-orange?style=for-the-badge&logo=niri&logoColor=e78a4e&label=niri&labelColor=202020&color=e78a4e){kind=icon}
Note
Looks matter. It is a good thing to have utility with a good rice.
| Util | Program used |
|---|---|
| Shell | Zsh |
| WM/DE | Niri |
| Editor | Neovim |
| Terminal | Kitty |
| Audio | RMPC + MPD |
| System Monitor | Bottom |
| Aerc | |
| Matrix Client | Iamb (with Cinny as my WebUI) |
| IRC Client | Halloy |
| File Manager (GUI) | PCManFM |
| File Manager (TUI) | Yazi |
| RSS Reader | MiniFlux (WebUI) + Eilmeldung (TUI) |
| Theme | Gruvbox Material Dark Hard |
| Browser (GUI) | Firefox |
| Text Browser (Terminal) | w3m |
| Agenda/Task Maintainer | taskwarrior |
Note
I am assuming that an ISO is already created. for more details see the NixOS Manual
Experimental features are not enabled in NixOS by default. They can be
enabled by exporting the NIX_CONFIG variable or by passing the
--extra-experimental-features flag to the nix command utility.
First, enter into a root shell:
sudo -iRun this to enable flakes and the nix-command utility:
export NIX_CONFIG="experimental-features = nix-command flakes"Clone the repository into /tmp:
mkdir -p /tmp
cd /tmp
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/rachitvrma/dotfiles.gitDisko is available in nixpkgs, but
it is advisable to run the latest commit from the
nix-community repo. Make sure
the disko-config.nix belongs to the correct host. By default, it's set
for nixpavilion.
cd /tmp/dotfiles/modules/hosts/nixpavilion
nix run github:nix-community/disko/latest -- --mode destroy,format,mount ./disko-config.nixCopy the cloned repo into /mnt/etc/nixos and run the installation:
mkdir -p /mnt/etc
cp -r /tmp/dotfiles /mnt/etc/nixos
nixos-install --no-root-passwd --root /mnt --cores 8 --max-jobs 1 --flake /mnt/etc/nixos#nixpavilionReboot after unmounting:
umount -R /mnt
rebootpasswd $USERMove /etc/nixos to $HOME/etc/nixos so that the user can edit NixOS configuration files without sudo. Taken from the wiki.
mkdir ~/etc
sudo mv /etc/nixos ~/etc/
sudo chown -R $(id -un):users ~/etc/nixos
sudo ln -s ~/etc/nixos /etc/Important
If miniflux doesn't find these credentials in the designated directory rebuild will fail, because it's systemd-unit will fail.
To set up miniflux for RSS feeds.
sudo mkdir -p /etc/secrets/miniflux-admin-credentials
sudo chmod 600 /etc/secrets/miniflux-admin-credentialsIn that file put:
ADMIN_USERNAME=<username>
ADMIN_PASSWORD=something6charactersLongImportant
Do this BEFORE the first home-manager switch/nh os switch/rebuild after a reinstall.
Nix does not and cannot manage your GPG secret key material — pass,
pass-secret-service, and the email module's passwordCommand will all
fail until it's restored, which can block the rebuild the same way a
missing Miniflux credential does.
Before wiping the old system, export your key and keep it somewhere off-machine (encrypted USB, not this repo):
gpg --homedir ~/.local/share/gnupg --export-secret-keys --armor > gpg-backup.ascAlso confirm ~/.password-store is backed up or pushed to a remote —
the key alone decrypts nothing without the encrypted store itself.
After reinstall, before rebuilding:
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/gnupg
gpg --homedir ~/.local/share/gnupg --import gpg-backup.asc
gpg --homedir ~/.local/share/gnupg --edit-key <keyid> trust # choose 5 (ultimate)
git clone <your-pass-store-remote> ~/.password-storeNote
programs.gpg.homedir is ~/.local/share/gnupg, not ~/.gnupg.
Restoring your key to the default path is the easy way to reproduce
"gpg can't find my key."
Note
pinentry-gnome3 needs gcr on D-Bus to work outside GNOME (niri included).
Both nixosModules.gpg and homeModules.gpg already set
services.dbus.packages = [ pkgs.gcr ], so this should self-heal on
rebuild — but if pinentry never appears on first login, log out/in once
so the D-Bus session picks it up.
In my fastfetch config, I use images from Maheswara660's fastfetch repo. So this step must be followed.
- Clone the repo somewhere:
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/Maheswara660/fastfetch/- Go into the
imagesdirectory and rungit lfs pullcommand.
git lfs pull- Cut the entire
imagesdirectory into~/.config/fastfetch/images
- NixOS & Flakes Book — ryan4yin. Covers flake-parts-adjacent patterns, home-manager, and NixOS module system in depth. GitHub: https://github.com/ryan4yin/nixos-and-flakes-book
- nix.dev — the official "get things done" guide, opinionated and task-oriented rather than reference-only.
- Nix Reference Manual — the actual language/CLI spec. Dry, but authoritative when nix.dev hand-waves something.
- Nixpkgs Manual and NixOS Manual — same deal, one level down the stack.
- Nix Pills — the classic "build up Nix from first principles" series. Old but still the best mental-model builder for why Nix works the way it does, not just how to invoke it.
- Zero to Nix — Determinate Systems' flakes-first onboarding guide. Good "quick start" track plus per-language dev-shell guides.
- Nix from First Principles: Flake Edition style crash-courses — search for the current top hit, these get updated often.
- Wombat's Book of Nix — another book-length intro, more concept-first than ryan4yin's, good second opinion when something doesn't click.
- Noogle — Nix API search by function signature/type.
Genuinely the fastest way to find a
lib.*function when you know the shape you want but not the name. - Home Manager Option Search — searchable index of all HM options, faster than grepping the manual.
- search.nixos.org — packages + NixOS options.
- Searchix / NüschtOS Search — alternative option search engines, sometimes surface things the official search misses.
- MyNixOS — another options/packages search, decent UI for cross-referencing multiple option sources at once.
- awesome-nix — the community-maintained master list. Sections for language tooling, deployment, learning resources, dev-shell frameworks (flake-parts, flake-utils, dream2nix, flakelight, etc.). Worth periodically re-skimming as things move fast here.
- Nix Shorts — short focused write-ups on specific Nix idioms, updated for flakes.
- How to Learn Nix — Ian Henry's "let's-play"-style walkthrough of the language semantics specifically (not NixOS, not flakes — just the language, which is usually the part people skip and regret).
- Nix in 100 Seconds (Fireship) — not depth, but a good 100-second gut-check to send to anyone asking what Nix is.
- Search current channels for "vimjoyer" and "ryan4yin" on YouTube — both do NixOS/flake-parts/home-manager walkthroughs pretty regularly; check what's recent since the corpus of videos changes often.
Also there are resources here:
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.