.nixos.org/] and
[https://github.com/nixos/hydra/ https://github.com/nixos/hydra/].

For example, this page tracks the specific tests required to pass
before a new version of NixOS is released:
[https://hydra.nixos.org/job/nixos/trunk-combined/tested#tabs-constituents https://hydra.nixos.org/job/nixos/trunk-combined/tested#tabs-constituents].

The VMs that are build from a machine's configuration can easily be
integrated with [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-nixos-tests NixOS's test infrastructure]
and Hydra to automatically verify package updates and system
configurations behave as expected.

These integration tests and builds can be robustly distributed across
a build fleet using [https://nixos.org/nix/manual/index.html#chap-distributed-builds Nix's built in distributed build mechanism].
Unlike Jenkins and many other CI tools, the remote builders require no
additional setup or specific software installed, beyond the standard
Nix daemon configuration.

NixOps can be used to implement orchestration, though for dedicated
hardware is not yet capable of handling the provisioning step of the
hardware.

Handling initial hardware intake and burn-in would need to be handled
separately, however NixOS's support for generating PXE images should
make this not too difficult.

Kickstart's disk provisioning portion doesn't have an equal in the
NixOS ecosystem, however can be accomplished using PXE-boot images and
auto-run boot up phases which run disk formatting steps. For some
prior work, check out [http://github.com/grahamc/packet-provision-nixos-ipxe/ http://github.com/grahamc/packet-provision-nixos-ipxe/].
The parts around system configuration and package installation is
completely and thoroughly covered by the module system and system
configuration options that exist.