forked from lix-project/lix-installer
210 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
210 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
# Nix Installer
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[](https://crates.io/crates/nix-installer)
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[](https://docs.rs/nix-installer/latest/nix_installer/)
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`nix-installer` is an opinionated, **experimental** Nix installer.
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```bash
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curl -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install
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```
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## Status
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`nix-installer` is **pre-release and experimental**. It is not ready for high reliability use! *Please* don't use it on a business critical machine!
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Current and planned support:
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* [x] Multi-user Linux (aarch64 and x86_64) with systemd init, no SELinux
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* [x] Multi-user MacOS (aarch64 and x86_64)
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+ Note: User deletion is currently unimplemented, you need to use a user with a secure token and `dscl . -delete /Users/_nixbuild*` where `*` is each user number.
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* [x] Valve Steam Deck
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* [ ] Multi-user Linux (aarch64 and x86_64) with systemd init & SELinux
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* [ ] Single-user Linux (aarch64 and x86_64)
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* [ ] Others...
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## Installation Differences
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Differing from the current official [Nix](https://github.com/NixOS/nix) installer scripts:
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* Nix is installed with the `nix-command` and `flakes` features enabled in the `nix.conf`
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* `nix-installer` stores an installation receipt (for uninstalling) at `/nix/receipt.json` as well as a copy of the install binary at `/nix/nix-installer`
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## Motivations
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The current Nix installer scripts do an excellent job, however they are difficult to maintain. Subtle differences in the shell implementations, and certain characteristics of bash scripts make it difficult to make meaningful changes to the installer.
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Our team wishes to experiment with the idea of an installer in a more structured language and see if this is a worthwhile alternative. Along the way, we are also exploring a few other ideas, such as:
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* offering users a chance to review an accurate, calculated install plan
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* having 'planners' which can create appropriate install plans
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* keeping an installation receipt for uninstallation
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* offering users with a failing install the chance to do a best-effort revert
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* doing whatever tasks we can in parallel
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So far, our explorations have been quite fruitful, so we wanted to share and keep exploring.
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## Usage
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Install Nix with the default planner and options:
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```bash
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curl -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install
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```
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Or, to download a platform specific Installer binary yourself:
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```bash
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$ curl -sL -o nix-installer https://install.determinate.systems/nix/nix-installer-x86_64-linux
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$ chmod +x nix-installer
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```
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> `nix-installer` will elevate itself if needed using `sudo`. If you use `doas` or `please` you may need to elevate `nix-installer` yourself.
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`nix-installer` installs Nix by following a *plan* made by a *planner*. Review the available planners:
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```bash
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$ ./nix-installer install --help
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Execute an install (possibly using an existing plan)
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To pass custom options, select a planner, for example `nix-installer install linux-multi --help`
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Usage: nix-installer install [OPTIONS] [PLAN]
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nix-installer install <COMMAND>
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Commands:
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linux-multi
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A standard Linux multi-user install
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darwin-multi
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A standard MacOS (Darwin) multi-user install
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steam-deck
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A specialized install suitable for the Valve Steam Deck console
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help
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Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
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# ...
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```
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Planners have their own options and defaults, sharing most of them in common:
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```bash
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$ ./nix-installer install linux-multi --help
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A standard Linux multi-user install
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Usage: nix-installer install linux-multi [OPTIONS]
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Options:
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# ...
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--nix-build-user-count <NIX_BUILD_USER_COUNT>
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Number of build users to create
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[env: NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_BUILD_USER_COUNT=]
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[default: 32]
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--nix-build-user-id-base <NIX_BUILD_USER_ID_BASE>
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The Nix build user base UID (ascending)
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[env: NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_BUILD_USER_ID_BASE=]
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[default: 3000]
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# ...
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```
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Planners can be configured via environment variable or command arguments:
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```bash
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$ curl -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | NIX_BUILD_USER_COUNT=4 sh -s -- install linux-multi --nix-build-user-id-base 4000
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# Or...
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$ NIX_BUILD_USER_COUNT=4 ./nix-installer install linux-multi --nix-build-user-id-base 4000
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```
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## Uninstalling
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You can remove a `nix-installer`-installed Nix by running
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```bash
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/nix/nix-installer uninstall
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```
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## As a Github Action
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You can use `nix-installer` as a Github action like so:
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```yaml
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on:
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pull_request:
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push:
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branches: [main]
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jobs:
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lints:
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name: Build
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runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
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steps:
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- uses: actions/checkout@v3
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- name: Install Nix
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uses: DeterminateSystems/nix-installer@main
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with:
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# Allow the installed Nix to make authenticated Github requests.
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# If you skip this, you will likely get rate limited.
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github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
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- name: Run `nix build`
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run: nix build .
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```
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## Building
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Since you'll be using `nix-installer` to install Nix on systems without Nix, the default build is a static binary.
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Build a portable binary on a system with Nix:
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```bash
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nix build -L github:determinatesystems/nix-installer#nix-installer-static
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```
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Then copy the `result/bin/nix-installer` to the machine you wish to run it on.
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You can also add `nix-installer` to your system without having Nix:
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```bash
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RUSTFLAGS="--cfg tokio_unstable" cargo install nix-installer
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nix-installer --help
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```
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To make this build portable, pass ` --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl`.
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> We currently require `--cfg tokio_unstable` as we utilize [Tokio's process groups](https://docs.rs/tokio/1.24.1/tokio/process/struct.Command.html#method.process_group), which wrap stable `std` APIs, but are unstable due to it requiring an MSRV bump.
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## As a library
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Add `nix-installer` to your dependencies:
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```bash
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cargo add nix-installer
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```
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> **Building a CLI?** Check out the `cli` feature flag for `clap` integration.
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You'll also need to edit your `.cargo/config.toml` to use `tokio_unstable`:
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```toml
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# .cargo/config.toml
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[build]
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rustflags=["--cfg", "tokio_unstable"]
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```
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Then it's possible to review the [documentation](https://docs.rs/nix-installer/latest/nix_installer/):
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```bash
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cargo doc --open -p nix-installer
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```
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Documentation is also available via `nix` build:
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```bash
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nix build github:DeterminateSystems/nix-installer#nix-installer.doc
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firefox result-doc/nix-installer/index.html
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```
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