NixOS

Install

The graphical installer is trivial. However, the minimal ISO doesn't handle partitioning for you.

Partitioning and Formatting

# Create a new GPT partition table
parted /dev/sda -- mklabel gpt

# Create the EFI Boot partition
parted /dev/sda -- mkpart ESP fat32 1MB 512MB
parted /dev/sda -- set 1 esp on

# Create the Root partition (ext4)
parted /dev/sda -- mkpart primary ext4 512MB 100%

# Format partitions
mkfs.fat -F 32 -n boot /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/sda2

# Mount the root partition
mount /dev/disk/by-label/nixos /mnt

# Mount the boot partition
mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mount /dev/disk/by-label/boot /mnt/boot

# Create a 4GB swapfile (adjust size as needed)
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/swapfile bs=1M count=4096
chmod 600 /mnt/swapfile
mkswap /mnt/swapfile
swapon /mnt/swapfile

Generate a config and install

nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
# Edit the config to your desire
nano /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix

nixos-install

Make sure to add the swap config:

swapDevices = [ {
  device = "/swapfile";
  size = 4096; # In MB
} ];

Install on VPS

For a VPS, first install Ubuntu or Debian. Then run https://github.com/elitak/nixos-infect.

Resources

• https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/stable/
• https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/NixOS_Wiki