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mrkuz / macos-config

My MacOS nix-darwin configuration

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Introduction

✅ Works on my machine

Welcome to my declarative, modular and - of course - opinionated MacOS system configuration using nix-darwin with flakes. Please be aware this might not work out of the box for you.

Features:

Notes:

  • I don't use nix-darwin for system settings (yet?)
  • Not everything is installed via nix. I use following guideline:
    1. If it is offical Apple software or there are no other options -> App Store (using mas)
    2. If it is proprietary software or distributed as DMG -> Homebrew
    3. Else -> nix
  • Exception: Some tools for development (e.g. SDKMAN! to manage JDK installations)
  • Homebrew Bundle keeps track of software installed via App Store or Homebrew
  • Not handled by Home Manger:

Installation

  1. Install Nix
sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install)
  1. Clone repo
nix shell --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' nixpkgs#git
git clone https://github.com/mrkuz/macos-config
  1. Install nix-darwin
nix run --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' nix-darwin -- switch --flake .
darwin-rebuild switch --flake .

Let's go

go.sh provides a bunch of commands to simplify recurring system maintenance tasks.

./go.sh update

Updates flake inputs and brew formulae. Shows outdated brew and App Store packages.

./go.sh upgrade

Runs darwin-rebuild and upgrades outdated brew and App Store packages. Updates the Brewfile.

./go.sh clean

Deletes old generations, runs garbage collection, removes unused brew dependencies and prunes the brew cache.

Build and run NixOS VMs

To build Linux packages on MacOS, you need a remote Linux builder. Thankfully this can be archived with one line in nix-darwin:

nix.linux-builder.enable = true;

Usually the builder starts automatically. If you dislike this, add following:

launchd.daemons.linux-builder.serviceConfig = {
  KeepAlive = lib.mkForce false;
  RunAtLoad = lib.mkForce false;
};

You then need to start the builder manually:

sudo launchctl start org.nixos.linux-builder

See host configuration 'm3' for a full example.

After the builder is up and running, you can launch every VM defined in hosts/nixos/vm/ with a single command:

nix run .#playground-vm

In case you run into issues with sandboxed builds, you can disable the sandbox temporary with --option sandbox false.

Use cases: Run docker, isolate applications, ... see hosts section.

To learn how to add additional VMs, check out flake.nix (look for mkVm).

VMs can also be build out-of-tree, see this example.

The QEMU package provided and used by this configuration comes with support for hardware accelerated graphics, based on the awesome work of Akihiko Odaki.

The 'qemuGuest' module provides a bunch of useful configuration options for QEMU guests.

Building blocks

Hosts

Host expressions represent a physical of virtual machine. Kind of what you would put in darwin-configuration.nix or configuration.nix.

Name System Description
m3 darwin Configuration for my Mac Mini M1
docker nixos (vm, console) Runs Docker Engine
firefox nixos (vm, graphic) Runs Firefox Developer Edition
gnome nixos (vm, graphic) Latest GNOME desktop environment (without apps)
k3s nixos (vm, console) Runs k3s
playground nixos (vm, console) NixOS playground to fiddle around
toolbox nixos (vm, console) VM with some CLI tools preconfigured
toolbox-ui nixos (vm, graphic) VM with some GUI tools preconfigured

Users

Home Manager configuration per user. Usually imported by one ore more hosts (e.g. 'm3' host).

Name Description
markus Yeah, that's me

Modules

Modules are used to implement specific features. They can declare options for customization. Learn more about modules in the NixOS manual.

I use following conventions:

  1. Module options are exposed under modules.NAME
  2. Each module has to be enabled explicitly: modules.NAME.enable = true;

Check out any host or user expression for example usage.

Name System Description
nix darwin, nixos Configures nix, flake registries and more
fonts darwin Adds a bunch of fonts
hunspell darwin Adds Hunspell spell checker and a couple of dictionaries
socket-vmnet darwin Adds and configures socket_vmnet
tuptime darwin Configures tuptime to keep track of system uptime
emacs home-manager Adds Emacs including some dependencies and runs daemon at log in
kitty home-manager Adds and configures kitty terminal emulator
tmux home-manager Adds and configure tmux terminal multiplexer
kiosk nixos Runs a single application in fullscreen mode
minimize nixos Minimized variant of NixOS (only recommmended for non-interactive systems)
qemu-guest nixos Provides convenience features for QEMU guests

nix

Takes care of configuring nix and adds some nix-related packages.

Also:

  • Creates a link to the revision of this configuration used for building -> /etc/nix/current/
  • Creates a link of the nixpkgs used for building -> /etc/nix/nixpkgs
  • Adds nixpkgs used for building as nixpkgs to the flake registry
  • Adds nixpkgs-unstable, nixos-stable and nixos-unstable to the flake registry

NixOS-specific

  • Creates a compatibility layer in /etc/nixos/compat which can be used with tools that do not support flakes (e.g. nixos-option). Powered by flake-compat.

socket-vmnet

Adds socket_vmnet and a corresponding launch daemon.

Options

Name Description Default
gateway Gateway IP used for vmnet 192.168.105.1
dhcpEnd End of DHCP range 192.168.105.100

kiosk

Runs a single application in fullscreen mode.

Options

Name Description Default Example
wayland Use wayland (cage) instead of X11 false
program Path to application to run (required) - ${pkgs.firefox}/bin/firefox
user Run as this user (required) -

minimize

Creates a minimized variant of NixOS.

Options

Name Description Default Example
noLogin Disable console login false
noNix Remove nix package and disable daemon false
noXlibs Remove dependency to X11 client libraries false

qemu-guest

Provides convenience features for QEMU guests.

Also check out the existing NixOS options (virtualisation.*) for customisation.

Options

Name Description Default
graphics Run QEMU with graphics window false
opengl Enable hardware accelerated graphics false
user Create user -
autoLogin Auto-login user false
dhcp Use DHCP for network configuration false
sshd Configure and start SSH server false
vmnet Use vmnet for networking false
socketVmnet Use socket_vmnet for networking false
noLogin Disable login on serial console false

Profiles

Technically profiles are also modules. But they are intended to be used in flake.nix and thus cannot be enabled in hosts or user expressions.

Name Description
docker-tar Used to create Docker image (tar)
qemu-qcow2 Used to create NixOS QCOW2 disk images
qemu-vm Used to create NixOS QEMU VMs

qemu-vm

This profile adds the config.system.build.startVm derivation, which produces a script start-NAME-vm. The script launches QEMU with comand line arguments based on the configuration (virtualisation.* options and the 'qemuGuest' module).

Packages

Collection of additional (or patched) software packages.

niv is used to keep track of package sources.

Name System Description
qemu darwin QEMU with patches from Akihiko Odaki, to enable accelerated graphics
socket_vmnet darwin Allows QEMU to use vmnet without root privileges
angle darwin OpenGL ES implementation which provides translation to Apple's Metal
libepoxy darwin Library for OpenGL pointer management (with patches from Akihiko Odaki)
virglrenderer darwin Virtual GPU for QEMU providing 3D acceleration (with patches from Akihiko Odaki)
k3s-bin nixos Single-binary Kubernetes distribution (release binary)

Overlays

Overlays are used to extend or modify nixpkgs. Learn more in the NixOS manual.

Name System Description
nixos-option nixos Wraps nixos-option to work with flake-based systems (requires module.nix.enable = true)

About

My MacOS nix-darwin configuration

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