129 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
129 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
Home Manager using Nix
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======================
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This project provides a basic system for managing a user environment using the
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[Nix][] package manager together with the Nix libraries found in [Nixpkgs][]. It
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allows declarative configuration of user specific (non-global) packages and
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dotfiles.
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Usage
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-----
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Before attempting to use Home Manager please read [the warning
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below](#words-of-warning).
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For a systematic overview of Home Manager and its available options, please see:
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- [Home Manager manual][manual]
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- [Home Manager configuration options][configuration options]
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- [3rd party Home Manager option
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search](https://home-manager-options.extranix.com/)
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If you would like to contribute to Home Manager, then please have a look at
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["Contributing" in the manual][contributing].
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Releases
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--------
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Home Manager is developed against `nixpkgs-unstable` branch, which often causes
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it to contain tweaks for changes/packages not yet released in stable [NixOS][].
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To avoid breaking users' configurations, Home Manager is released in branches
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corresponding to NixOS releases (e.g. `release-23.11`). These branches get
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fixes, but usually not new modules. If you need a module to be backported, then
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feel free to open an issue.
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Words of warning
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----------------
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Unfortunately, it is quite possible to get difficult to understand errors when
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working with Home Manager. You should therefore be comfortable using the [Nix][]
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language and the various tools in the Nix ecosystem.
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If you are not very familiar with Nix but still want to use Home Manager then
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you are strongly encouraged to start with a small and very simple configuration
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and gradually make it more elaborate as you learn.
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In some cases Home Manager cannot detect whether it will overwrite a previous
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manual configuration. For example, the Gnome Terminal module will write to your
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dconf store and cannot tell whether a configuration that it is about to be
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overwritten was from a previous Home Manager generation or from manual
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configuration.
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Home Manager targets [NixOS][] unstable and NixOS version 23.11 (the current
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stable version), it may or may not work on other Linux distributions and NixOS
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versions.
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Also, the `home-manager` tool does not explicitly support rollbacks at the
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moment so if your home directory gets messed up you'll have to fix it yourself.
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See the [rollbacks][] section for instructions on how to manually perform a
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rollback.
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Now when your expectations have been built up and you are eager to try all this
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out you can go ahead and read the rest of this text.
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Contact
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-------
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You can chat with us on IRC in the channel [#home-manager][] on [OFTC][]. There
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is also a [Matrix room](https://matrix.to/#/#hm:rycee.net), which is bridged to
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the IRC channel.
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Installation
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------------
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Home Manager can be used in three primary ways:
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1. Using the standalone `home-manager` tool. For platforms other than NixOS and
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Darwin, this is the only available choice. It is also recommended for people
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on [NixOS][] or Darwin that want to manage their home directory independently
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of the system as a whole. See ["Standalone installation" in the
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manual][manual standalone install] for instructions on how to perform this
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installation.
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1. As a module within a NixOS system configuration. This allows the user
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profiles to be built together with the system when running `nixos-rebuild`.
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See ["NixOS module" in the manual][manual nixos install] for a description of
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this setup.
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1. As a module within a [nix-darwin] system configuration. This allows the user
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profiles to be built together with the system when running `darwin-rebuild`.
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See ["nix-darwin module" in the manual][manual nix-darwin install] for a
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description of this setup.
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Home Manager provides both the channel-based setup and the flake-based one. See
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[Nix Flakes][manual nix flakes] for a description of the flake-based setup.
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Translations
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------------
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Home Manager has basic support for internationalization through
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[gettext](https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/). The translations are hosted by
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[Weblate](https://weblate.org/). If you would like to contribute to the
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translation effort then start by going to the [Home Manager Weblate
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project](https://hosted.weblate.org/engage/home-manager/).
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<a href="https://hosted.weblate.org/engage/home-manager/">
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<img src="https://hosted.weblate.org/widgets/home-manager/-/multi-auto.svg" alt="Translation status" />
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</a>
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License
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-------
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This project is licensed under the terms of the [MIT license](LICENSE).
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[#home-manager]: https://webchat.oftc.net/?channels=home-manager
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[Nix Flakes]: https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Flakes
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[NixOS]: https://nixos.org/
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[Nix]: https://nixos.org/explore.html
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[Nixpkgs]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs
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[OFTC]: https://oftc.net/
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[configuration options]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/options.xhtml
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[contributing]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/#ch-contributing
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[manual nix flakes]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/#ch-nix-flakes
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[manual nix-darwin install]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/#sec-install-nix-darwin-module
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[manual nixos install]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/#sec-install-nixos-module
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[manual standalone install]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/#sec-install-standalone
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[manual]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/
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[nix-darwin]: https://github.com/LnL7/nix-darwin
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[rollbacks]: https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/index.xhtml#sec-usage-rollbacks
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