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Since my move to nixos I've considered to reinstall my system every morning - since the entire system config is a few .nix files (+ home-manager). Haven't quite

by kreetx 7y ago

Since my move to nixos I've considered to reinstall my system every morning - since the entire system config is a few .nix files (+ home-manager). Haven't quite found the determinism yet. Perhaps I should do it tomorrow morning. :) edit: If I get three more upvotes I'll do tomorrow. edit: two more. edit: one more. edit: all filled up, it's going to happen! edit: Some more context. Although I have a laptop (a 13" 2015 mbp) I don't bring it to work anymore, but have two desktops, one at home and one for work. All three run the same nix configuration, shared through a git repo. Whenever I discover there is some program I need I add it to the config and after switching machines run `sudo nixos-rebuild switch` - so the thing I added becomes available on the current machine there, too. All this just works (tm) and I'm fairly confident the re-install will be painless.

sp332 7y ago
This reminds me of The Tiny C Compiler "tcc" and its ability to recompile the kernel from source on every boot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_C_Compiler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_C_Compiler
AgentME 7y ago
Is using nixos not enough to have a deterministic install?
- arianvanp 7y ago
  Read the article. It's the author exactly telling what parts aren't deterministic for them yet. E.g. Bluetooth devices, Networkmanager configs added by hand, wireguard keys, ssh host IDs.
- kreetx 7y ago
  It depends on what you mean. If setting up a development machine (i.e non-server) there is the home-manager package which on top of the system configures users (what packages they have, home folder content). Secondly, for an exactly deterministic install you'd also pin the nixpkgs to some commit (the package repository is a git repo). But I guess many don't do this unless they have specific needs.
robbintt 7y ago
*determination :-D
delusional 7y ago
I wonder if this could be used instead of image based computer management for enterprise settings. Basically the team managing the systems have some settings, employees have their own overlay (to account for personal preference in tools or directory structure), and then you just install the entire machine at the start of every day. It seems really complex though, so I'm not entirely convinced it's a good idea.
- coredog64 7y ago
  My previous employer did this weekly with thousands of Linux hosts. You can’t have an APT without persistence.
- GordonS 7y ago
  How would this work from a bandwidth and caching perspective? I'm thinking it would be problematic if hundreds of workstations need to download gigs of software at 9am every morning.
  - kreetx 7y ago
    At least for nix you can set up local caches, so this would save most of the bandwidth. But you could also just keep the /nix/store folder - as it's an immutable store for all the packages.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
kreetx 7y ago
I would like to report that this is now done, thank you for the encouragement.

by kreetx 7y ago

sp332 7y ago

This reminds me of The Tiny C Compiler "tcc" and its ability to recompile the kernel from source on every boot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_C_Compiler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_C_Compiler

AgentME 7y ago

Is using nixos not enough to have a deterministic install?

arianvanp 7y ago
Read the article. It's the author exactly telling what parts aren't deterministic for them yet. E.g. Bluetooth devices, Networkmanager configs added by hand, wireguard keys, ssh host IDs.
kreetx 7y ago
It depends on what you mean. If setting up a development machine (i.e non-server) there is the home-manager package which on top of the system configures users (what packages they have, home folder content). Secondly, for an exactly deterministic install you'd also pin the nixpkgs to some commit (the package repository is a git repo). But I guess many don't do this unless they have specific needs.

robbintt 7y ago

*determination :-D

delusional 7y ago

I wonder if this could be used instead of image based computer management for enterprise settings. Basically the team managing the systems have some settings, employees have their own overlay (to account for personal preference in tools or directory structure), and then you just install the entire machine at the start of every day. It seems really complex though, so I'm not entirely convinced it's a good idea.

coredog64 7y ago
My previous employer did this weekly with thousands of Linux hosts. You can’t have an APT without persistence.
GordonS 7y ago
How would this work from a bandwidth and caching perspective? I'm thinking it would be problematic if hundreds of workstations need to download gigs of software at 9am every morning.
- kreetx 7y ago
  At least for nix you can set up local caches, so this would save most of the bandwidth. But you could also just keep the /nix/store folder - as it's an immutable store for all the packages.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

kreetx 7y ago

I would like to report that this is now done, thank you for the encouragement.