Nix is a powerful package manager for Linux that offers features like reliable installations and easy rollbacks. In this Step-by-Step tutorial, we will learn how to install Nix Package Manager in Linux.
With Nix, you can effortlessly manage software installations, dependencies, and configurations. Its declarative approach ensures stability and reproducibility, making it a suitable choice for developers and system administrators.
Nix ensures that packages are isolated from each other, reducing conflicts and making it easier to manage dependencies.
You can install Nix on most Linux distributions to manage your software alongside your existing system's package manager.
This guide will show you the straightforward steps to get Nix up and running on your Linux machine.
For the demonstration purpose, I am going to show you the steps to install Nix in a Ubuntu system. Please note that the following installation steps are same for all Linux distributions.
Let us get started!
Table of Contents
Install Nix Package Manager
Installing the Nix package manager on Linux is a simple and straightforward process.
Nix developers recommend multi-user installation if your platform supports.
1. First, download and run the Nix installation script from their website.
$ curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh
This will run the default installation type for your platform.
- Multi-user installation - Linux with systemd and without SELinux and macOS.
- Single-user installation - Linux without systemd and with SELinux.
Based on your platform type, one of the installations will start. Since my system is Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, the installer automatically switched to the multi-user installation type.
You can also explicitly specify the installation type as well. For example, to explicitly instruct the installer to perform a single-user installation on your system, run:
$ curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh -s -- --no-daemon
To explicitly instruct the installer to perform a multi-user installation on your system:
$ curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh -s -- --daemon
Keep an eye on your screen and follow the instructions on your screen to proceed further.
2. If multi-user installation is started, you will see the following output. If you'd like to see the detailed list of what Nix will do on your system, type y and hit ENTER key. If you don't want to view the list, simply type n and press ENTER.
Sample Output:
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:05 --:--:-- 0
100 4052 100 4052 0 0 637 0 0:00:06 0:00:06 --:--:-- 16273
downloading Nix 2.21.0 binary tarball for x86_64-linux from 'https://releases.nixos.org/nix/nix-2.21.0/nix-2.21.0-x86_64-linux.tar.xz' to '/tmp/nix-binary-tarball-unpack.SpybifSJck'...
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 21.8M 100 21.8M 0 0 1998k 0 0:00:11 0:00:11 --:--:-- 1746k
Note: a multi-user installation is possible. See https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/installation/installing-binary.html#multi-user-installation
Switching to the Multi-user Installer
Welcome to the Multi-User Nix Installation
This installation tool will set up your computer with the Nix package
manager. This will happen in a few stages:
1. Make sure your computer doesn't already have Nix. If it does, I
will show you instructions on how to clean up your old install.
2. Show you what I am going to install and where. Then I will ask
if you are ready to continue.
3. Create the system users (uids [30001..30032]) and groups (gid 30000)
that the Nix daemon uses to run builds. To create system users
in a different range, exit and run this tool again with
NIX_FIRST_BUILD_UID set.
4. Perform the basic installation of the Nix files daemon.
5. Configure your shell to import special Nix Profile files, so you
can use Nix.
6. Start the Nix daemon.
Would you like to see a more detailed list of what I will do?
[y/n]
3. I entered y to see what the installer would do on my system. The installer script provided the output below. If you're okay with the changes it plans to make, simply type y to continue.
I will: - make sure your computer doesn't already have Nix files (if it does, I will tell you how to clean them up.) - create local users (see the list above for the users I'll make) - create a local group (nixbld) - install Nix in to /nix - create a configuration file in /etc/nix - set up the "default profile" by creating some Nix-related files in /root - back up /etc/bash.bashrc to /etc/bash.bashrc.backup-before-nix - update /etc/bash.bashrc to include some Nix configuration - back up /etc/zsh/zshrc to /etc/zsh/zshrc.backup-before-nix - update /etc/zsh/zshrc to include some Nix configuration - load and start a service (at /etc/systemd/system/nix-daemon.service and /etc/systemd/system/nix-daemon.socket) for nix-daemon Ready to continue? [y/n]
4. Now the installer will prompt if it can use sudo . Type y and hit ENTER key to allow it to use sudo and continue.
---- let's talk about sudo -----------------------------------------------------
This script is going to call sudo a lot. Every time I do, it'll
output exactly what it'll do, and why.
Just like this:
---- sudo execution ------------------------------------------------------------
I am executing:
$ sudo echo
to demonstrate how our sudo prompts look
This might look scary, but everything can be undone by running just a
few commands. I used to ask you to confirm each time sudo ran, but it
was too many times. Instead, I'll just ask you this one time:
Can I use sudo?
[y/n]
5. Nix installer will check if there is any existing installation available on your system. Once again, type y to continue.
~~> Checking for artifacts of previous installs
Before I try to install, I'll check for signs Nix already is or has
been installed on this system.
---- Nix config report ---------------------------------------------------------
Temp Dir: /tmp/tmp.Q9lNrzTTJm
Nix Root: /nix
Build Users: 32
Build Group ID: 30000
Build Group Name: nixbld
build users:
Username: UID
nixbld1: 30001
nixbld2: 30002
nixbld3: 30003
nixbld4: 30004
nixbld5: 30005
nixbld6: 30006
nixbld7: 30007
nixbld8: 30008
nixbld9: 30009
nixbld10: 30010
nixbld11: 30011
nixbld12: 30012
nixbld13: 30013
nixbld14: 30014
nixbld15: 30015
nixbld16: 30016
nixbld17: 30017
nixbld18: 30018
nixbld19: 30019
nixbld20: 30020
nixbld21: 30021
nixbld22: 30022
nixbld23: 30023
nixbld24: 30024
nixbld25: 30025
nixbld26: 30026
nixbld27: 30027
nixbld28: 30028
nixbld29: 30029
nixbld30: 30030
nixbld31: 30031
nixbld32: 30032
Ready to continue?
[y/n]
6. Enter your sudo password to continue:
~~> Setting up the build group nixbld
---- sudo execution ------------------------------------------------------------
I am executing:
$ sudo groupadd -g 30000 --system nixbld
Create the Nix build group, nixbld
[sudo] password for ostechnix: 7. Upon successful Nix installation, you will see the following message:
Alright! We're done! Try it! Open a new terminal, and type: $ nix-shell -p nix-info --run "nix-info -m" Thank you for using this installer. If you have any feedback or need help, don't hesitate: You can open an issue at https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/new?labels=installer&template=installer.md Or get in touch with the community: https://nixos.org/community ---- Reminders ----------------------------------------------------------------- [ 1 ] Nix won't work in active shell sessions until you restart them. Press enter/return to acknowledge.
Congratulations! Nix package manager is successfully installed on Ubuntu. Log out from your current session and log back in.
If single-user installation mode is started, you will not be asked any questions. The installer will automatically choose the optimal settings and complete the installation automatically.
Upon successful installation, you will be prompted to run the following command to ensure that the necessary environment variables are set:
$ . /home/ostechnix/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh
Alternatively, you can log out from the current session and log back in.
You may want to place this file directly in your ~/.bashrc or a similar location, so that the Nix package manager is available in any newly created shell.
source $HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh
Verify Nix Installation
Open a Terminal window and type the following command to verify if Nix has been properly installed or not:
$ nix-shell -p nix-info --run "nix-info -m"
Sample Output:
[...] - system: `"x86_64-linux"` - host os: `Linux 6.2.0-39-generic, Ubuntu, 22.04.3 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish), nobuild` - multi-user?: `yes` - sandbox: `yes` - version: `nix-env (Nix) 2.21.0` - channels(root): `"nixpkgs"` - nixpkgs: `/nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixpkgs`
If you saw an output something like this, Nix package manager has been installed.
If you want to verify only the installed version, run:
$ nix --version nix (Nix) 2.21.0
You can now use the nix-env command to manage your packages and environments.
Getting Started with Nix
Getting started with the Nix package manager is straightforward. Nix provides a declarative approach to building and managing software packages on Linux and Unix systems.
Refer the following guide to learn how to use Nix package manager to install and manage packages in Linux.
Uninstall Nix
To uninstall Nix package manager, follow these steps based on your installation type:
Single User:
Open your terminal and run the following command:
$ rm -rf /nix
Multi User - Linux with systemd:
Open your terminal and execute the following commands one by one:
$ sudo systemctl stop nix-daemon.service $ sudo systemctl disable nix-daemon.socket nix-daemon.service $ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
Remove files created by Nix:
$ sudo rm -rf /etc/nix /etc/profile.d/nix.sh /etc/tmpfiles.d/nix-daemon.conf /nix ~root/.nix-channels ~root/.nix-defexpr ~root/.nix-profile
Remove build users and their group:
for i in $(seq 1 32); do sudo userdel nixbld$i done sudo groupdel nixbld
Additionally, check for references to Nix in the following files and remove them if present:
/etc/bash.bashrc /etc/bashrc /etc/profile /etc/zsh/zshrc /etc/zshrc
These steps will completely uninstall Nix package manager from your system.
Conclusion
In this guide, we discussed how to install Nix package manager in Ubuntu Linux. Even though it is tested on a Ubuntu system, the Nix installation steps are same for other Linux systems.
With the Nix package manager installed on your Linux system, you can now take advantage of its powerful features.
2 comments
Great article, but the floating table of contents window in annoying af.
Glad you find it useful. The ToC allows the users to quickly jump to different section of the article. We will find a way to make ToC less intrusive.