auxolotl-templates/system

Auxolotl New User System Configuration

A ready-to-run NixOS configuration with opinionated defaults.

The goal of this config is to make it as easy as possible to build a NixOS system for an out-of-the-box experience similar to user-friendly distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, or Mint. Nearly all configuration is done by editing host/configuration.nix. Where possible, we provided simple boolean (true/false) flags for enabling things like GPU drivers and desktop environments. These options are made available under the aux.system namespace. You can, of course, extend this template however you'd like.

Getting Started

1. Install a fresh copy of NixOS and boot into your new system.
2. Open a terminal and create a new copy of this template by running nix --extra-experimental-features nix-command --extra-experimental-features flakes flake new -t github:auxolotl/templates#system nixos-config.
3. Change into the new folder using cd nixos-config.
4. Run nixos-generate-config --show-hardware-config to generate your system's hardware-configuration.nix file. Copy this file into the host folder, overwriting the existing hardware-configuration.nix file.
5. Edit flake.nix and set the following variables:
   1. Change hostName to the hostname you want to give this system.
   2. If your system is running on an architecture other than 64-bit Linux, change platform to the architecture that you're using. Details on the various options are documented in flake.nix.
6. Edit the host/configuration.nix file to suit your needs. This file documents all of the different options available. In most cases, you can enable an option by changing false to true.
   1. Change the username variable. If you installed NixOS using the standard install medium, you can change this to match the username you chose during installation. Otherwise, it will create a new user account.
   2. If you're creating a new user account, don't forget to set its password by running sudo passwd <username>.
7. Run sudo nixos-rebuild boot --flake .#<your hostname> and restart.
8. Enjoy your new NixOS system!

Additional options

This section is for options that require additional information or setup.

Hardware-specific options

NixOS-Hardware is a community library of NixOS modules to work around quirks with specific kinds of hardware, especially laptops and SBCs like Raspberry Pis. If you know your system's model, you can see if it's available in NixOS-Hardware by checking the project's flake.nix. If so, add its module to your host's flake.nix like so:

modules = [
    ...
    nixos-hardware.nixosModules.framework-13th-gen-intel
    ...
]

Nvidia GPU support

For users with a hybrid Nvidia GPU setup (e.g. laptop users), there's some additional setup you need to do. This setup requires you to find the PCI bus IDs for your Nvidia GPU and your secondary GPU (usually an integrated Intel or AMD GPU). The NixOS wiki has instructions on how to find these. Once you have the bus IDs, you can set aux.system.gpu.nvidia.hybrid.busIDs.intel or aux.system.gpu.nvidia.hybrid.busIDs.amd.

Secure Boot support

This configuration supports Secure Boot systems, but with some additional setup required. Secure Boot is a UEFI standard meant to prevent tampering with the pre-boot process, e.g. by a malicious third-party replacing your kernel image with a compromised image. In NixOS, Secure Boot support is provided by the Lanzaboote project.

To enable Secure Boot support:

1. Install NixOS using the default systemd-boot bootloader, and with Secure Boot disabled via UEFI. To confirm this, run bootctl status on a fresh NixOS installation and look for output similar to the following:

   $ bootctl status
   System:
       Firmware: UEFI 2.70 (Lenovo 0.4720)
   Secure Boot: disabled (disabled)
   TPM2 Support: yes
   Boot into FW: supported
   
   Current Boot Loader:
       Product: systemd-boot 251.7
   ...
   

2. Generate a set of Secure Boot keys by running the following command: sudo sbctl create-keys. This creates a set of keys in /etc/secureboot.
3. Enable Secure Boot in your system configuration by setting aux.system.bootloader.secureboot.enable = true;.
4. Rebuild your system using nixos-rebuild switch --flake ..
5. Confirm that Secure Boot has been set up properly by running sudo sbctl verify:

   Verifying file database and EFI images in /boot...
   ✓ /boot/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI is signed
   ✓ /boot/EFI/Linux/nixos-generation-355.efi is signed
   ✓ /boot/EFI/Linux/nixos-generation-356.efi is signed
   ✗ /boot/EFI/nixos/0n01vj3mq06pc31i2yhxndvhv4kwl2vp-linux-6.1.3-bzImage.efi is not signed
   ✓ /boot/EFI/systemd/systemd-bootx64.efi is signed
   

6. Reboot into your system's UEFI firmware. An easy way to do this from a running system is to run systemctl reboot --firmware-setup. In UEFI, set Secure Boot to setup mode. This will vary by system and UEFI vendor. On a ThinkPad, you can find these settings by selecting the "Security" tab, then the "Secure Boot" entry. Set "Secure Boot" to enabled, then select "Reset to Setup Mode". Save your changes and exit.
   • On systems where there is no setup mode, choose the option to erase the existing Platform key, and/or to allow third-party keys.
7. Once you've rebooted into NixOS, run this command to enroll your keys: sudo sbctl enroll-keys --microsoft. You should see the following output:

   Enrolling keys to EFI variables...
   With vendor keys from microsoft...✓
   Enrolled keys to the EFI variables!
   

8. Reboot your system, then verify your keys were installed correctly using bootctl status:

   System:
       Firmware: UEFI 2.70 (Lenovo 0.4720)
       Firmware Arch: x64
       Secure Boot: enabled (user)
       TPM2 Support: yes
       Boot into FW: supported
   

Disabling Secure Boot

To disable Secure Boot, just set aux.system.bootloader.secureboot.enable = false; and rebuild the system.