Determinate Nix Installer is a fast, friendly, and reliable way to install and manage Nix everywhere, including macOS, Linux, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), SELinux, the Valve Steam Deck, and more. It installs Nix with flakes enabled by default, it offers support for seamlessly uninstalling Nix, it enables Nix to survive macOS upgrades, and much more.
This one-liner is the quickest way to get started on any supported system:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | \
sh -s -- installTip
To install Determinate using the installer, see the instructions below.
Determinate Nix Installer has successfully completed over 7 million installs in a number of environments, including Github Actions and GitLab:
| Platform | Multi user? | root only |
Maturity |
|---|---|---|---|
Linux (x86_64 and aarch64) |
✓ (via systemd) | ✓ | Stable |
MacOS (x86_64 and aarch64) |
✓ | Stable (see note) | |
| Valve Steam Deck (SteamOS) | ✓ | Stable | |
Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2) (x86_64 and aarch64) |
✓ (via systemd) | ✓ | Stable |
| Podman Linux containers | ✓ (via systemd) | ✓ | Stable |
| Docker containers | ✓ | Stable |
You can install Nix with the default planner and options by running this script:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | \
sh -s -- installTo download a platform-specific installer binary yourself:
curl -sL -o nix-installer https://install.determinate.systems/nix/nix-installer-x86_64-linux
chmod +x nix-installer
./nix-installerThis would install Nix on an x86_64-linux system but you can replace that with the system of your choice.
If you're on macOS (but not nix-darwin) or Linux (but not NixOS), you can install Determinate using Determinate Nix Installer by adding the --determinate flag:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | \
sh -s -- install --determinateTip
If you use nix-darwin or NixOS, we recommend installing Determinate using modules provided by the determinate flake.
Determinate is:
- Determinate Nix, Determinate Systems' validated and secure downstream Nix distribution for enterprises.
- FlakeHub, a platform for publishing and discovering Nix flakes that provides features like semantic versioning (SemVer) for flakes, private flakes, and FlakeHub Cache.
Determinate Nix Installer installs Nix by following a plan made by a planner. To review the available planners:
/nix/nix-installer install --helpPlanners have their own options and defaults, sharing most of them in common. To see the options for Linux, for example:
/nix/nix-installer install linux --helpYou can configure planners using environment variables or command arguments:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | \
NIX_BUILD_GROUP_NAME=nixbuilder sh -s -- install --nix-build-group-id 4000
# Alternatively:
NIX_BUILD_GROUP_NAME=nixbuilder ./nix-installer install --nix-build-group-id 4000See Installer settings below for a full list of options.
Having problems with the installer? Consult our troubleshooting guide to see if your problem is covered.
You can upgrade Nix to our currently recommended version of Nix by running:
sudo -i nix upgrade-nixAlternatively, you can uninstall and reinstall with a different version of Determinate Nix Installer.
You can remove Nix installed by Determinate Nix Installer by running:
/nix/nix-installer uninstallYou can install Nix on GitHub Actions using nix-installer-action.
Here's an example configuration:
on:
pull_request:
push:
branches: [main]
jobs:
build:
name: Build
runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Install Nix
uses: DeterminateSystems/nix-installer-action@main
- name: Run `nix build`
run: nix build .GitLab CI runners are typically Docker based and run as the root user.
This means that systemd is not present, so you need to pass the --init none option to the Linux planner.
On the default GitLab runners, you can install Nix using this configuration:
test:
script:
- curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install linux --no-confirm --init none
- . /nix/var/nix/profiles/default/etc/profile.d/nix-daemon.sh
- nix run nixpkgs#hello
- nix profile install nixpkgs#hello
- helloIf you are using different runners, the above example may need to be adjusted.
Warning
When --init none is used, only root or users who can elevate to root privileges can run Nix:
sudo -i nix run nixpkgs#helloIf you don't use systemd, you can still install Nix by explicitly specifying the linux plan and --init none:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | \
sh -s -- install linux --init noneIn Docker/Podman containers or WSL2 instances where an init (like systemd) is not present, pass --init none.
For containers (without an init):
Warning
When --init none is used, only root or users who can elevate to root privileges can run Nix:
sudo -i nix run nixpkgs#hello# Dockerfile
FROM ubuntu:latest
RUN apt update -y
RUN apt install curl -y
RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install linux \
--extra-conf "sandbox = false" \
--init none \
--no-confirm
ENV PATH="${PATH}:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin"
RUN nix run nixpkgs#hellodocker build -t ubuntu-with-nix .
docker run --rm -ti ubuntu-with-nix
docker rmi ubuntu-with-nix
# or
podman build -t ubuntu-with-nix .
podman run --rm -ti ubuntu-with-nix
podman rmi ubuntu-with-nixFor containers with a systemd init:
# Dockerfile
FROM ubuntu:latest
RUN apt update -y
RUN apt install curl systemd -y
RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install linux \
--extra-conf "sandbox = false" \
--no-start-daemon \
--no-confirm
ENV PATH="${PATH}:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin"
RUN nix run nixpkgs#hello
CMD [ "/bin/systemd" ]podman build -t ubuntu-systemd-with-nix .
IMAGE=$(podman create ubuntu-systemd-with-nix)
CONTAINER=$(podman start $IMAGE)
podman exec -ti $CONTAINER /bin/bash
podman rm -f $CONTAINER
podman rmi $IMAGEWith some container tools, such as Docker, you can omit sandbox = false.
Omitting this will negatively impact compatibility with container tools like Podman.
We strongly recommend first enabling systemd and then installing Nix as normal:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | \
sh -s -- installIf WSLg is enabled, you can do things like open a Linux Firefox from Windows on Powershell:
wsl nix run nixpkgs#firefoxTo use some OpenGL applications, you can use nixGL (note that some applications, such as blender, may not work):
wsl nix run --impure github:guibou/nixGL nix run nixpkgs#obs-studioIf enabling systemd is not an option, pass --init none at the end of the command:
Warning
When --init none is used, only root or users who can elevate to root privileges can run Nix:
sudo -i nix run nixpkgs#hellocurl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | \
sh -s -- install linux --init noneIf you'd like to bypass the confirmation step, you can apply the --no-confirm flag:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | \
sh -s -- install --no-confirmThis is especially useful when using the installer in non-interactive scripts.
Existing Nix installation scripts do a good job but they are difficult to maintain.
Subtle differences in the shell implementations and tool used in the scripts make it difficult to make meaningful changes to the installer.
Determinate Nix installer has numerous advantages over these options:
- It installs Nix with flakes enabled by default
- It enables Nix to survive macOS upgrades
- It keeps an installation receipt for easy uninstallation
- It uses planners to create appropriate install plans for complicated targets—plans that you can review prior to installation
- It enables you to perform a best-effort reversion in the facing of a failed install
- It improves installation performance by maximizing parallel operations
- It supports an expanded test suite including "curing" cases (compatibility with Nix already on the system)
- It supports SELinux and OSTree-based distributions without asking users to make compromises
- It operates as a single, static binary with external dependencies such as OpenSSL, only calling existing system tools (like
useradd) when necessary - As a macOS remote build target, it ensures that Nix is present on the
PATH
It has been wonderful to collaborate with other participants in the Nix Installer Working Group and members of the broader community. The working group maintains a foundation-owned fork of the installer.
While Determinate Nix Installer tries to provide a comprehensive and unquirky experience, there are unfortunately some issues that may require manual intervention or operator choices.
If Nix was previously uninstalled without uninstalling nix-darwin first, you may experience errors similar to this:
nix shell nixpkgs#curl
error: unable to download 'https://cache.nixos.org/g8bqlgmpa4yg601w561qy2n576i6g0vh.narinfo': Problem with the SSL CA cert (path? access rights?) (77)This occurs because nix-darwin provisions an org.nixos.activate-system service which remains after Nix is uninstalled.
The org.nixos.activate-system service in this state interacts with the newly installed Nix and changes the SSL certificates it uses to be a broken symlink.
ls -lah /etc/ssl/certs
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 96B Oct 17 08:26 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root wheel 192B Sep 16 06:28 ..
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 41B Oct 17 08:26 ca-certificates.crt -> /etc/static/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crtThe problem is compounded by the matter that the nix-darwin uninstaller will not work after uninstalling Nix, since it uses Nix and requires network connectivity.
It's possible to resolve this situation by removing the org.nixos.activate-system service and the ca-certificates:
sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.nixos.activate-system.plist
sudo launchctl bootout system/org.nixos.activate-system
/nix/nix-installer uninstall
sudo rm /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crtRun the installer again and it should work.
Up-to-date versions of the installer will refuse to uninstall until nix-darwin is uninstalled first, helping to mitigate this problem.
Since you'll be using the installer to install Nix on systems without Nix, the default build is a static binary.
To build a portable Linux binary on a system with Nix:
# to build a local copy
nix build -L ".#nix-installer-static"
# to build the remote main development branch
nix build -L "github:determinatesystems/nix-installer#nix-installer-static"
# for a specific version of the installer:
export NIX_INSTALLER_TAG="v0.6.0"
nix build -L "github:determinatesystems/nix-installer/$NIX_INSTALLER_TAG#nix-installer-static"On macOS:
# to build a local copy
nix build -L ".#nix-installer"
# to build the remote main development branch
nix build -L "github:determinatesystems/nix-installer#nix-installer"
# for a specific version of the installer:
export NIX_INSTALLER_TAG="v0.6.0"
nix build -L "github:determinatesystems/nix-installer/$NIX_INSTALLER_TAG#nix-installer"Then copy result/bin/nix-installer to the machine you wish to run it on.
You can also add the installer to a system without Nix using cargo, as there are no system dependencies to worry about:
# to build and run a local copy
RUSTFLAGS="--cfg tokio_unstable" cargo run -- --help
# to build the remote main development branch
RUSTFLAGS="--cfg tokio_unstable" cargo install --git https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer
nix-installer --help
# for a specific version of the installer:
export NIX_INSTALLER_TAG="v0.6.0"
RUSTFLAGS="--cfg tokio_unstable" cargo install --git https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer --tag $NIX_INSTALLER_TAG
nix-installer --helpTo make this build portable, pass the --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl option.
Note
We currently require --cfg tokio_unstable as we utilize Tokio's process groups, which wrap stable std APIs, but are unstable due to it requiring an MSRV bump.
Warning
Using Determinate Nix Installer as a Rust library is still experimental. This feature is likely to be removed in the future without an advocate. If you're using this, please let us know and we can provide a path to stabilization.
Add the nix-installer library to your dependencies:
cargo add nix-installerIf you're building a CLI, check out the cli feature flag for clap integration.
You'll also need to edit your .cargo/config.toml to use tokio_unstable as we utilize Tokio's process groups, which wrap stable std APIs, but are unstable due to it requiring an MSRV bump:
# .cargo/config.toml
[build]
rustflags=["--cfg", "tokio_unstable"]You'll also need to set the NIX_INSTALLER_TARBALL_PATH environment variable to point to a target-appropriate Nix installation tarball, like nix-2.21.2-aarch64-darwin.tar.xz.
The contents are embedded in the resulting binary instead of downloaded at installation time.
Then it's possible to review the documentation:
cargo doc --open -p nix-installerDocumentation is also available via nix build:
nix build github:DeterminateSystems/nix-installer#nix-installer.doc
firefox result-doc/nix-installer/index.htmlYou can pin to a specific version of Determinate Nix Installer by modifying the download URL. Here's an example:
VERSION="v0.6.0"
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix/tag/${VERSION} | \
sh -s -- installTo discover which versions are available, or download the binaries for any release, check the Github Releases.
You can download and use these releases directly. Here's an example:
VERSION="v0.6.0"
ARCH="aarch64-linux"
curl -sSf -L https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer/releases/download/${VERSION}/nix-installer-${ARCH} -o nix-installer
./nix-installer installEach installer version has an associated supported nix version—if you pin the installer version, you'll also indirectly pin to the associated nix version.
You can also override the Nix version using --nix-package-url or NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_PACKAGE_URL= but doing this is not recommended since we haven't tested that combination.
Here are some example Nix package URLs, including the Nix version, OS, and architecture:
- https://releases.nixos.org/nix/nix-2.18.1/nix-2.18.1-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
- https://releases.nixos.org/nix/nix-2.18.1/nix-2.18.1-aarch64-darwin.tar.xz
Differing from the upstream Nix installer scripts:
- In
nix.conf:- the
nix-commandandflakesfeatures are enabled bash-prompt-prefixis setauto-optimise-storeis set totrue(On Linux only)
always-allow-substitutesis set totrueextra-nix-pathis set tonixpkgs=flake:nixpkgsmax-jobsis set toautoupgrade-nix-store-path-urlis set tohttps://install.determinate.systems/nix-upgrade/stable/universal, to prevent unintentional downgrades.
- the
- an installation receipt (for uninstalling) is stored at
/nix/receipt.jsonas well as a copy of the install binary at/nix/nix-installer nix-channel --updateis not run,~/.nix-channelsis not provisionedssl-cert-fileis set in/etc/nix/nix.confif thessl-cert-fileargument is used.
Determinate Nix Installer provides a variety of configuration settings, some general and some on a per-command basis.
All settings are available via flags or via NIX_INSTALLER_* environment variables.
These settings are available for all commands.
| Flag(s) | Description | Default (if any) | Environment variable |
|---|---|---|---|
--log-directives |
Tracing directives delimited by comma | NIX_INSTALLER_LOG_DIRECTIVES |
|
--logger |
Which logger to use (options are compact, full, pretty, and json) |
compact |
NIX_INSTALLER_LOGGER |
--verbose |
Enable debug logs, (-vv for trace) |
false |
NIX_INSTALLER_VERBOSITY |
| Flag(s) | Description | Default (if any) | Environment variable |
|---|---|---|---|
--determinate |
Installs Determinate | NIX_INSTALLER_DETERMINATE |
|
--diagnostic-attribution |
Relate the install diagnostic to a specific value | NIX_INSTALLER_DIAGNOSTIC_ATTRIBUTION |
|
--diagnostic-endpoint |
The URL or file path for an installation diagnostic to be sent | https://install.determinate.systems/nix/diagnostic |
NIX_INSTALLER_DIAGNOSTIC_ENDPOINT |
--explain |
Provide an explanation of the changes the installation process will make to your system | false |
NIX_INSTALLER_EXPLAIN |
--extra-conf |
Extra configuration lines for /etc/nix.conf |
NIX_INSTALLER_EXTRA_CONF |
|
--force |
Whether the installer should forcibly recreate files it finds existing | false |
NIX_INSTALLER_FORCE |
--init |
Which init system to configure (if --init none Nix will be root-only) |
launchd (macOS), systemd (Linux) |
NIX_INSTALLER_INIT |
--nix-build-group-id |
The Nix build group GID | 350 (macOS), 30000 (Linux) |
NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_BUILD_GROUP_ID |
--nix-build-group-name |
The Nix build group name | nixbld |
NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_BUILD_GROUP_NAME |
--nix-build-user-count |
The number of build users to create | 32 |
NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_BUILD_USER_COUNT |
--nix-build-user-id-base |
The Nix build user base UID (ascending) (NOTE: the first UID will be this base + 1) | 350 (macOS), 30000 (Linux) |
NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_BUILD_USER_ID_BASE |
--nix-build-user-prefix |
The Nix build user prefix (user numbers will be postfixed) | _nixbld (macOS), nixbld (Linux) |
NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_BUILD_USER_PREFIX |
--nix-package-url |
The Nix package URL | NIX_INSTALLER_NIX_PACKAGE_URL |
|
--no-confirm |
Run installation without requiring explicit user confirmation | false |
NIX_INSTALLER_NO_CONFIRM |
--no-modify-profile |
Modify the user profile to automatically load Nix. | true |
NIX_INSTALLER_MODIFY_PROFILE |
--proxy |
The proxy to use (if any); valid proxy bases are https://$URL, http://$URL and socks5://$URL |
NIX_INSTALLER_PROXY |
|
--ssl-cert-file |
An SSL cert to use (if any); used for fetching Nix and sets ssl-cert-file in /etc/nix/nix.conf |
NIX_INSTALLER_SSL_CERT_FILE |
|
--no-start-daemon |
Start the daemon (if not --init none) |
true |
NIX_INSTALLER_START_DAEMON |
You can also specify a planner with the first argument:
nix-installer install <plan>Alternatively, you can use the NIX_INSTALLER_PLAN environment variable:
NIX_INSTALLER_PLAN=<plan> nix-installer install| Flag(s) | Description | Default (if any) | Environment variable |
|---|---|---|---|
--explain |
Provide an explanation of the changes the installation process will make to your system | false |
NIX_INSTALLER_EXPLAIN |
--no-confirm |
Run installation without requiring explicit user confirmation | false |
NIX_INSTALLER_NO_CONFIRM |
You can also specify an installation receipt as the first argument (the default is /nix/receipt.json):
nix-installer uninstall /path/to/receipt.json| Flag(s) | Description | Default (if any) | Environment variable |
|---|---|---|---|
--out-file |
Where to write the generated plan (in JSON format) | /dev/stdout |
NIX_INSTALLER_PLAN_OUT_FILE |
| Flag(s) | Description | Default (if any) | Environment variable |
|---|---|---|---|
--no-confirm |
Run installation without requiring explicit user confirmation | false |
NIX_INSTALLER_NO_CONFIRM |
nix-installer self-test only takes general settings.
The goal of Determinate Nix Installer is to successfully and correctly install Nix.
The curl | sh pipeline and the installer collects a little bit of diagnostic information to help us make that true.
Here is a table of the diagnostic data we collect:
| Field | Use |
|---|---|
version |
The version of Determinate Nix Installer. |
planner |
The method of installing Nix (linux, macos, steam-deck) |
configured_settings |
The names of planner settings which were changed from their default. Does not include the values. |
os_name |
The running operating system. |
os_version |
The version of the operating system. |
triple |
The architecture/operating system/binary format of your system. |
is_ci |
Whether the installer is being used in CI (e.g. GitHub Actions). |
action |
Either Install or Uninstall. |
status |
One of Success, Failure, Pending, or Cancelled. |
attribution |
Optionally defined by the user, associate the diagnostics of this run to the provided value. |
failure_chain |
A high level description of what the failure was, if any. For example: Command("diskutil") if the command diskutil list failed. |
To disable diagnostic reporting, set the diagnostics URL to an empty string by passing --diagnostic-endpoint="" or setting NIX_INSTALLER_DIAGNOSTIC_ENDPOINT="".
You can read the full privacy policy for Determinate Systems, the creators of Determinate Nix Installer, here.
![@dependabot[bot]](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/in/29110?s=64&v=4){kind=small}
