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I tried using Nix and NixOS early in the year, but documentation is an issue. Also, while I appreciate NixOS’s focus on reproducible configuration, I also have

I tried using Nix and NixOS early in the year, but documentation is an issue. Also, while I appreciate NixOS’s focus on reproducible configuration, I also have 25 years worth of mediocre Unix sysadmin experience, and it would be nice if the system found a way to accommodate Unix. My last straw was trying to get nix to schedule some task through systemd, when what I wanted was a simple crontab.

Gigachad 5y ago
Kind of a tangent, but from what I have seen, crontab doesn't actually exist on modern distros, I believe they have a tool that converts the crontab config in to systemd timers. As well as fstab.
- jonstewart 5y ago
  Yes, so I was doubly frustrated in this instance. I know the BSD-style init script system that I learned with Slackware is not geared well towards modern hardware (i.e., laptops), but it was so much simpler to read and comprehend.
  - Gigachad 5y ago
    Systemd timers do have several advantages but they come with more complexity which is why a translation layer is usually applied on user focused distros. You can enable/disable timers, trigger them manually, see when they last triggered, see when they will next trigger. And probably a bunch of other stuff. They also have individual files so automation can easily add or remove timers. For a power user, systemd timers are much better. But if you just want to quickly add one thing, it probably isn’t worth the effort to learn
- nightfly 5y ago
  Cron still exists on Ubuntu at least.
l0b0 5y ago
After having configured a bunch of crontabs, I found the Nix+systemd timers approach a massive improvement.
pxc 5y ago
NixOS includes a cron daemon (Vixie cron), and you can add crontab entries directly either as strings or as files: https://search.nixos.org/options?channel=21.05&show=services.cron.enable&from=0&size=50&sort=relevance&type=options&query=services.cron https://search.nixos.org/options?channel=21.05&show=services... You can use, e.g., services.cron.enable = true; services.cron.systemCronJobs = [ '' */30 * * * * someuser bash /path/to/some/script/idk.sh '' ]; or if you really don't want to worry about the Nix syntax for a list of strings, and possible escaping issues, you can just create a crontab file in /etc/nixos next to configuration.nix and write services.cron.cronFiles = [ ./crontab ];

Gigachad 5y ago

Kind of a tangent, but from what I have seen, crontab doesn't actually exist on modern distros, I believe they have a tool that converts the crontab config in to systemd timers. As well as fstab.

jonstewart 5y ago
Yes, so I was doubly frustrated in this instance. I know the BSD-style init script system that I learned with Slackware is not geared well towards modern hardware (i.e., laptops), but it was so much simpler to read and comprehend.
- Gigachad 5y ago
  Systemd timers do have several advantages but they come with more complexity which is why a translation layer is usually applied on user focused distros. You can enable/disable timers, trigger them manually, see when they last triggered, see when they will next trigger. And probably a bunch of other stuff. They also have individual files so automation can easily add or remove timers. For a power user, systemd timers are much better. But if you just want to quickly add one thing, it probably isn’t worth the effort to learn
nightfly 5y ago
Cron still exists on Ubuntu at least.

l0b0 5y ago

After having configured a bunch of crontabs, I found the Nix+systemd timers approach a massive improvement.

pxc 5y ago

NixOS includes a cron daemon (Vixie cron), and you can add crontab entries directly either as strings or as files: https://search.nixos.org/options?channel=21.05&show=services.cron.enable&from=0&size=50&sort=relevance&type=options&query=services.cron https://search.nixos.org/options?channel=21.05&show=services... You can use, e.g., services.cron.enable = true; services.cron.systemCronJobs = [ '' */30 * * * * someuser bash /path/to/some/script/idk.sh '' ]; or if you really don't want to worry about the Nix syntax for a list of strings, and possible escaping issues, you can just create a crontab file in /etc/nixos next to configuration.nix and write services.cron.cronFiles = [ ./crontab ];