nix-installer
is an opinionated alternative to the official Nix install scripts.
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install
The nix-installer
tool is ready to use in a number of environments:
Platform | Multi User | root only |
Maturity |
---|---|---|---|
Linux (x86_64 & aarch64) | âś“ (via systemd) | âś“ | Stable |
MacOS (x86_64 & aarch64) | âś“ | Stable (See note) | |
Valve Steam Deck (SteamOS) | âś“ | Stable | |
WSL2 (x86_64 & aarch64) | âś“ (via systemd) | âś“ | Stable |
Podman Linux Containers | âś“ (via systemd) | âś“ | Stable |
Docker Containers | âś“ | Stable | |
Linux (i686) | âś“ (via systemd) | âś“ | Unstable |
Note On MacOS only, removing users and/or groups may fail if there are no users who are logged in graphically.
Differing from the current official Nix installer scripts:
- In
nix.conf
:- the
auto-allocate-uids
,nix-command
andflakes
features are enabled bash-prompt-prefix
is setauto-optimise-store
is set totrue
(On Linux only)
extra-nix-path
is set tonixpkgs=flake:nixpkgs
auto-allocate-uids
is set totrue
. (On Linux only)
- the
- an installation receipt (for uninstalling) is stored at
/nix/receipt.json
as well as a copy of the install binary at/nix/nix-installer
nix-channel --update
is not run,~/.nix-channels
is not provisionedNIX_SSL_CERT_FILE
is set in the various shell profiles if thessl-cert-file
argument is used.
The current Nix install scripts do an excellent job, however they are difficult to maintain. Subtle differences in the shell implementations and certain characteristics of bash scripts make it difficult to make meaningful changes to the installer.
Our team wishes to experiment with the idea of an installer in a more structured language and see if this is a worthwhile alternative. Along the way, we are also exploring a few other ideas, such as:
- offering users a chance to review an accurate, calculated install plan
- having 'planners' which can create appropriate install plans
- keeping an installation receipt for uninstallation
- offering users with a failing install the chance to do a best-effort revert
- doing whatever tasks we can in parallel
So far, our explorations have been quite fruitful, so we wanted to share and keep exploring.
Install Nix with the default planner and options:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install
Or, to download a platform specific Installer binary yourself:
$ curl -sL -o nix-installer https://install.determinate.systems/nix/nix-installer-x86_64-linux
$ chmod +x nix-installer
Note
nix-installer
will elevate itself if needed usingsudo
. If you usedoas
orplease
you may need to elevatenix-installer
yourself.
nix-installer
installs Nix by following a plan made by a planner. Review the available planners:
$ ./nix-installer install --help
Execute an install (possibly using an existing plan)
To pass custom options, select a planner, for example `nix-installer install linux-multi --help`
Usage: nix-installer install [OPTIONS] [PLAN]
nix-installer install <COMMAND>
Commands:
linux
A planner for Linux installs
steam-deck
A planner suitable for the Valve Steam Deck running SteamOS
help
Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
# ...
Planners have their own options and defaults, sharing most of them in common:
$ ./nix-installer install linux --help
A planner for Linux installs
Usage: nix-installer install linux [OPTIONS]
Options:
# ...
--nix-build-group-name <NIX_BUILD_GROUP_NAME>
The Nix build group name
[env: NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_BUILD_GROUP_NAME=]
[default: nixbld]
--nix-build-group-id <NIX_BUILD_GROUP_ID>
The Nix build group GID
[env: NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_BUILD_GROUP_ID=]
[default: 3000]
# ...
Planners can be configured via environment variable or command arguments:
$ curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | NIX_BUILD_GROUP_NAME=nixbuilder sh -s -- install linux-multi --nix-build-group-id 4000
# Or...
$ NIX_BUILD_GROUP_NAME=nixbuilder ./nix-installer install linux-multi --nix-build-group-id 4000
You can remove a nix-installer
-installed Nix by running
/nix/nix-installer uninstall
You can use the nix-installer-action
Github Action like so:
on:
pull_request:
push:
branches: [main]
jobs:
lints:
name: Build
runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
- name: Install Nix
uses: DeterminateSystems/nix-installer-action@main
- name: Run `nix build`
run: nix build .
Warning When
--init none
is used, onlyroot
or users who can elevate toroot
privileges can run Nix:sudo -i nix run nixpkgs#hello
If you don't use systemd, you can still install Nix by explicitly specifying the linux
plan and --init none
:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install linux --init none
In Docker/Podman containers or WSL2 instances where an init (like systemd
) is not present, pass --init none
.
For containers (without an init):
Warning When
--init none
is used, onlyroot
or users who can elevate toroot
privileges can run Nix:sudo -i nix run nixpkgs#hello
# Dockerfile
FROM ubuntu:latest
RUN apt update -y
RUN apt install curl -y
RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install linux \
--extra-conf "sandbox = false" \
--init none \
--no-confirm
ENV PATH="${PATH}:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin"
RUN nix run nixpkgs#hello
docker build -t ubuntu-with-nix .
docker run --rm -ti ubuntu-with-nix
docker rmi ubuntu-with-nix
# or
podman build -t ubuntu-with-nix .
podman run --rm -ti ubuntu-with-nix
podman rmi ubuntu-with-nix
For containers with a systemd init:
# Dockerfile
FROM ubuntu:latest
RUN apt update -y
RUN apt install curl systemd -y
RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install linux \
--extra-conf "sandbox = false" \
--no-start-daemon \
--no-confirm
ENV PATH="${PATH}:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin"
RUN nix run nixpkgs#hello
CMD [ "/bin/systemd" ]
podman build -t ubuntu-systemd-with-nix .
IMAGE=$(podman create ubuntu-systemd-with-nix)
CONTAINER=$(podman start $IMAGE)
podman exec -ti $CONTAINER /bin/bash
podman rm -f $CONTAINER
podman rmi $IMAGE
On some container tools, such as docker
, sandbox = false
can be omitted. Omitting it will negatively impact compatibility with container tools like podman
.
If systemd is enabled it's possible to install Nix as normal using the command at the top of this document:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install
If systemd is not enabled, pass --init none
at the end of the command:
Warning When
--init none
is used, onlyroot
or users who can elevate toroot
privileges can run Nix:sudo -i nix run nixpkgs#hello
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install linux --init none
If you'd like to bypass the confirmation step, you can apply the --no-confirm
flag:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install --no-confirm
This is especially useful when using the installer in non-interactive scripts.
Since you'll be using nix-installer
to install Nix on systems without Nix, the default build is a static binary.
Build a portable Linux binary on a system with Nix:
# to build a local copy
nix build -L ".#nix-installer-static"
# to build the remote main development branch
nix build -L "github:determinatesystems/nix-installer#nix-installer-static"
# for a specific version of the installer:
export NIX_INSTALLER_TAG="v0.6.0"
nix build -L "github:determinatesystems/nix-installer/$NIX_INSTALLER_TAG#nix-installer-static"
On Mac:
# to build a local copy
nix build -L ".#nix-installer"
# to build the remote main development branch
nix build -L "github:determinatesystems/nix-installer#nix-installer"
# for a specific version of the installer:
export NIX_INSTALLER_TAG="v0.6.0"
nix build -L "github:determinatesystems/nix-installer/$NIX_INSTALLER_TAG#nix-installer"
Then copy the result/bin/nix-installer
to the machine you wish to run it on.
You can also add nix-installer
to a system without Nix via cargo
:
# to build and run a local copy
RUSTFLAGS="--cfg tokio_unstable" cargo run -- --help
# to build the remote main development branch
RUSTFLAGS="--cfg tokio_unstable" cargo install --git https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer
nix-installer --help
# for a specific version of the installer:
export NIX_INSTALLER_TAG="v0.6.0"
RUSTFLAGS="--cfg tokio_unstable" cargo install --git https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer --tag $NIX_INSTALLER_TAG
nix-installer --help
To make this build portable, pass --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
.
Note We currently require
--cfg tokio_unstable
as we utilize Tokio's process groups, which wrap stablestd
APIs, but are unstable due to it requiring an MSRV bump.
Warning Use as a library is still experimental, if you're using this, please let us know and we can make a path to stablization.
Add nix-installer
to your dependencies:
cargo add nix-installer
If you are building a CLI, check out the cli
feature flag for clap
integration.
You'll also need to edit your .cargo/config.toml
to use tokio_unstable
as we utilize Tokio's process groups, which wrap stable std
APIs, but are unstable due to it requiring an MSRV bump:
# .cargo/config.toml
[build]
rustflags=["--cfg", "tokio_unstable"]
Then it's possible to review the documentation:
cargo doc --open -p nix-installer
Documentation is also available via nix
build:
nix build github:DeterminateSystems/nix-installer#nix-installer.doc
firefox result-doc/nix-installer/index.html
For users who desire version pinning, the version of nix-installer
to use can be specified in the curl
command:
VERSION="v0.6.0"
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix/tag/${VERSION} | sh -s -- install
To discover which versions are available, or download the binaries for any release, check the Github Releases.
These releases can be downloaded and used directly:
VERSION="v0.6.0"
ARCH="aarch64-linux"
curl -sSf -L https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer/releases/download/${VERSION}/nix-installer-${ARCH} -o nix-installer
./nix-installer install
While nix-installer
tries to provide a comprehensive and unquirky experience, there are unfortunately some issues which may require manual intervention or operator choices.
When connecting to a Mac remote SSH builder users may sometimes see this error:
$ nix store ping --store "ssh:https://$USER@$HOST"
Store URL: ssh:https://$USER@$HOST
zsh:1: command not found: nix-store
error: cannot connect to '$USER@$HOST'
The way MacOS populates the PATH
environment differs from other environments. (Some background)
There are two possible workarounds for this:
-
(Preferred) Update the remote builder URL to include the
remote-program
parameter pointing tonix-store
. For example:nix store ping --store "ssh:https://$USER@$HOST?remote-program=/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin/nix-store"
If you are unsure where the
nix-store
binary is located, runwhich nix-store
on the remote. -
Update
/etc/zshenv
on the remote so thatzsh
populates the Nix path for every shell, even those that are neither interactive or login:# Nix if [ -e '/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/etc/profile.d/nix-daemon.sh' ]; then . '/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/etc/profile.d/nix-daemon.sh' fi # End Nix
This strategy has some behavioral caveats, namely,
$PATH
may have unexpected contentsFor example, if
$PATH
gets unset then a script invoked,$PATH
may not be as empty as expected:$ cat example.sh #! /bin/zsh echo $PATH $ PATH= ./example.sh /Users/ephemeraladmin/.nix-profile/bin:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:
This strategy results in Nix's paths being present on
$PATH
twice and may have a minor impact on performance.
The goal of the Determinate Nix Installer is to successfully and correctly install Nix.
The curl | sh
pipeline and the installer collects a little bit of diagnostic information to help us make that true.
Here is a table of the diagnostic data we collect:
Field | Use |
---|---|
version |
The version of the Determinate Nix Installer. |
planner |
The method of installing Nix (linux , macos , steam-deck ) |
configured_settings |
The names of planner settings which were changed from their default. Does not include the values. |
os_name |
The running operating system. |
os_version |
The version of the operating system. |
triple |
The architecture/operating system/binary format of your system. |
is_ci |
Whether the installer is being used in CI (e.g. GitHub Actions). |
action |
Either Install or Uninstall . |
status |
One of Success , Failure , Pending , or Cancelled . |
failure_chain |
A high level description of what the failure was, if any. For example: Command("diskutil") if the command diskutil list failed. |
To disable diagnostic reporting, set the diagnostics URL to an empty string by passing --diagnostic-endpoint=""
or setting NIX_INSTALLER_DIAGNOSTIC_ENDPOINT=""
.
You can read the full privacy policy for Determinate Systems, the creators of the Determinate Nix Installer, here.