My personal NixOS/Nix-Darwin setup with support for multiple hosts.
Application dotfiles (niri, noctalia, fastfetch, kitty) are managed declaratively using home-manager.
The NNN stack, running on wc and my main setup.
MacOS running OmniWM and Nix-Darwin, my university and productivity setup.
3 build the same machine, Apollo, with a different desktop and user bolted
on top:
| Host | User | Desktop | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
wc |
elias |
Niri | Daily driver |
kde |
kdelias |
Plasma 6 | For when I want a customizable desktop |
gnome |
gelias |
GNOME | For when I want a good desktop OOTB |
And 1 builds on my MacBook Pro, Mac, with MacOS running OmniWM:
| Host | User | Desktop | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
mac |
elias |
OmniWM | Productivity device for University |
nh os switch .#wc # niri
nh os switch .#kde # plasma
nh os switch .#gnome # gnome
:-------------------------------:
nh darwin switch .#mac # macosThe whole tree (click to expand)
.
├── hosts
│ ├── gnome
│ │ ├── default.nix
│ │ ├── modules.nix
│ │ └── pkgs.nix
│ ├── kde
│ │ ├── default.nix
│ │ ├── modules.nix
│ │ └── pkgs.nix
│ ├── mac
│ │ ├── default.nix
│ │ ├── modules.nix
│ │ └── pkgs.nix
│ └── wc
│ ├── default.nix
│ ├── modules.nix
│ └── pkgs.nix
├── lib
│ ├── import-tree.nix
│ └── mk-user.nix
├── modules
│ ├── home-manager
│ │ ├── common
│ │ │ ├── _files
│ │ │ │ ├── btop
│ │ │ │ │ └── themes
│ │ │ │ │ └── rose-pine.theme
│ │ │ │ ├── fastfetch
│ │ │ │ │ ├── other-configs
│ │ │ │ │ │ ├── bunnyfetch
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ └── bunnyascii.txt
│ │ │ │ │ │ ├── frieren
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ └── frieren.png
│ │ │ │ │ │ └── kitty
│ │ │ │ │ │ └── cat.txt
│ │ │ │ │ └── nitch.txt
│ │ │ │ └── kitty
│ │ │ │ └── themes
│ │ │ │ ├── one-dark.conf
│ │ │ │ └── rose-pine.conf
│ │ │ ├── btop.nix
│ │ │ ├── cava.nix
│ │ │ ├── default.nix
│ │ │ ├── direnv.nix
│ │ │ ├── fastfetch.nix
│ │ │ ├── fish.nix
│ │ │ ├── git.nix
│ │ │ ├── kitty.nix
│ │ │ ├── nvf.nix
│ │ │ ├── rmpc.nix
│ │ │ ├── starship.nix
│ │ │ └── zed.nix
│ │ ├── darwin
│ │ │ ├── default.nix
│ │ │ ├── man.nix
│ │ │ ├── nh.nix
│ │ │ ├── omniwm.nix
│ │ │ └── tack.nix
│ │ └── nixos
│ │ ├── _files
│ │ │ ├── hypr
│ │ │ │ └── hyprland.lua
│ │ │ └── niri
│ │ │ └── config.kdl
│ │ ├── cursor.nix
│ │ ├── default.nix
│ │ ├── gtk.nix
│ │ ├── hyprland.nix
│ │ ├── mangohud.nix
│ │ ├── niri.nix
│ │ ├── noctalia.nix
│ │ ├── qt.nix
│ │ └── xdg.nix
│ └── system
│ ├── common
│ │ ├── programs
│ │ │ ├── common-pkgs.nix
│ │ │ └── fish.nix
│ │ ├── system
│ │ │ ├── fonts.nix
│ │ │ └── nix.nix
│ │ └── default.nix
│ ├── darwin
│ │ ├── programs
│ │ │ ├── desktop-pkgs.nix
│ │ │ ├── omniwm.nix
│ │ │ ├── steam.nix
│ │ │ └── zen.nix
│ │ ├── system
│ │ │ ├── homebrew.nix
│ │ │ └── touchid.nix
│ │ └── default.nix
│ └── nixos
│ ├── programs
│ │ ├── dconf.nix
│ │ ├── desktop-pkgs.nix
│ │ ├── gamescope.nix
│ │ ├── gpu-screen-recorder.nix
│ │ ├── nh.nix
│ │ ├── nix-ld.nix
│ │ ├── obs-studio.nix
│ │ ├── steam.nix
│ │ ├── tack.nix
│ │ └── zen.nix
│ ├── system
│ │ ├── desktops
│ │ │ ├── gnome.nix
│ │ │ ├── hyprland.nix
│ │ │ ├── niri.nix
│ │ │ ├── plasma6.nix
│ │ │ └── sddm.nix
│ │ ├── amdgpu.nix
│ │ ├── boot.nix
│ │ ├── environment.nix
│ │ ├── hardware.nix
│ │ ├── locale.nix
│ │ ├── openrgb.nix
│ │ ├── openssh.nix
│ │ ├── polkit.nix
│ │ ├── time.nix
│ │ ├── udev.nix
│ │ └── xkb.nix
│ ├── default.nix
│ └── options.nix
├── overlays
│ ├── default.nix
│ ├── options.nix
│ ├── qt6ct-kde.nix
│ └── swash.nix
├── patches
│ ├── qt6ct-shenanigans.patch
│ └── zed-corners.patch
├── systems
│ ├── Apollo
│ │ ├── default.nix
│ │ ├── hardware-configuration.nix
│ │ ├── modules.nix
│ │ └── networking.nix
│ └── Mac
│ ├── default.nix
│ └── modules.nix
├── .tack
│ ├── default.nix
│ ├── pins.lock.json
│ └── pins.toml
└── flake.nix
short:
| Directory | What lives there |
|---|---|
hosts/ |
Per-desktop entry points, which modules, which packages |
systems/ |
Per-machine hardware, networking, machine-wide toggles |
modules/ |
The actual configuration, split by platform |
modules/home-manager |
The actual home-manager modules, split by platform |
lib/ |
import-tree and mk-user, two helpful libraries |
.tack/ |
Input pins, the real lockfile replacing flake.lock |
modules/system/common is imported by both nixosSystem and darwinSystem,
modules/system/nixos and modules/system/darwin only by their own.
modules/home-manager holds the respective home-manager modules.
Modules are toggled through a single option namespace, declared in the module's
.nix file, modules/common/... for the shared modules, modules/nixos/... for
the Linux-only ones, modules/darwin/... for the Darwin-only ones,
modules/home-manager/nixos/... for the Linux-only home-manager modules,
modules/home-manager/darwin/... for Darwin-only home-manager modules,
modules/home-manager/common/... for the shared home-manager modules:
# example
myModules = {
desktop = "niri";
system.overlays.enable = true;
programs.gpu-screen-recorder.enable = true;
};
home-manager.users.${config.myModules.user}.myModules.home-manager.programs.kitty.enable = true;Every modules is a lib.mkIf statement, therefore to use a module importing it is not enough, it would also have to be enabled. for options see the respective options.nix file.
lib/import-tree.nix imports each directory recursively, skipping default.nix
and any file prefixed with _. So a new module is:
- a new file, and
- its option declaration inside the file.
lib/mk-user.nix produces both the system account and the home-manager config
from a name and a host.
Pinned with tack, so
.tack/pins.toml is the source of truth and nix flake update does nothing.
tack update refreshes the lock/inputs.
Warning
This is tailored to my hardware. Simply copying it won't be enough.
Before the first switch you'd need to:
- Replace
systems/Apollo/hardware-configuration.nix - Review
systems/Apollo/modules.nixand/orsystems/Mac/modules.nix - Set your own name and email in
modules/home-manager/common-programs/git.nix - Place hashed password files at
/etc/nixos/secrets/<user>.txt
Big thanks to the people in the #nixos channel of the Noctalia Discord, some honorable mentions:
MIT.