[Nix-dev] Installing Nixos

[Tim Hawes]

I would like to suggest a brief troubleshooting guide of some sorts for first
time installers. The first time I installed NixOS, it went smoothly. But
on subsequent attempts, I ran into problems.

One of the main reasons I entertain the idea of using NixOS as a primary
desktop is so I can easily restore a desktop setup with all the software
I use day-to-day already installed without constantly returning to the
package manager to add a new piece of software.

I've learned it is better to do a fresh install with as few additional
packages in the configuration.nix file as possible, and then add those
packages to the configuration later, after the first successful boot
into the new system.

The trouble I ran into was that grub could not be installed on a
partition that had more than one label. Given that the only
(non-bothersome) way to correct this problem is re-running fdisk,
re-partitioning the drives, and that grub was installed at the very end
of the installation process, it was just better to do a minimal install
first before adding all those packages to configuraton.nix.

If the first-time installer is not paying attention, he/she could end up
missing the error message, and try to reboot before grub gets properly
installed. So, maybe returning a message in RED that an error occured if
the grub-installer returns anything other than 0, might be in order as well.

Luca Bruno writes:

> On Fri, Aug 8, 2014 at 10:00 PM, Julio Cesar Campos
> <kabbalah100 at gmail.com> wrote:
>      Hello, in the last week I have made 3 attempts to install
>      NixOS following 2 pages which give some pointers on how to
>      install this, the result NixOS grub does not recognize and
>      does not start session.
>
> It would be helpful if you reported the installation steps that you
> performed and your disk partitions layout.
>
>      I want to install this, but really the information for people
>      who are not informatics but afiiconados GNU / Linux is sparse,
>      there will be a chance of someone developing a generic
>      configuration to install NixOS to be available at the time of
>      the installation via the Manual?
>
> What do you mean? nixos-generate-config should already generate a
> generic configuration working for you.
>
>      Another concern can be installed Gnome 3.12 from the
>      beginning?
>
>
> You need to use nixpkgs unstable, and set environment.gnome3.packageSet
> = pkgs.gnome3_12;
>
> Beware gnome3 in nixos is somewhat experimental, though it runs fine.