lix-installer does not function in systemdless environments #1164

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opened 2026-03-20 11:28:56 +00:00 by raito · 2 comments

raito commented

2026-03-20 11:28:56 +00:00

Owner

@raito let me know if it deserves a ticket, but I think something regressed about this yesterday. As a quick repro, the Dockerfile example from the readme is now failing with this error:

 > [4/5] RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.lix.systems/lix | sh -s -- install linux   --init none   --no-confirm:
0.296 sh: 92: [: aarch64-linux: unexpected operator
0.296 info: downloading installer
0.773  INFO nix-installer v3.95.0
0.780 Error:
0.780    0: Planner error
0.780    1: Error executing action
0.780    2: Action `configure_init_service` errored
0.780    3: Could not detect systemd; you may be able to get up and running without systemd with `nix-installer install linux --init none`.
0.780       See https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix-installer#without-systemd-linux-only for documentation on usage and drawbacks.
0.780
0.780 Location:
0.780    src/cli/subcommand/install/mod.rs:226

Note how I passed the --init none in the RUN command

If I omit the flag, I get an error which is kind of expected (although it used to work previously):

 > [4/5] RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.lix.systems/lix | sh -s -- install linux   --no-confirm:
0.315 sh: 92: [: aarch64-linux: unexpected operator
0.315 info: downloading installer
0.796  INFO nix-installer v3.95.0
0.797 systemd was not active.
0.797
0.797 If it will be started later consider, passing `--no-start-daemon`.
0.797
0.797 To use a `root`-only Nix install, consider passing `--init none`.

Originally posted by @ofalvai in #1158 (comment)

@raito let me know if it deserves a ticket, but I think something regressed about this yesterday. As a quick repro, the [Dockerfile example from the readme](https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix-installer#in-a-container) is now failing with this error: ``` > [4/5] RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.lix.systems/lix | sh -s -- install linux --init none --no-confirm: 0.296 sh: 92: [: aarch64-linux: unexpected operator 0.296 info: downloading installer 0.773 INFO nix-installer v3.95.0 0.780 Error: 0.780 0: Planner error 0.780 1: Error executing action 0.780 2: Action `configure_init_service` errored 0.780 3: Could not detect systemd; you may be able to get up and running without systemd with `nix-installer install linux --init none`. 0.780 See https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix-installer#without-systemd-linux-only for documentation on usage and drawbacks. 0.780 0.780 Location: 0.780 src/cli/subcommand/install/mod.rs:226 ``` Note how I passed the `--init none` in the `RUN` command If I omit the flag, I get an error which is kind of expected (although it used to work previously): ``` > [4/5] RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.lix.systems/lix | sh -s -- install linux --no-confirm: 0.315 sh: 92: [: aarch64-linux: unexpected operator 0.315 info: downloading installer 0.796 INFO nix-installer v3.95.0 0.797 systemd was not active. 0.797 0.797 If it will be started later consider, passing `--no-start-daemon`. 0.797 0.797 To use a `root`-only Nix install, consider passing `--init none`. ``` _Originally posted by @ofalvai in https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix/issues/1158#issuecomment-18283_

raito pinned this

2026-03-20 11:29:07 +00:00

ktemkin commented

2026-03-20 18:16:43 +00:00

Member

Should be fixed by https://gerrit.lix.systems/c/lix-installer/+/5420; will update the installer tonight.

ktemkin commented

2026-03-20 20:00:56 +00:00

Member

Closed as it's now fixed by https://gerrit.lix.systems/c/lix-installer/+/5420 and in the available installers. :)

Incidentally, you can check which version of the installer you're about to run with the --version flag:

@❯ curl -sSf -L https://install.lix.systems/lix | sh -s -- --version
info: downloading installer
lix-installer 3.95.0: (built from git: 47bc300)

Closed as it's now fixed by https://gerrit.lix.systems/c/lix-installer/+/5420 and in the available installers. :) Incidentally, you can check which version of the installer you're about to run with the `--version` flag: ```sh @❯ curl -sSf -L https://install.lix.systems/lix | sh -s -- --version info: downloading installer lix-installer 3.95.0: (built from git: 47bc300) ```