mirror of
https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager
synced 2024-12-25 11:19:47 +01:00
8afee75d0d
Before enabling dconf in Home Manager, dconf must be enabled in system config. Otherwise it will fail like this: ``` $ home-manager switch Starting Home Manager activation Activating checkFilesChanged Activating checkLinkTargets Activating writeBoundary Activating installPackages replacing old 'home-manager-path' installing 'home-manager-path' Activating dconfSettings error: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.systemd1.NoSuchUnit: Unit dconf.service not found. ```
189 lines
6.5 KiB
Text
189 lines
6.5 KiB
Text
[[ch-faq]]
|
||
== Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
|
||
|
||
=== Why is there a collision error when switching generation?
|
||
|
||
Home Manager currently installs packages into the user environment, precisely as if the packages were installed through `nix-env --install`. This means that you will get a collision error if your Home Manager configuration attempts to install a package that you already have installed manually, that is, packages that shows up when you run `nix-env --query`.
|
||
|
||
For example, imagine you have the `hello` package installed in your environment
|
||
|
||
[source,console]
|
||
----
|
||
$ nix-env --query
|
||
hello-2.10
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
and your Home Manager configuration contains
|
||
|
||
[source,nix]
|
||
----
|
||
home.packages = [ pkgs.hello ];
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
Then attempting to switch to this configuration will result in an error similar to
|
||
|
||
[source,console]
|
||
----
|
||
$ home-manager switch
|
||
these derivations will be built:
|
||
/nix/store/xg69wsnd1rp8xgs9qfsjal017nf0ldhm-home-manager-path.drv
|
||
[…]
|
||
Activating installPackages
|
||
replacing old ‘home-manager-path’
|
||
installing ‘home-manager-path’
|
||
building path(s) ‘/nix/store/b5c0asjz9f06l52l9812w6k39ifr49jj-user-environment’
|
||
Wide character in die at /nix/store/64jc9gd2rkbgdb4yjx3nrgc91bpjj5ky-buildenv.pl line 79.
|
||
collision between ‘/nix/store/fmwa4axzghz11cnln5absh31nbhs9lq1-home-manager-path/bin/hello’ and ‘/nix/store/c2wyl8b9p4afivpcz8jplc9kis8rj36d-hello-2.10/bin/hello’; use ‘nix-env --set-flag priority NUMBER PKGNAME’ to change the priority of one of the conflicting packages
|
||
builder for ‘/nix/store/b37x3s7pzxbasfqhaca5dqbf3pjjw0ip-user-environment.drv’ failed with exit code 2
|
||
error: build of ‘/nix/store/b37x3s7pzxbasfqhaca5dqbf3pjjw0ip-user-environment.drv’ failed
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
The solution is typically to uninstall the package from the environment using `nix-env --uninstall` and reattempt the Home Manager generation switch.
|
||
|
||
You could also opt to unistall _all_ of the packages from your profile with `nix-env --uninstall '*'`.
|
||
|
||
=== Why are the session variables not set?
|
||
:foreign-env: https://github.com/oh-my-fish/plugin-foreign-env
|
||
|
||
Home Manager is only able to set session variables automatically if it manages your Bash, Z shell, or fish shell configuration. To enable such management you use <<opt-programs.bash.enable>>, <<opt-programs.zsh.enable>>, or <<opt-programs.fish.enable>>.
|
||
|
||
If you don't want to let Home Manager manage your shell then you will have to manually source the `~/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh` file in an appropriate way. In Bash and Z shell this can be done by adding
|
||
|
||
[source,bash]
|
||
----
|
||
. "$HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh"
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
to your `.profile` and `.zshrc` files, respectively. The `hm-session-vars.sh` file should work in most Bourne-like shells. For fish shell, it is possible to source it using {foreign-env}[the foreign-env plugin]
|
||
|
||
[source,bash]
|
||
----
|
||
fenv source "$HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh" > /dev/null
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
=== How to set up a configuration for multiple users/machines?
|
||
:post-your-homenix: https://www.reddit.com/r/NixOS/comments/9bb9h9/post_your_homemanager_homenix_file/
|
||
|
||
A typical way to prepare a repository of configurations for multiple logins and machines is to prepare one "top-level" file for each unique combination.
|
||
|
||
For example, if you have two machines, called "kronos" and "rhea" on which you want to configure your user "jane" then you could create the files
|
||
|
||
- `kronos-jane.nix`,
|
||
- `rhea-jane.nix`, and
|
||
- `common.nix`
|
||
|
||
in your repository. On the kronos and rhea machines you can then make `~jane/.config/nixpkgs/home.nix` be a symbolic link to the corresponding file in your configuration repository.
|
||
|
||
The `kronos-jane.nix` and `rhea-jane.nix` files follow the format
|
||
|
||
[source,nix]
|
||
----
|
||
{ ... }:
|
||
|
||
{
|
||
imports = [ ./common.nix ];
|
||
|
||
# Various options that are specific for this machine/user.
|
||
}
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
while the `common.nix` file contains configuration shared across the two logins. Of course, instead of just a single `common.nix` file you can have multiple ones, even one per program or service.
|
||
|
||
You can get some inspiration from the {post-your-homenix}[Post your home-manager home.nix file!] Reddit thread.
|
||
|
||
=== Why do I get an error message about `ca.desrt.dconf` or `dconf.service`?
|
||
|
||
You are most likely trying to configure something that uses dconf
|
||
but the DBus session is not aware of the dconf service.
|
||
The full error you might get is
|
||
|
||
----
|
||
error: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name ca.desrt.dconf was not provided by any .service files
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
or
|
||
|
||
----
|
||
error: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.systemd1.NoSuchUnit: Unit dconf.service not found.
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
The solution on NixOS is to add
|
||
|
||
[source,nix]
|
||
programs.dconf.enable = true;
|
||
|
||
to your system configuration.
|
||
|
||
=== How do I install packages from Nixpkgs unstable?
|
||
|
||
If you are using a stable version of Nixpkgs but would like to install some particular packages from Nixpkgs unstable – or some other channel – then you can import the unstable Nixpkgs and refer to its packages within your configuration. Something like
|
||
|
||
[source,nix]
|
||
----
|
||
{ pkgs, config, ... }:
|
||
|
||
let
|
||
|
||
pkgsUnstable = import <nixpkgs-unstable> {};
|
||
|
||
in
|
||
|
||
{
|
||
home.packages = [
|
||
pkgsUnstable.foo
|
||
];
|
||
|
||
# …
|
||
}
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
should work provided you have a Nix channel called `nixpkgs-unstable`.
|
||
|
||
You can add the `nixpkgs-unstable` channel by running
|
||
|
||
[source,console]
|
||
----
|
||
# nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable nixpkgs-unstable
|
||
# nix-channel --update
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
Note, the package will not be affected by any package overrides, overlays, etc.
|
||
|
||
=== How do I override the package used by a module?
|
||
:nixpkgs-overlays: https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/#chap-overlays
|
||
|
||
By default Home Manager will install the package provided by your chosen `nixpkgs` channel but occasionally you might end up needing to change this package. This can typically be done in two ways.
|
||
|
||
1. If the module provides a `package` option, such as `programs.beets.package`, then this is the recommended way to perform the override. For example,
|
||
+
|
||
[source,nix]
|
||
programs.beets.package = pkgs.beets.override { enableCheck = true; };
|
||
|
||
2. If no `package` option is available then you can typically override the relevant package using an {nixpkgs-overlays}[overlay].
|
||
+
|
||
For example, if you want to use the `programs.skim` module but use the `skim` package from Nixpkgs unstable, then a configuration like
|
||
+
|
||
[source,nix]
|
||
----
|
||
{ pkgs, config, ... }:
|
||
|
||
let
|
||
|
||
pkgsUnstable = import <nixpkgs-unstable> {};
|
||
|
||
in
|
||
|
||
{
|
||
programs.skim.enable = true;
|
||
|
||
nixpkgs.overlays = [
|
||
(self: super: {
|
||
skim = pkgsUnstable.skim;
|
||
})
|
||
];
|
||
|
||
# …
|
||
}
|
||
----
|
||
+
|
||
should work OK.
|