2017-01-14 12:04:57 +00:00
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Home Manager using Nix
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======================
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This project provides a basic system for managing a user environment
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using the [Nix][] package manager together with the Nix libraries
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found in [Nixpkgs][]. Before attempting to use Home Manager please
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read the warning below.
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Words of warning
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----------------
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This project is in early development! I personally use it to manage
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several user configurations but it may fail catastrophically for you.
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So beware!
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To configure programs and services the Home Manager must write various
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things to your home directory and possibly overwrite files you have
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previously created. For example, if you use Home Manager to install
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and configure Git then your `~/.gitconfig` will be replaced by a link
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to a configuration generated by Home Manager:
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```
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$ ls -gG ~/.gitconfig
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lrwxrwxrwx 1 73 Jan 8 21:59 /home/rycee/.gitconfig -> /nix/store/pk7g12816avnxyhnkbdhqhnlzrw7fsga-home-manager-files/.gitconfig
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```
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So, if you already have a wonderful, painstakingly created
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`~/.gitconfig` it will be gone. Home Manager will _not_ attempt to
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backup the previous `~/.gitconfig` file.
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Further, Home Manager has only ever been used on [NixOS][] version
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16.09 (the stable version), it may or may not work on other Linux
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distributions and NixOS versions.
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Finally, the `home-manager` tool does not support rollbacks at the
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moment so if your home directory gets messed up you'll have to fix it
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yourself.
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Now when your expectations have been built up and you are eager to try
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all this out you can go ahead and read the rest of this text.
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Installation
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------------
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Currently the easiest way to install Home Manager is as follows:
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1. Make sure you have a working Nix installation.
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2. Clone the Home Manager repository into the `~/.nixpkgs` directory:
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```
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$ git clone https://github.com/rycee/home-manager ~/.nixpkgs/home-manager
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```
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3. Add Home Manager to your user's Nixpkgs, for example by adding it
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to the `packageOverrides` section in your `~/.nixpkgs/config.nix`
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file:
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```nix
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{
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packageOverrides = pkgs: rec {
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home-manager = import ./home-manager { inherit pkgs; };
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};
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}
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```
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4. Install the `home-manager` package:
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```
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$ nix-env -f '<nixpkgs>' -iA home-manager
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installing ‘home-manager’
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```
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Usage
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-----
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The `home-manager` package installs a tool that is conveniently called
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`home-manager`. This tool can apply configurations to your home
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directory, list user packages installed by the tool, and list the
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configuration generations.
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As an example, let us set up a very simple configuration that installs
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the htop and fortune packages, installs Emacs with a few extra
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packages enabled, installs Firefox with Adobe Flash enabled, and
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enables the user gpg-agent service.
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First create a file `~/.nixpkgs/home.nix` containing
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```nix
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{ pkgs }:
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{
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home.packages = [
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pkgs.htop
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pkgs.fortune
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];
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programs.emacs = {
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enable = true;
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extraPackages = epkgs: [
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epkgs.nix-mode
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epkgs.magit
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];
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};
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programs.firefox = {
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enable = true;
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enableAdobeFlash = true;
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};
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services.gpg-agent = {
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enable = true;
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defaultCacheTtl = 1800;
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enableSshSupport = true;
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};
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}
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```
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To activate this configuration you can then run
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```
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2017-01-15 22:32:57 +00:00
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$ home-manager switch
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2017-01-14 12:04:57 +00:00
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```
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2017-01-15 22:32:57 +00:00
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or if you are not feeling so lucky,
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```
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$ home-manager build
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```
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which will create a `result` link to a directory containing an
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activation script and the generated home directory files.
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2017-01-14 12:04:57 +00:00
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[Nix]: https://nixos.org/nix/
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[NixOS]: https://nixos.org/
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[Nixpkgs]: https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/
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