NixOS Wiki: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 18:27, 7 March 2026

Getting started

This is the official NixOS Wiki. It includes topics not covered in the NixOS Manual: NixOS user guides, configuration examples, and troubleshooting tips.

NixOS is a Linux operating system based on the Nix package manager and the Nixpkgs package repository.

Newcomers to NixOS are encouraged to read the Nix Core Ecosystem overview article to get a comprehensive orientation. For more specific introductions, see:

If you want to try Nix standalone in another Linux distribution or on a Mac, take your first steps on nix.dev.

Many great additional tools exist in the Nix ecosystem, such as:

Home Manager, a system for managing user profile & home directory contents
Nix Flakes, an experimental feature for managing dependencies of Nix projects

These add complexity and may be confusing at first, and you may even decide that you don't need them. Start with plain Nix/NixOS, and only integrate Home Manager and/or Flakes into your setup once you're confident with Nix/NixOS and comprehend their significance.

Setting up NixOS

On desktop, with NixOS as a desktop
On ARM, with NixOS on ARM
In the cloud, with NixOS friendly hosters

Documentation topics

First stop should be Resources, which serves as a gateway to the most important documentation. Some highlights below.

Primary reference material:

Major page categories:

Software
Hardware
Desktop - how to setup PCs
Server - how to setup servers
Community - people, communication, work on NixOS

2025-11-30 — NixOS 25.11 released

Release Notes: https://nixos.org/blog/announcements/2025/nixos-2511/

2025-05-23 — NixOS 25.05 released

Release Notes: https://nixos.org/blog/announcements/2025/nixos-2505/

2024-09-02 — Wiki editors use Manual of Style

The Wiki team discussed and put into effect the Manual of Style for editing wiki articles. This is a huge step towards clear and consistent documentation. All editors are encouraged to follow this guide.

2024-08-22 — Wiki editors meeting

All interested wiki editors meet on 22th of August at 21:15 CEST in a Jitsi conference.

Agenda: https://pad.lassul.us/wiki-agenda?view

2024-07-05 — Wiki editors meeting

All interested wiki editors meet on 5th of July at 13:00 CEST in a Jitsi conference.

2024-04-01 — Launch of the wiki

The official NixOS wiki has taken off! If you want to find out why there is a new wiki effort, check out the FAQ.

... all news articles →

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 __NOTOC__
-{{Jumbotron}}
+<!-- NOTE: Please don't change the layout/categorizing without first coordinating with the other editors. -->
-{{home:box|get-started|icon=clarifications|Getting started|
+<!-- NOTE: Feel free to add/edit content though! -->
+<!-- NOTE: This page is affected by special CSS rules that alter the brightness of images in dark mode.
+     Please do not add images here unless you understand the rules in MediaWiki:Common.css and have
+     tested how this page looks in both light and dark mode. -->
+<!-- NOTE: Removing those notes and/or disregarding this is not only rude, but should be considered defacement. -->
+<div class="row home-panes">
+    <div class="col-md-7">
+{{home:box|get-started|icon=clarifications|2=<translate><!--T:15--> Getting started</translate>|3=
+<translate>
+<!--T:14-->
 This is the official NixOS Wiki.
-It contains NixOS user guides, configuration examples, and troubleshooting tips.
+It includes topics not covered in the [<tvar name=1>https://nixos.org/nixos/manual</tvar> NixOS Manual]: NixOS user guides, configuration examples, and troubleshooting tips.
-NixOS is a Linux operating system based on the Nix package manager and the Nixpkgs software distribution.
+<!--T:2-->
-If you want to try Nix standalone, take your first steps on [https://nix.dev nix.dev].
+NixOS is a [<tvar name=1>https://kernel.org/</tvar> Linux] operating system based on the Nix package manager and the Nixpkgs package repository.
-Newcomers to NixOS are encouraged to read the [[Nix Ecosystem|Nix Ecosystem]] and [[Resources|Resources]] overview articles to get a comprehensive orientation. For more specific introductions, see:
+<!--T:3-->
-* [[Nix Package Manager]]
+Newcomers to NixOS are encouraged to read the [[<tvar name=0>Special:MyLanguage/Nix Ecosystem</tvar>|Nix Core Ecosystem]] overview article to get a comprehensive orientation. For more specific introductions, see:
-* [[Overview of the Nix Language |Nix Language]]
+* [[<tvar name=1>Special:MyLanguage/Overview_of_the_NixOS_Linux_distribution</tvar>|NixOS]]
-* [[Nixpkgs]]
+* [[<tvar name=2>Special:MyLanguage/Nix package manager</tvar>|Nix package manager]]
-* [[NixOS]]
+* [[<tvar name=3>Special:MyLanguage/Nixpkgs</tvar>|Nixpkgs package repository]]
-* [[Hydra]]
+* [[<tvar name=4>Special:MyLanguage/Overview of the Nix Language</tvar>|Nix Language]]
-* [[Applications | Applications - Extended Nix Ecosystem]]
+If you want to try Nix standalone in another Linux distribution or on a Mac, take your first steps on [<tvar name=5>https://nix.dev</tvar> nix.dev].
-}}
-{{home:box|hosting|icon=cloud|Setting up NixOS|
+<!--T:4-->
-<!-- once ready: * On your computer, with [[NixOS Installation Guide]] -->
+Many great additional tools exist in the Nix ecosystem, such as:
-* On desktop, with [[NixOS as a desktop]]
-* On ARM, with [[NixOS on ARM]]
-* In the cloud, with [[NixOS friendly hosters]]
-}}
-{{home:box|doctopics|icon=manual|Documentation topics|
+<!--T:12-->
-First stop should be [[Resources]], which serves as a gateway to the most important documentation. Some highlights below.
+* [[<tvar name=1>Special:MyLanguage/Home Manager</tvar>|Home Manager]], a system for managing user profile & home directory contents
+* [[<tvar name=2>Special:MyLanguage/Flakes</tvar>|Nix Flakes]], an experimental feature for managing dependencies of Nix projects
+<!--T:13-->
+These add complexity and may be confusing at first, and you may even decide that you don't need them.
+Start with plain Nix/NixOS, and only integrate Home Manager and/or Flakes into your setup once you're confident with Nix/NixOS and comprehend their significance.
+</translate>}}
+{{home:box|hosting|icon=cloud|<translate><!--T:16--> Setting up NixOS</translate>|<!-- once ready: * On your computer, with [[NixOS Installation Guide]] -->
+<translate>
+<!--T:5-->
+* On desktop, with [[<tvar name=1>Special:MyLanguage/NixOS as a desktop</tvar>|NixOS as a desktop]]
+* On ARM, with [[<tvar name=2>Special:MyLanguage/NixOS on ARM</tvar>|NixOS on ARM]]
+* In the cloud, with [[<tvar name=3>Special:MyLanguage/NixOS friendly hosters</tvar>|NixOS friendly hosters]]
+</translate>}}
+{{home:box|doctopics|icon=manual|2=<translate><!--T:17--> Documentation topics</translate>|3=
+<translate>
+<!--T:6-->
+First stop should be [[<tvar name=1>Special:MyLanguage/Resources</tvar>|Resources]], which serves as a gateway to the most important documentation. Some highlights below.
+<!--T:7-->
 Primary reference material:
+* [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/ NixOS manual]
 * [https://nixos.org/nix/manual/ Nix manual]
 * [https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/ Nixpkgs manual]
-* [https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/ NixOS manual]
 * [https://nixos.org/hydra/manual/ Hydra manual]
-* [https://nixos.org/nixops/manual/ NixOps manual]
-* [https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/ Home Manager manual]
+<!--T:8-->
 Major page categories:
-* [[:Category:Software|Software]]
+* [[:{{ns:14}}:Software|Software]]
-* [[:Category:Hardware|Hardware]]
+* [[:{{ns:14}}:Hardware|Hardware]]
-* [[:Category:Desktop|Desktop]]
+* [[:{{ns:14}}:Desktop|Desktop]] - how to setup PCs
-* [[:Category:Server|Server]]
+* [[:{{ns:14}}:Server|Server]] - how to setup servers
+* [[:{{ns:14}}:Community|Community]] - people, communication, work on NixOS
+<!--T:9-->
 See also:
-* [[FAQ]]
+* [[<tvar name=1>Special:MyLanguage/FAQ</tvar>|FAQ]]
-* [[Nixpkgs vs other packagers]]
+* [[<tvar name=2>Special:MyLanguage/Nix vs. Linux Standard Base</tvar>|Nix vs. Linux Standard Base]]
-* [[Terms and Definitions in Nix Project]]
+* [[<tvar name=3>Special:MyLanguage/Terms and Definitions in Nix Project</tvar>|Terms and Definitions in Nix Project]]
-* [[Cheatsheet|Cheatsheet / Comparison between Ubuntu and NixOS]]
+* [[<tvar name=4>Special:MyLanguage/Cheatsheet</tvar>|Cheatsheet]]
-}}
+* [[<tvar name=5>Special:MyLanguage/Ubuntu vs. NixOS</tvar>|Comparison between Ubuntu and NixOS]]
+</translate>}}
-{{home:box|wikipages|Special pages|3=<ul>
+{{home:box|wikipages|2=<translate><!--T:18--> Special pages</translate>|3=
-<li><span class="plainlinks">[{{fullurl:Special:AllPages|hideredirects=1}} All pages of {{SERVERNAME}}]</span></li>
+<ul>
-<li>[[Special:Categories|All categories of {{SERVERNAME}}]]</li>
+<li><span class="plainlinks"><translate><!--T:10--> [{{fullurl:Special:SpecialPages}} Overview of special pages]</translate></span></li>
-<li>[[Special:RecentChanges|Recent changes of {{SERVERNAME}}]]</li>
+<li><span class="plainlinks"><translate><!--T:19--> [{{fullurl:Special:AllPages|hideredirects=1}} All pages of {{SERVERNAME}}]</translate></span></li>
+<li><translate><!--T:20--> [[Special:Categories|All categories of {{SERVERNAME}}]]</translate></li>
+<li><translate><!--T:21--> [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hidebots=1&reviewStatus=unpatrolled}} Unpatrolled changes of {{SERVERNAME}}]</translate></li>
 </ul>}}
      </div>
      <div class="col-md-5">
-{{home:box|get-in-touch|icon=dialog-hi|Get in touch|
-*[[Nix Community|Community overview]]
+{{home:box|get-in-touch|icon=dialog-hi|2=<translate><!--T:22--> Get in touch</translate>|3=
-*[[Support|Get support]]
+<translate>
-*[https://nixos.org/ Official Website]
+<!--T:23-->
-*[https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/ GitHub repository]
+<b>With the community</b>
-* Forums
+* [<tvar name=1>https://nixos.org/</tvar> Official NixOS website]
-** [https://discourse.nixos.org/ Discourse]
+* [<tvar name=2>https://nixos.org/community/#governance-teams</tvar> Official Teams]
-** [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/nixos+or+nix+or+nixops+or+nixpkgs Stack Overflow]
+* [[<tvar name=3>Special:MyLanguage/Nix Community</tvar>|Community overview]]
-** [https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/nixos+or+nix+or+nixops+or+nixpkgs Unix & Linux Stack Exchange]
+* [[<tvar name=4>Special:MyLanguage/Get In Touch</tvar>|Chats and forums]]
-** [https://www.reddit.com/r/NixOS/ /r/NixOS]
+* [[<tvar name=5>Special:MyLanguage/Support</tvar>|Get support]]
-* [[Get In Touch#Chat|Chat]]
+* [[<tvar name=6>Special:MyLanguage/Get In Touch#Events</tvar>|Events]]
-** [https://matrix.to/#/#community:nixos.org Matrix]
-** [[Get_In_Touch#Chat|Other ways to get in touch (IRC, Discord, Telegram, etc.)]]
+<!--T:11-->
-** [https://matrix.to/#/#wiki:nixos.org #wiki:nixos.org on Matrix]
+<b>About the Wiki</b>
-* [[Get In Touch#Email|Email]]
+* Matrix chat for Wiki contributors [https://matrix.to/#/#wiki:nixos.org #wiki:nixos.org]
-** [mailto:wiki@nixos.org wiki@nixos.org] for contacting wiki.nixos.org regarding any wiki operational topics or requests
+* Email [mailto:wiki@nixos.org wiki@nixos.org] for contacting wiki.nixos.org regarding any wiki operational topics or requests
-* [[Get_In_Touch#Events|Events]]
+* [[<tvar name=1>Special:MyLanguage/Contributing</tvar>|Contribute to wiki and NixOS]]
-* [[Workgroup]]s (“Interest Groups”)
+* [[<tvar name=2>Special:MyLanguage/Manual of Style</tvar>|Manual of Style]]
-** [[Workgroup:Container]]
+* [[<tvar name=3>Special:MyLanguage/Official_NixOS_Wiki:History</tvar>|History of NixOS Wikis]]
-** [[Workgroup:Router]]
+</translate>}}
-** [[Workgroup:DataScience]]
-}}
+{{home:box|news|2=<translate><!--T:24--> News</translate>|3=
-{{home:box|news|News|{{NixOS_Wiki:News}}
+{{Official NixOS_Wiki:News}}
-[[NixOS_Wiki:News{{!}}... all news articles &rarr;]]
+<translate>
-}}
+<!--T:25-->
+[[Official NixOS_Wiki:News{{!}}... all news articles &rarr;]]
+</translate>}}
      </div>
 </div>