System Configuration: Nix & Dotfiles

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Two configuration management approaches used in parallel:

Method	Tool	Scope	Advantages
Declarative	NixOS Flakes + Home Manager	System, packages, services	Reproducibility, atomic rollbacks, testing
Traditional	chezmoi / git + symlinks	User configs, cross-platform	Flexibility, non-Nix support, minimal overhead

Both methods are versioned in Git, deployed via pull + apply, and support multi-host configurations.

🧊 Nix: Declarative Configuration
#

`nixcfg` Architecture
#

nixcfg/
├── flake.nix # Entry point: system definitions, inputs
├── profiles/
│ ├── base/ # Base settings: timezone, locale, networking
│ ├── common/ # Shared across hosts: users, security, nix settings
│ ├── desktop/ # Graphical environment: Wayland, portals, fonts
│ ├── laptop/ # Laptop-specific: bluetooth, fingerprint, power
│ ├── mobile/ # Nix-on-Droid: Android packages
│ └── workstation/ # Server settings: Wake-on-LAN, sysctl
├── hosts/
│ ├── potatoWork/ # Host config: hostname, kernel params, microcode
│ ├── potatoLaptop/
│ ├── potatoPhone/ # Nix-on-Droid host
│ └── potatoTablet/
├── modules/
│ ├── docker.nix # Module: enable Docker, daemon settings
│ ├── flatpak.nix # Flatpak: repos, packages
│ ├── ollama.nix # Local LLMs: service, models, API
│ ├── waydroid.nix # Android containers in Linux
│ └── home-manager/ # User environment
│ ├── common.nix # Bash, Git, Firefox, aliases
│ ├── packages.nix # User packages
│ ├── potatoWork.nix # Host-specific packages
│ └── potatoLaptop.nix
└── scripts/ # Utilities: update, build, rollback

Core Principles
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Flakes-first approach:

# flake.nix
outputs = { self, nixpkgs, home-manager, ... }@inputs: {
 nixosConfigurations.potatoWork = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
 system = "x86_64-linux";
 modules = [
 ./profiles/base
 ./profiles/common
 ./profiles/desktop
 ./hosts/potatoWork/default.nix
 ./modules/docker.nix
 home-manager.nixosModules.home-manager
 ];
 };
};

Modularity via imports:

# profiles/base/default.nix
{ config, pkgs, lib, ... }: {
 time.timeZone = "Europe/Moscow";
 i18n.defaultLocale = "ru_RU.UTF-8";
 networking.networkmanager.enable = true;
 security.polkit.enable = true;
}

Host-specific settings:

# hosts/potatoWork/default.nix
{ config, pkgs, ... }: {
 networking.hostName = "potatoWork";
 boot.kernelParams = [
 "i915.enable_fbc=1"
 "i915.enable_guc=2"
 "intel_pstate=active"
 ];
 hardware.cpu.intel.updateMicrocode = true;
}

Home Manager for user environment:

# modules/home-manager/common.nix
{ config, pkgs, ... }: {
 programs.git = {
 enable = true;
 settings.user = {
 name = "ponfertato";
 email = "ponfertato@ya.ru";
 };
 ignores = [ "*~" ".DS_Store" ".idea/" ];
 };
 programs.firefox = {
 enable = true;
 profiles.default = {
 isDefault = true;
 search.default = "ddg";
 };
 };
}

Maintenance & Updates
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# Full system update (recommended)
nix flake update && sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#$(hostname) --impure

# Rollback to previous configuration
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --rollback

# Build without activation (test)
sudo nixos-rebuild build --flake .#$(hostname) --impure

# Validate configuration
nix flake check

# Clean old generations
nix-collect-garbage -d

Convenience aliases (modules/home-manager/common.nix):

Nix on Ponfertato

System Configuration: Nix & Dotfiles

🧊 Nix: Declarative Configuration #

nixcfg Architecture #

Core Principles #

Maintenance & Updates #

🧊 Nix: Declarative Configuration
#

`nixcfg` Architecture
#

Core Principles
#

Maintenance & Updates
#