8.8 KiB
8.8 KiB
NixOS Migration Guide
Before you start
Things to have ready:
- A USB stick (4GB+)
- WiFi password
- This guide on your phone
Your nix-config already has both homeConfigurations.barrett (standalone
home-manager, what you use now on Arch) and nixosConfigurations.xps15 (full
NixOS). The flake, configuration.nix, and all home-manager modules are ready.
The only file you're missing is hosts/xps15/hardware-configuration.nix, which
gets generated during install.
1. Prep on Arch (before wiping)
Back up
# Secrets
cp -r ~/.gnupg /tmp/gnupg-backup
cp -r ~/.ssh /tmp/ssh-backup
cp -r ~/.local/share/pass /tmp/pass-backup
# Fonts (not in nixpkgs)
tar cf /tmp/fonts.tar ~/.local/share/fonts
# Browser profile
tar cf /tmp/zen.tar ~/.zen
# Any uncommitted work
cd ~/dev && git status # check each repo
# Wallpapers and lock screen images
tar cf /tmp/img.tar ~/img
Copy all of /tmp/*-backup and /tmp/*.tar to the USB stick or another
machine.
Push this repo
cd ~/nix-config # (as barrett, or sg barrett)
git push
Download NixOS ISO
Grab the minimal ISO from https://nixos.org/download — you want the "Minimal ISO image" (not graphical), x86_64.
Flash it:
sudo dd bs=4M if=nixos-minimal-*.iso of=/dev/sdX status=progress oflag=sync
2. Boot the installer
Reboot, mash F12 for boot menu, pick USB.
You'll land in a root shell. Connect to WiFi:
systemctl start wpa_supplicant
wpa_cli
> add_network 0
> set_network 0 ssid "YourSSID"
> set_network 0 psk "YourPassword"
> enable_network 0
> quit
Or if you prefer iwd (available in the installer too):
iwctl
[iwd]# station wlan0 scan
[iwd]# station wlan0 get-networks
[iwd]# station wlan0 connect YourSSID
Verify: ping nixos.org
3. Partition
Your current disk layout (from fstab):
| Mount | FS | UUID |
|---|---|---|
/ |
ext4 | 1ac6e3de-... |
/boot/efi |
vfat | 5646-BF32 |
| swap | swap | 39cde381-... |
Option A: Reuse existing partitions (if dual-boot / keeping data)
# Find your partitions
lsblk -f
# Format root (THIS WIPES ARCH)
mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/nvme0n1pX
# Mount
mount /dev/nvme0n1pX /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/nvme0n1pY /mnt/boot/efi
swapon /dev/nvme0n1pZ
Option B: Fresh partition table
# Wipe and repartition
fdisk /dev/nvme0n1
# Create:
# 1. EFI partition (512M, type EFI System)
# 2. Swap partition (16G or match your RAM)
# 3. Root partition (rest of disk, type Linux filesystem)
mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
mkswap /dev/nvme0n1p2
mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/nvme0n1p3
mount /dev/nvme0n1p3 /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot/efi
swapon /dev/nvme0n1p2
4. Generate hardware config
nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
This creates:
/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix(ignore this, we have our own)/mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix(we need this)
Copy it into your config structure:
mkdir -p /mnt/home/barrett/nix-config/hosts/xps15
cp /mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix /mnt/home/barrett/nix-config/hosts/xps15/
5. Get your config onto the new system
Option A: Clone from git (needs network)
nix-shell -p git
git clone https://github.com/YOUR/nix-config /mnt/home/barrett/nix-config
cp /mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix /mnt/home/barrett/nix-config/hosts/xps15/
Option B: Copy from USB
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt2 # your usb
cp -r /mnt2/nix-config /mnt/home/barrett/nix-config
cp /mnt/etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix /mnt/home/barrett/nix-config/hosts/xps15/
6. Install
nixos-install --flake /mnt/home/barrett/nix-config#xps15
It will:
- Build the full system closure
- Install GRUB
- Ask you to set the root password
This takes a while. Let it run.
7. First boot
reboot
Remove the USB. GRUB should appear. Boot NixOS.
Log in as root (password you just set), then set barrett's password:
passwd barrett
Log out, log in as barrett.
8. Post-install setup
Fix ownership
sudo chown -R barrett:users ~/nix-config
Home-manager (already integrated)
Your flake uses home-manager.nixosModules.home-manager so HM is part of the
system build. No separate home-manager switch needed — it all happens during
nixos-rebuild switch.
Restore secrets
# From USB or wherever you backed up
cp -r /path/to/gnupg-backup ~/.gnupg
chmod 700 ~/.gnupg
chmod 600 ~/.gnupg/*
cp -r /path/to/ssh-backup ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/*
cp -r /path/to/pass-backup ~/.local/share/pass
Restore fonts
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/fonts
tar xf /path/to/fonts.tar -C /
fc-cache -fv
Restore images
tar xf /path/to/img.tar -C /
Restore browser profile
tar xf /path/to/zen.tar -C /
Rebuild (the main command going forward)
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nix-config#xps15
9. Gaps — things still needed in configuration.nix
Your configuration.nix already covers: GRUB, nvidia, iwd, keyd, pipewire,
docker, libvirtd, openssh, hyprland, bluetooth, zsh, xdg portals.
Still missing:
Must add
# /bin/sh = dash (you have a pacman hook for this on Arch)
environment.binsh = "${pkgs.dash}/bin/dash";
# doas (you use this instead of sudo on Arch)
security.doas = {
enable = true;
extraRules = [{
groups = [ "wheel" ];
persist = true;
}];
};
# Auto timezone (replaces your tzupdate timer)
services.automatic-timezoned.enable = true;
# (already in your config, just confirming)
# Multilib equivalent — enable 32-bit support for Steam/Wine if needed
# hardware.graphics.enable32Bit = true;
Should add
# Reflector equivalent — NixOS handles mirrors differently, but you may want
# to pin a substituter or add cachix
nix.settings = {
experimental-features = [ "nix-command" "flakes" ];
# already there, just noting
};
# geoclue for timezone detection
services.geoclue2.enable = true;
# X11 session (spectrwm/dwm) — if you want to keep X11 as an option
services.xserver = {
enable = true;
videoDrivers = [ "nvidia" ];
windowManager.spectrwm.enable = true;
# or just use xinit manually
};
# Fonts — system-wide
fonts.packages = with pkgs; [
jetbrains-mono
joypixels
font-awesome
# Your custom fonts (berkeley-mono etc) aren't in nixpkgs,
# keep them in ~/.local/share/fonts
];
# Yubikey / smartcard
services.pcscd.enable = true;
# QEMU/KVM
virtualisation.libvirtd.qemu.package = pkgs.qemu_full;
# Firewall (you have iptables on Arch)
networking.firewall.enable = true;
Packages to add to environment.systemPackages or HM
Compare your 207 explicit Arch packages against what's in
home/modules/packages.nix. The big categories not yet covered:
- TeX: texlive, biber, typst, quarto — add to HM packages
- Languages: rustup, go, ocaml, opam, uv, luarocks — add to HM packages (or use devShells per-project)
- Dev tools: cmake, ninja, gdb, valgrind, perf — add to HM or devShells
- CLI: fastfetch, socat, rsync, bind (dig), time — add to HM packages
- AUR equivalents: voxtype, pikaur (not needed), sioyek (already in HM), basedpyright, pistol, clipmenu (not needed on Wayland)
Things you DON'T need on NixOS
- pacman hooks (dash, nvidia) — use NixOS options instead
- pikaur/AUR — use nixpkgs, overlays, or flake inputs
- reflector — not applicable
- mkinitcpio — NixOS uses its own initrd builder
- GRUB manual config — declarative via
boot.loader.grub
10. Day-to-day workflow
# Edit config
nvim ~/nix-config/hosts/xps15/configuration.nix
# or any home-manager module
nvim ~/nix-config/home/modules/shell.nix
# Rebuild
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nix-config#xps15
# Update all inputs
nix flake update --flake ~/nix-config
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nix-config#xps15
# Rollback if something breaks
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nix-config#xps15 --rollback
# or pick a previous generation from GRUB
# Garbage collect old generations
sudo nix-collect-garbage -d
11. Checklist
- Back up gnupg, ssh, pass, fonts, img, zen profile
- Push nix-config repo
- Flash NixOS minimal ISO to USB
- Boot USB, connect WiFi
- Partition and mount
- Generate hardware-configuration.nix
- Get nix-config onto /mnt
nixos-install --flake /mnt/home/barrett/nix-config#xps15- Set root password, reboot
- Set barrett password, log in
- Fix nix-config ownership
- Restore secrets (gnupg, ssh, pass)
- Restore fonts, images, browser profile
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nix-config#xps15- Verify: terminal, editor, browser, WM all working
- Add missing packages to configuration.nix / HM modules
- Add
environment.binsh = dash - Add doas config
- Add fonts.packages
- Add pcscd for Yubikey
- Commit hardware-configuration.nix