1.9 KiB
Standalone setup
To prepare an initial Home Manager configuration for your logged in
user, you can run the Home Manager init command directly from its
flake.
For example, if you are using the unstable version of Nixpkgs or NixOS, then to generate and activate a basic configuration run the command
$ nix run home-manager/master -- init --switch
For Nixpkgs or NixOS version 24.11 run
$ nix run home-manager/release-24.11 -- init --switch
This will generate a flake.nix and a home.nix file in
~/.config/home-manager, creating the directory if it does not exist.
If you omit the --switch option then the activation will not happen.
This is useful if you want to inspect and edit the configuration before
activating it.
$ nix run home-manager/$branch -- init
$ # Edit files in ~/.config/home-manager
$ nix run home-manager/$branch -- init --switch
Where $branch is one of master or release-24.11.
After the initial activation has completed successfully then building and activating your flake-based configuration is as simple as
$ home-manager switch
It is possible to override the default configuration directory, if you want. For example,
$ nix run home-manager/$branch -- init --switch ~/hmconf
$ # And after the initial activation.
$ home-manager switch --flake ~/hmconf
::: {.note}
The flake inputs are not automatically updated by Home Manager. You need
to use the standard nix flake update command for that.
If you only want to update a single flake input, then the command
nix flake lock --update-input <input> can be used.
You can also pass flake-related options such as --recreate-lock-file
or --update-input <input> to home-manager when building or
switching, and these options will be forwarded to nix build. See the
NixOS Wiki page for details.
:::