Nix managed macOS Configuration using nix, home-manager, and nix-darwin

Steps to rebuild

1. Create a directory within the user home directory which will house the configuration files and clone the repository.

   cd ~ && mkdir .config && gh repo clone dotfiles ~/.config

2. If the computer being set up is completely fresh xcode-select may need to be installed.

   xcode-select --install

3. Download and install nix:

   sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install)

4. Edit the files within the configurations so that the configured system architecture matches the actual architecture of the system, the configured system name matches matches the actual system name, and the configured user home directory matches the actual user home directory.

   # make sure the following example parameters match the system attributes
   # in flake.nix
   darwinConfigurations.<name> = darwin.lib.system {
       system = "<system_architecture>"
       ... remaining configuration
   }
   
   # in hosts/<name>.nix
   nixpkgs.hostPlatform = "<system_architecture>"
   users.users.<user>.home = "<user_home_dir>"
   system.primaryUser = "<user>"
   
   # in configuration.nix
   # keep system defaults and GUI apps here

   and so on. CLI tools and user programs live in nix/home.nix while GUI apps live in nix/configuration.nix.

5. Run nix build from the configuraiton directory or the nix subdirectory of the configuration directory.

   nix build --stack-trace --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' .#darwinConfigurations.theo.system

   note: --extra-experimental-features will only need to be added once. After the first build, its added to nix.conf and is no longer needed as a flag to the nix build command.

6. Run ./result/sw/bin/darwin-rebuild switch --flake . from within the nix subdirectory of the ~/.config directory.

7. Enjoy!