Nix Installation Guide: Difference between revisions

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This guide describes various methods for installing Nix.

This guide describes various '''more advanced''' methods for installing [[Nix]] on an ''existing'' operating system. For installation of [[NixOS]], see [[NixOS Installation Guide]].

Please take a look at https://nixos.org/download.html first for basic installation instructions and read the relevant section in the Nix manual if you want to know more about how the install process works: https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/#ch-installing-binary.

== Single-user install ==

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</syntaxHighlight>

Then don't forget to run the command provided at the end of the installation script to make nix available in your system:

Then don't forget to reboot or run the command provided at the end of the installation script to make nix available in your system:

$ source $HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh

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You may want to put this file directly in your ~/.bashrc or similar, so Nix would be available in any newly created shell.

When using another shell like [https://fishshell.com Fish], you should ignore the previous procedure and use the [https://github.com/jorgebucaran/fisher Fisher] plugin [https://github.com/lilyball/nix-env.fish Nix-env].

After that being done, you can use all Nix commands as a normal user without any special permissions (for example by using <code>sudo</code>).

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=== Unstable Nix ===

To install unstable Nix ~~with flakes support~~, you can use the [https://github.com/numtide/nix-unstable-installer unofficial installer by @numtide]. Instructions are available in the README of the repository.

To install unstable Nix, you can use the [https://github.com/numtide/nix-unstable-installer unofficial installer by @numtide]. Instructions are available in the README of the repository.

== Nix store on an unusual filesystem ==

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[https://github.com/nix-community/nix-user-chroot nix-user-chroot] is the preferred method to install use nix on systems without <code>/nix</code>. It also requires user namespaces to be enabled on the system.

<code>nix-user-chroot</code> will create an environment in which you can bind mount an directory to <code>/nix</code>.

<code>nix-user-chroot</code> will create an environment in which you can bind mount a directory to <code>/nix</code>.

The mountpoint will be only visible within this environment.

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Note that you can only use Nix and the installed programs within the shell started by PRoot.

==== Troubleshooting ====

PRoot uses ptrace to capture and modify system calls. It happens that new system calls are created which proot does not shim yet. If you run into issues, check if:

* you have the latest proot

* the system calls being used are supported by proot (TODO: how to list and diff with sysnums.list?)

Since ptrace only allows one tracer to attach to a process at a time, you cant strace your process while in proot. One suggestion is to strace your application outside of proot to find what system calls are used. Alternatives may be tracing with bpftrace or trace-cmd/ftrace. (This is not elaborated on here because the author doesn't know how to do it.)

A table of system calls supported by proot-rs, which is not the same as proot, can be found at https://github.com/proot-me/proot-rs/wiki/Translation-of-system-calls .

As of PRoot 5.3.1 and 2022-Oct-24, PRoot doesn't support faccess2, which is invoked in glibc by bash through coreutils test. This makes the `[ -w /nix ]` expression fail incorrectly in the nix installer script. This can be worked around with this patch: https://github.com/proot-me/proot/pull/338 or <code>nix-shell -I nixpkgs=channel:nixos-unstable -p '(proot.overrideAttrs (o: { patches = [ (builtins.fetchurl "https://patch-diff.githubusercontent.com/raw/proot-me/proot/pull/338.patch" ) ]; }))'</code>

=== nix 2.0's native method ===

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You can make all nix commands use the alternate store by specifying it in `~/.config/nix/nix.conf` as <code>store = /home/USERNAME/my-nix</code>.

== Installing on Debian Using APT ==

If you are using Debian (or a Debian-based distro) you can install Nix with the APT package manager. Some users may prefer using APT when modifying their system. The package named <code>nix-setup-systemd</code> will set up a multi-user Nix installation and run <code>nix-daemon</code> via <code>systemd</code>. To install:

$ sudo apt install nix-setup-systemd

</syntaxHighlight>

After installing, you should read <code>/usr/share/doc/nix-bin/README.Debian</code>. In particular, you will need to add your user to the <code>nix-users</code> group in order to use the daemon:

$ sudo /sbin/adduser $USER nix-users

</syntaxHighlight>

Note that in Debian [https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/nix-setup-systemd Bookworm] <code>/etc/nix/nix.conf</code> will contain <code>sandbox = false</code>, but in Debian [https://packages.debian.org/trixie/nix-setup-systemd Trixie], sandbox mode is enabled by default. (See the Changelog for details.)

=== Configure user and/or desktop ===

To start installed nix applications from the command line, add the <code>~/.nix-profile/bin</code> to <code>PATH</code>.

To give the Desktop access the nix application data add the <code>~/.nix-profile/share</code> to <code>XDG_DATA_DIRS</code>.

For example include the following snippet in <code>~/.profile</code> of the user:

### set PATH so it includes user's nix bin if it exists

if [ -d "$HOME/.nix-profile/bin" ] ; then

PATH="$HOME/.nix-profile/bin:$PATH"

fi

### set XDG_DATA_DIR so it includes user's nix share if it exists

if [ -d "$HOME/.nix-profile/share" ] ; then

XDG_DATA_DIRS="$HOME/.nix-profile/share:$XDG_DATA_DIRS"

fi

</syntaxHighlight>

Used source: https://imranmustafa.net/nix-on-debian/

=== Troubleshooting ===

During the <code>nix-build</code> command following the https://nix.dev/tutorials/nixos/nixos-configuration-on-vm#creating-a-qemu-based-virtual-machine-from-a-nixos-configuration

an error could occur like:

<code>...linux-6.12.39-modules-shrunk/lib' is not in the Nix store</code> whilst the directory is present in the <code>/nix/store/</code> directory.

A possible solution is to upgrade nix and nix-daemon applications because the distributed nix version is older, quite older with Debian [https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/nix-setup-systemd Bookworm], than the current nix version:

1) Define the config at <code>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</code>:

with (import <nixpkgs> {});

{

packageOverrides = pkgs: with pkgs; {

userPackages = buildEnv {

extraOutputsToInstall = [ "doc" "info" "man" ];

name = "user-packages";

paths = [

nix

];

};

}

</syntaxHighlight>

To upgrade nix:

nix-env --install --attr nixpkgs.userPackages --remove-all

</syntaxHighlight>

Logout and login the user to see the effects.

2) To use the upgraded <code>nix-daemon</code> application from the previous step in the <code>nix-daemon.service</code>, add a drop-in config file <code>override.conf</code> in <code>/etc/systemd/system/nix-daemon.service.d/</code>:

[Service]

ExecStart=

ExecStart=@/home/myuser/.nix-profile/bin/nix-daemon nix-daemon --daemon

</syntaxHighlight>

Restart the <code>nix-daemon.service</code>

Used source: https://blog.koch.ro/posts/2024-01-16-using-nix-package-manager-in-debian.html

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Because there is no officially produced ARMv7l installer, this page describes how to build your own: [[Nix_on_ARM]].

[[Category:nix]]

[[Category:Cookbook]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-This guide describes various methods for installing Nix.
+This guide describes various '''more advanced''' methods for installing [[Nix]] on an ''existing'' operating system. For installation of [[NixOS]], see [[NixOS Installation Guide]].
+Please take a look at https://nixos.org/download.html first for basic installation instructions and read the relevant section in the Nix manual if you want to know more about how the install process works: https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/#ch-installing-binary.
 == Single-user install ==
@@ Line 12: / Line 14: @@
 </syntaxHighlight>
-Then don't forget to run the command provided at the end of the installation script to make nix available in your system:
+Then don't forget to reboot or run the command provided at the end of the installation script to make nix available in your system:
 <syntaxHighlight lang="console">
 $ source $HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh
@@ Line 18: / Line 20: @@
 You may want to put this file directly in your ~/.bashrc or similar, so Nix would be available in any newly created shell.
+When using another shell like [https://fishshell.com Fish], you should ignore the previous procedure and use the [https://github.com/jorgebucaran/fisher Fisher] plugin [https://github.com/lilyball/nix-env.fish Nix-env].
 After that being done, you can use all Nix commands as a normal user without any special permissions (for example by using <code>sudo</code>).
@@ Line 36: / Line 40: @@
 === Unstable Nix ===
-To install unstable Nix with flakes support, you can use the [https://github.com/numtide/nix-unstable-installer unofficial installer by @numtide]. Instructions are available in the README of the repository.
+To install unstable Nix, you can use the [https://github.com/numtide/nix-unstable-installer unofficial installer by @numtide]. Instructions are available in the README of the repository.
 == Nix store on an unusual filesystem ==
@@ Line 80: / Line 84: @@
 [https://github.com/nix-community/nix-user-chroot nix-user-chroot] is the preferred method to install use nix on systems without <code>/nix</code>. It also requires user namespaces to be enabled on the system.
-<code>nix-user-chroot</code> will create an environment in which you can bind mount an directory to <code>/nix</code>.
+<code>nix-user-chroot</code> will create an environment in which you can bind mount a directory to <code>/nix</code>.
 The mountpoint will be only visible within this environment.
@@ Line 141: / Line 145: @@
 Note that you can only use Nix and the installed programs within the shell started by PRoot.
+==== Troubleshooting ====
+PRoot uses ptrace to capture and modify system calls. It happens that new system calls are created which proot does not shim yet. If you run into issues, check if:
+* you have the latest proot
+* the system calls being used are supported by proot (TODO: how to list and diff with sysnums.list?)
+Since ptrace only allows one tracer to attach to a process at a time, you cant strace your process while in proot. One suggestion is to strace your application outside of proot to find what system calls are used. Alternatives may be tracing with bpftrace or trace-cmd/ftrace. (This is not elaborated on here because the author doesn't know how to do it.)
+A table of system calls supported by proot-rs, which is not the same as proot, can be found at https://github.com/proot-me/proot-rs/wiki/Translation-of-system-calls .
+As of PRoot 5.3.1 and 2022-Oct-24, PRoot doesn't support faccess2, which is invoked in glibc by bash through coreutils test. This makes the `[ -w /nix ]` expression fail incorrectly in the nix installer script. This can be worked around with this patch: https://github.com/proot-me/proot/pull/338 or <code>nix-shell -I nixpkgs=channel:nixos-unstable -p '(proot.overrideAttrs (o: { patches = [ (builtins.fetchurl "https://patch-diff.githubusercontent.com/raw/proot-me/proot/pull/338.patch" ) ]; }))'</code>
 === nix 2.0's native method ===
@@ Line 153: / Line 171: @@
 You can make all nix commands use the alternate store by specifying it in `~/.config/nix/nix.conf` as <code>store = /home/USERNAME/my-nix</code>.
+== Installing on Debian Using APT ==
+If you are using Debian (or a Debian-based distro) you can install Nix with the APT package manager. Some users may prefer using APT when modifying their system. The package named <code>nix-setup-systemd</code> will set up a multi-user Nix installation and run <code>nix-daemon</code> via <code>systemd</code>. To install:
+<syntaxHighlight lang="console">
+$ sudo apt install nix-setup-systemd
+</syntaxHighlight>
+After installing, you should read <code>/usr/share/doc/nix-bin/README.Debian</code>. In particular, you will need to add your user to the <code>nix-users</code> group in order to use the daemon:
+<syntaxHighlight lang="console">
+$ sudo /sbin/adduser $USER nix-users
+</syntaxHighlight>
+Note that in Debian [https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/nix-setup-systemd Bookworm] <code>/etc/nix/nix.conf</code> will contain <code>sandbox = false</code>, but in Debian [https://packages.debian.org/trixie/nix-setup-systemd Trixie], sandbox mode is enabled by default. (See the Changelog for details.)
+=== Configure user and/or desktop ===
+To start installed nix applications from the command line, add the <code>~/.nix-profile/bin</code> to <code>PATH</code>.
+To give the Desktop access the nix application data add the <code>~/.nix-profile/share</code> to <code>XDG_DATA_DIRS</code>.
+For example include the following snippet in <code>~/.profile</code> of the user:
+<syntaxHighlight lang="console">
+### set PATH so it includes user's nix bin if it exists
+if [ -d "$HOME/.nix-profile/bin" ] ; then
+    PATH="$HOME/.nix-profile/bin:$PATH"
+fi
+### set XDG_DATA_DIR so it includes user's nix share if it exists
+if [ -d "$HOME/.nix-profile/share" ] ; then
+    XDG_DATA_DIRS="$HOME/.nix-profile/share:$XDG_DATA_DIRS"
+fi
+</syntaxHighlight>
+Used source: https://imranmustafa.net/nix-on-debian/
+=== Troubleshooting ===
+During the <code>nix-build</code> command following the https://nix.dev/tutorials/nixos/nixos-configuration-on-vm#creating-a-qemu-based-virtual-machine-from-a-nixos-configuration
+an error could occur like:
+<code>...linux-6.12.39-modules-shrunk/lib' is not in the Nix store</code> whilst the directory is present in the <code>/nix/store/</code> directory.
+A possible solution is to upgrade nix and nix-daemon applications because the distributed nix version is older, quite older with Debian [https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/nix-setup-systemd Bookworm], than the current nix version:
+) Define the config at <code>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</code>:
+<syntaxHighlight lang="console">
+with (import <nixpkgs> {});
+{
+  packageOverrides = pkgs: with pkgs; {
+    userPackages = buildEnv {
+      extraOutputsToInstall = [ "doc" "info" "man" ];
+      name = "user-packages";
+      paths = [
+        nix
+      ];
+    };
+  };
+}
+</syntaxHighlight>
+To upgrade nix:
+<syntaxHighlight lang="console">
+nix-env --install --attr nixpkgs.userPackages --remove-all
+</syntaxHighlight>
+Logout and login the user to see the effects.
+) To use the upgraded <code>nix-daemon</code> application from the previous step in the <code>nix-daemon.service</code>, add a drop-in config file <code>override.conf</code> in <code>/etc/systemd/system/nix-daemon.service.d/</code>:
+<syntaxHighlight lang="console">
+[Service]
+ExecStart=
+ExecStart=@/home/myuser/.nix-profile/bin/nix-daemon nix-daemon --daemon
+</syntaxHighlight>
+Restart the <code>nix-daemon.service</code>
+Used source: https://blog.koch.ro/posts/2024-01-16-using-nix-package-manager-in-debian.html
@@ Line 181: / Line 277: @@
 Because there is no officially produced ARMv7l installer, this page describes how to build your own: [[Nix_on_ARM]].
+[[Category:nix]]
+[[Category:Cookbook]]