NixOS Wiki

 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:

• NixOS
• Nix package manager
• Nixpkgs package repository
• Nix Language

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

Much great additional tooling exists in the Nix ecosystem such as:

• Home-manager to manage user profile & home directory contents
• Nix Flakes instead of nix-channel

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:

• NixOS manual
• Nix manual
• Nixpkgs manual
• Hydra manual

Major page categories:

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

See also:

• FAQ
• Nix vs. Linux Standard Base
• Terms and Definitions in Nix Project
• Cheatsheet / Comparison between Ubuntu and NixOS

 Special pages

• Overview of special pages
• All pages of wiki.nixos.org
• All categories of wiki.nixos.org
• Unpatrolled changes of wiki.nixos.org

 Get in touch

With the community

• Official NixOS website
• Official Teams
• Community overview
• Chats and forums
• Get support
• Events

About the Wiki

• Matrix chat for Wiki contributors #wiki:nixos.org
• Email wiki@nixos.org for contacting wiki.nixos.org regarding any wiki operational topics or requests
• Contribute to wiki and NixOS
• Manual of Style

 News

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 →