What is a Nix channel?

Table of Contents

A Nix channel is a mechanism that allows you to automatically stay up-to-date with a set of pre-built Nix expressions. A Nix channel is just a URL that points to a place containing a set of Nix expressions. To see the list of official NixOS channels, visit https://nixos.org/channels.

Is NixOS reproducible?

Nix builds packages in isolation from each other. This ensures that they are reproducible and don’t have undeclared dependencies, so if a package works on one machine, it will also work on another.

How do you make a nix channel?

First steps

let # Import sources sources = import ./nix/sources.nix; # And return that specific nixpkgs in sources.
nix-channel –add https://github.com/lucperkins/nix-channel/archive/main.tar.gz personal nix-channel –update nix-channel –list # You should see the channel in the output.
nix-build ” -A jq.

Is NixOS bleeding edge?

For NixOS users, nixos-unstable is the bleeding-edge, where packages pass build tests and integration tests on a VM, and are tested from the perspective of being an operative system (this means things like the X server, KDE, various servers, and lower level details like installing bootloaders and runnning the nixos …

Is NixOS source based?

Source-based model with binary cache The Nix build language used by NixOS specifies how to build packages from source. This makes it easy to adapt the system to user needs.

What distro is NixOS based on?

NixOS is based on the Nix package manager that stores all packages in isolation from each other in the package store. Installed packages are identified by a cryptographic hash of all input used for their build.

What is NixOS good for?

Docker and other clouds NixOS is an operating system, and Nix is a package manager. The two work together to provide a straightforward and reproducible configuration process. In other words, if you create a full configuration file that covers all your needs, then you can use that for your next machine.

What is nix Darwin?

What nix-darwin adds is configuration and service management using the same mechanism as NixOS and it’s mostly intended for users that use or know NixOS and want to have some of the same features on a mac.

How do I update NixOS?

To upgrade NixOS:

Ensure you have a backup of your NixOS installation and that you know how to restore from the backup, if the need arises.
Review the NixOS release notes to ensure you account for any changes that need to be done manually.
As the root user, build your system: nixos-rebuild –upgrade boot.

Who is behind NixOS?

In 2003, Eelco Dolstra started NixOS as a research project.

Do I need nix Darwin?

Nix (and nixpkgs) is all you need to install packages. What nix-darwin adds is configuration and service management using the same mechanism as NixOS and it’s mostly intended for users that use or know NixOS and want to have some of the same features on a mac.

How do I uninstall nix from my Mac?

Uninstall nix on MacOS

Step 1: Edit /etc/zshrc and etc/.bashrc and remove the following lines sourcing nix-daemon.sh.
Step 2: Edit fstab using sudo vifs to remove the line mounting the Nix store volume on /nix, which looks like this, LABEL=Nix\040stORE /nix apfs rw,nobrowse.
Step 3: Edit /etc/synthetic.

What is a Nix channel?