dotfiles

Nix flake-based dotfiles for my Mac and home server.

Current Setup

The main flake outputs are:

• homeConfigurations.srt-l02-sekhmet
• darwinConfigurations.srt-l02-sekhmet
• nixosConfigurations.srt-n01-rivendell

Well these look different from normal dotfiles mate

Ok so I am one of those people who are all in on the "nix hype train". That is why this might look unfamiliar to someone who does not know what nix is.

Nix is a philosophy, a programming language, a package manager and an OS. All this culminates in a unique approach to package management and system configuration. The end result is reproducible, declarative and reliable systems.

Think of it like git but for your system, package management, etc. :mind_blown:

Color me interested! Where can I know more?

Now if you are still with me and want to know more about it. Here are a few helpful links that you can visit to know more about it.

• Watch first 6 minutes of this video to get a gist of nix package management and how it's different from standard package management and then building on that what is NixOS)
• If the previous video peeks your curiosity then I recommend looking at this to get a deeper understanding
• Finally, if you decide that this is something you want for yourself. Then this brilliant playlist might just be the perfect place to start.

Setup

These commands assume the repo lives at ~/.dotfiles.

Mac user config

Requirements:

• nix with flake support is available

Apply the Home Manager config:

cd ~/.dotfiles
home-manager switch --flake "./#srt-l02-sekhmet" -b backup

The Home Manager config also installs an apply-user helper that runs the same switch from ~/.dotfiles.

Mac system config

Apply the nix-darwin config:

sudo darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/.dotfiles/.#srt-l02-sekhmet

The Home Manager config also installs an apply-system helper for this.

Home server config

The NixOS server flake output is nixosConfigurations.srt-n01-rivendell. The host config lives under hosts/nixos/srt-n01-rivendell/.

The normal remote switch from the Mac builds and deploys over Tailscale:

env NIX_SSHOPTS='-i /Users/nixypanda/.ssh/github-key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new' \
  nix run nixpkgs#nixos-rebuild -- switch \
  --flake .#srt-n01-rivendell \
  --build-host nixypanda@100.127.3.54 \
  --target-host nixypanda@100.127.3.54 \
  --no-reexec \
  --use-substitutes \
  --ask-sudo-password

On the server itself, the equivalent is:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/.dotfiles#srt-n01-rivendell

Updating inputs

cd ~/.dotfiles
nix flake update --flake .

The Home Manager config also installs an update-dots helper for this.

Validation

Fast evaluation checks:

nix eval --raw .#homeConfigurations.srt-l02-sekhmet.activationPackage.drvPath
nix eval --raw .#darwinConfigurations.srt-l02-sekhmet.system.drvPath
nix eval --raw .#nixosConfigurations.srt-n01-rivendell.config.system.build.toplevel.drvPath

Build checks without changing the result symlink:

nix build --no-link .#homeConfigurations.srt-l02-sekhmet.activationPackage
nix build --no-link .#darwinConfigurations.srt-l02-sekhmet.system

Build the NixOS server output on the server or with a Linux remote builder; the Mac is x86_64-darwin and cannot build Linux-only derivations locally.

Caveat

I use git-crypt for files under .secrets/, and agenix for Rivendell homelab secrets under hosts/nixos/srt-n01-rivendell/homelab/secrets/. If you plan to use these dotfiles, replace those files with your own secrets or remove the references from the codebase.

Code Structure

• flake.nix wires the Mac Home Manager output, Mac nix-darwin output, and the NixOS home server output.
• Home Manager modules live under modules/.
• macOS system modules live under modules/mac/.
• NixOS host modules live under hosts/nixos/.
• Neovim Lua config lives under modules/nvim/lua/.
• Homelab service docs live in hosts/nixos/srt-n01-rivendell/homelab/.

Here are a few screenshots to showcase this config in action

Note: these are legacy screenshots from an older NixOS desktop setup. The current desktop target is macOS, while NixOS is used for the home server.

Tokyonight

Click to see more screenshots from the past

Dracula

Onedark