FredOS NixOS Configuration

Multi-host NixOS configuration managed via flakes, built and deployed directly from GitHub. No local config management required — all changes are made via the GitHub web editor.

How it works

All machines pull their configuration directly from this repo at build time:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake github:ediblerope/nixos-config --refresh --no-write-lock-file

This is aliased to update on all machines.

Repo structure

flake.nix                        # Flake inputs and host definitions
common.nix                       # Shared config imported by all hosts
hosts/
  FredOS-Gaming.nix              # Gaming PC specific config
  FredOS-Macbook.nix             # Macbook specific config
  FredOS-Mediaserver.nix         # Mediaserver specific config
  hardware/
    FredOS-Gaming.nix            # Hardware config + bootloader + hostname
    FredOS-Macbook.nix
    FredOS-Mediaserver.nix
apps/                            # Per-app config files
settings/                        # System settings (GNOME, locale, audio, etc.)
services/                        # System services (Jellyfin, Sonarr, nginx, etc.)
home-manager/                    # Home Manager config
walls/                           # Wallpapers

Flake inputs

Input	Source
nixpkgs	github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable
home-manager	github:nix-community/home-manager
omnisearch	git+https://git.bwaaa.monster/omnisearch
zen-browser	github:0xc000022070/zen-browser-flake
nix-flatpak	github:gmodena/nix-flatpak

Day-to-day usage

Task	Command
Update system	`update`
Garbage collect	`clean`
First-run on new machine	See below

Adding a new machine

1. Fresh NixOS install

Boot the NixOS installer and complete the standard installation. Note the system.stateVersion the installer sets — you'll need it later.

2. Enable flakes

After the base install, add this to /etc/nixos/configuration.nix and run sudo nixos-rebuild switch:

nix.settings.experimental-features = [ "nix-command" "flakes" ];

3. Create the hardware config on GitHub

Copy the contents of /etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix and create hosts/hardware/FredOS-NEWHOST.nix in this repo via the GitHub web editor. Append the following to it:

networking.hostName = "FredOS-NEWHOST";

# Match whatever bootloader the installer set up:
boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable = true;       # UEFI systems
boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;  # UEFI systems
# boot.loader.grub.enable = true;             # BIOS systems
# boot.loader.grub.devices = [ "/dev/sda" ];  # BIOS systems — verify with: sudo grub-probe --target=disk /

boot.loader.systemd-boot.configurationLimit = 5;  # UEFI only
boot.initrd.systemd.enable = true;                # UEFI only

nix.settings.experimental-features = [ "nix-command" "flakes" ];

system.stateVersion = "25.11";  # Use the version the installer generated

4. Add the host to flake.nix

In flake.nix, add the new host to nixosConfigurations:

FredOS-NEWHOST = mkHost "FredOS-NEWHOST";

5. Create a host-specific config file

Create hosts/FredOS-NEWHOST.nix for any machine-specific packages or services. Wrap everything in a hostname guard:

{ config, pkgs, lib, ... }:
{
  config = lib.mkIf (config.networking.hostName == "FredOS-NEWHOST") {
    environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
      # host-specific packages
    ];
  };
}

Then add it to the imports list in common.nix:

./hosts/FredOS-NEWHOST.nix

6. Switch to the flake

Run this on the new machine (first time only — requires explicit hostname):

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake github:ediblerope/nixos-config#FredOS-NEWHOST --refresh --no-write-lock-file

After this succeeds, the update alias works normally from that point on.

Notes

GitHub rate limiting — --refresh queries the GitHub API on every run. At 60 unauthenticated requests/hour this is fine for normal use but will hit the limit during rapid iteration. Wait ~15 minutes if you see a 403 rate limit error.
hardware-configuration.nix — do not run nixos-generate-config and expect to copy the output directly. Always append the hostname, bootloader, stateVersion and flake settings as shown above.
system.autoUpgrade — disabled on all hosts. Updates are done manually via the update alias.

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