Nix Installation Guide: Difference between revisions

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This guide describes various '''more advanced''' 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.

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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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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://~~github~~.com/proot-me/proot/pull/338.patch" ) ]; }))'</code>

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 '''more advanced''' 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.
@@ Line 40: / 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 158: / Line 158: @@
 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://github.com/proot-me/proot/pull/338.patch" ) ]; }))'</code>
+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 171: / 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 199: / 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]]