Getting Started with NixOS

Introduction

As a developer who has long used various Linux distributions, I have always had a special fondness for Ubuntu. However, it wasn’t until I encountered NixOS that I truly experienced a revolutionary change in system management. NixOS adopts a declarative configuration management approach, making system configuration, software installation, and updates unprecedentedly simple and reliable. This article will provide a detailed guide on how to start using NixOS from scratch, helping you quickly master this powerful Linux distribution.

Core Features of NixOS

The most distinctive feature of NixOS is its declarative configuration management approach. Through a unified configuration file, you can:

Completely describe all system configurations
Implement version control for configurations
Easily replicate identical system environments
Support system configuration rollback
Ensure reproducibility of system configurations

This approach not only makes system management more controllable but also greatly reduces maintenance complexity.

Quick Start Guide

For users new to NixOS, I recommend using Docker for a quick experience:

docker run -it nixos/nix

Before starting formal use, it is strongly recommended to read the following official tutorials:

System Installation

NixOS provides a Minimal ISO image for installation. Although the installation process is slightly more complex than traditional Linux distributions, it’s much simpler compared to Arch Linux. For detailed installation instructions, please refer to:

NixOS Installation Guide

Basic System Configuration

After installation, we need to create and configure our own NixOS system. First, edit the system configuration file:

vim /etc/nixos/configuration.nix

Note: If vim is not yet installed in the system, you can enter a temporary shell environment containing vim with the following command:

nix-shell -p vim

Things to Do After Installing NixOS

All configurations need to be made in the /etc/nixos/configuration.nix file. Here are some basic configuration examples:

Set timezone:

time.timeZone = "Asia/Shanghai";

Configure SSH service:

services.openssh.enable = true;
services.openssh.settings = {
  "PermitRootLogin" = "yes";
};

Configure static IP:

networking.useDHCP = false;
networking.interfaces.ens18.useDHCP = false;
networking.interfaces.ens18.ipv4.addresses = [ {
  address = "10.10.100.99";
  prefixLength = 24;
} ];
networking.defaultGateway = "10.10.100.91";
networking.nameservers = [ "10.10.100.1" ];
networking.hostName = "bboysoul-nixos";

Configure custom hosts:

networking.extraHosts =''
198.18.4.181 github.com
'';

Disable firewall:

networking.firewall.enable = false;

Disable IPv6:

networking.enableIPv6 = false;

Install common software packages:

  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
    vim # Do not forget to add an editor to edit configuration.nix! The Nano editor is also installed by default.
    wget
    nano
    git
    zsh
    eza
    pyenv
    starship
    yadm
    atuin
    k3s
    htop
    iftop
    iotop
    ipvsadm
    iptables
    docker
    inetutils
    docker-compose
  ];

Configure default shell:

users.users.root.shell = pkgs.zsh;
programs.zsh.enable = true;

Configure Docker:

virtualisation.docker.enable = true;
virtualisation.docker.daemon.settings = {
  "data-root" = "/data/docker-data";
};

Configure K3s:

  services.k3s.enable = true;
  services.k3s.role = "server";
  services.k3s.extraFlags = toString [
    "--cluster-init=false"
    "--docker=false"
    "--data-dir=/data/k3s"
    "--disable=traefik,servicelb,metrics-server"
    "--token=xxxxx"
    "--service-node-port-range=79-30124"
    "--kubelet-arg=cgroup-driver=systemd"
    "--kube-proxy-arg=proxy-mode=ipvs"
    "--kube-proxy-arg=ipvs-strict-arp=true"
    "--disable-cloud-controller=true"
    "--tls-san=aws.xxxxx.cn"
    "--default-local-storage-path=/data/storage"
    "--etcd-snapshot-schedule-cron=0 */5 * * *"
    "--etcd-snapshot-retention=20"
    "--etcd-snapshot-dir=/data/storage/etcd"
    "--flannel-backend=host-gw"
  ];

Note: If flannel is using vxlan, there might be issues. ipvsadm and iptables are not installed by default and need to be installed.

Configure VSCode

The VSCode remote server is not usable by default in NixOS. You need to use it in combination with this project:

https://github.com/nix-community/nixos-vscode-server

{
  imports = [
    (fetchTarball "https://github.com/nix-community/nixos-vscode-server/tarball/master")
  ];

  services.vscode-server.enable = true;
}

Complete Configuration

[Complete configuration content remains unchanged as it’s code]

After Configuration

After completing the configuration, use the following command to verify the configuration:

nixos-rebuild test

Use the following command to implement the configuration:

nixos-rebuild switch

Finally

To ensure configurations are not lost, it’s recommended to create a Git repository for the /etc/nixos directory for version control.

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