nix-darwin

Nix-darwin setup for an M3 mac, a variant of nix for macs.

first time setup

• Install Nix, multi-user installation.
• Install Homebrew. Not strictly necessary, but some apps are not in nixpkgs, and nix integrates nicely with homebrew.
• Clone this repository to ~/.config/nix-darwin
• Install nix-darwin, using nix itself, and nix flakes

nix --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' \
  run nix-darwin -- switch --flake ~/.config/nix-darwin

build the system and switch to it

darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/.config/nix-darwin

(needs root)

repo contents

• flake.nix
  • main entrypoint
  • systems configuration: only one for a single mac
  • dependency setup: inputs with locked versions
  • configured with China mirrors for faster downloads
• flake.lock
  • pinned versions of all dependencies
• modules/
  • apps.nix: system and homebrew packages, environment variables
  • host-users.nix: machine and user setup
  • nix-core.nix: configuration of nix itself on the machine
  • system.nix: mac specific settings; dock, keyboard, finder++
• home/
  • home manager modules: user specific package configuration
  • most of these modules are pulled in from jiaqiwang969/nix-home-manager
  • includes configurations for:
    • GPG and SSH keys
    • Git configuration
    • Terminal tools (alacritty, tmux)
    • Development tools (emacs, neovim)
    • Window management (yabai, skhd)

key features

• Multiple package channels:
  • nixpkgs-darwin (23.11 stable)
  • nixpkgs-unstable (latest unstable)
  • nixpkgs-locked (specific version for compatibility)
• China mirrors configuration for faster downloads
• Integrated development environment setup
• Automated system maintenance
• Custom overlays and patches

input flakes (dependencies)

All dependencies are locked to specific versions for reproducibility:

• nixpkgs-darwin (2024-01-31): nixpkgs for macOS
• nix-darwin (2024-03-01): nix support for configuring macs
• home-manager (2024-01-30): user specific package configuration
• nixpkgs-firefox-darwin (2024-01-21): firefox built for darwin
• Custom configurations:
  • nix-home-manager (2024-01-23): personal home-manager config
  • dotfiles (2024-01-30): personal dotfiles

updating

Update all dependencies:

nix flake update

Update a single input:

nix flake lock --update-input <input-name>
# Example:
nix flake lock --update-input nixpkgs-firefox-darwin

After updating, rebuild the system:

darwin-rebuild switch

maintenance

Clean up old generations:

nix-collect-garbage -d

Optimize store:

nix store optimise

troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with applications:

1. Check the nix logs: journalctl -u nix-daemon
2. Clean up and rebuild:

   nix-collect-garbage -d
   darwin-rebuild switch
       

3. Update flake lock file if needed:

   nix flake update