nixos-cheatsheet/cheatsheet.typ

#show link: underline

#set document(
  title: [NixOS Cheatsheet],
  author: "SIPB",
  description: [https://forgejo.mit.edu/SIPB/nixos-cheatsheet],
)
#set page(
  "us-letter",
  columns: 2,
  flipped: true,
  margin: 1cm,
)

#grid(
  columns: (80pt, auto),
  [#block(image("nix-snowflake-colours.svg", width: 64pt))],
  [#title()

  Revision #datetime.today().display(), made by #context document.author.first() #box(image("sipb.svg", height: 15pt))

  #context document.description]
)

#table(
  stroke: (x: none, y: 0.5pt),
  columns: (35%, auto),
  table.header(table.cell(fill: silver, align: center, [Task]), table.cell(fill: silver, align: center, [Command])),
  table.header(level: 2, repeat: false, table.cell(fill: aqua, [*Running software*]), table.cell(fill: aqua, [])),
  [Search for software], [```bash nix search nixpkgs hello```],
  [Run program], [```bash nix run nixpkgs#hello``` #footnote[Pass `--` before any arguments to the program]],
  [Run program from other nixpkgs branch], ```bash nix run nixpkgs/nixos-25.11#hello```,
  [Run program from another flake], ```bash nix run nix run github:user/nixpkgs/branch#hello```,
  [Find nixpkgs revision for a specific version of a program], [See https://lazamar.co.uk/nix-versions/],
  [Get shell with program], ```bash nix shell nixpkgs#hello```,
  [Run AppImage], ```bash appimage-run hello.AppImage```,
  table.header(level: 2, repeat: false, table.cell(fill: lime, [*Building the system*]), table.cell(fill: lime, [])),
  [Update flake inputs], ```bash nix flake update```,
  [Build and deploy to this machine], ```bash nixos-rebuild switch --sudo```,
  [Build on remote machine and deploy to current machine], [```bash sudo nixos-rebuild switch --build-host user@remote --use-substitutes``` #footnote[This needs root on the current machine to add untrusted paths to the Nix store]],
  [Build on current machine and deploy to remote machine], [```bash nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#remote-machine-hostname --target-host root@remote``` #footnote[This needs root on the remote machine for the same reason]],
  [Build and run VM from config], [```bash nixos-rebuild build-vm && result/bin/run-$hostname-vm -m 4G -smp 4 -device virtio-vga-gl -display sdl,gl=on``` #footnote[You may need to change all occurrences of the QEMU version in the run script if the config uses a different nixpkgs revision than the host]],
  [Build ISO from config], [Add `"/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-minimal-new-kernel-no-zfs.nix"` as a module, then run ```bash nix build .#nixosConfigurations.$hostname.config.system.build.isoImage```],
  table.header(level: 2, repeat: false, table.cell(fill: yellow, [*System generations*]), table.cell(fill: yellow, [])),
  [List system generations], ```bash nixos-rebuild list-generations```,
  [Get changes between system generations], ```bash nix profile diff-closures --profile /nix/var/nix/profiles/system```,
  [Roll back one generation], ```bash nixos-rebuild switch --sudo --rollback```,
  [Switch to generation], ```bash sudo nix-env --switch-generation 12345 -p /nix/var/nix/profiles/system && sudo /nix/var/nix/profiles/system/bin/switch-to-configuration switch```,
  table.header(level: 2, repeat: false, table.cell(fill: orange, [*Store operations*]), table.cell(fill: orange, [])),
  [Get size of system], ```bash nix path-info -Sh /nix/var/nix/profiles/system```,
  [Get size of Nix store], ```bash sqlite3 /nix/var/nix/db/db.sqlite 'SELECT SUM(narSize) FROM ValidPaths'```,
  [Get largest packages], ```bash sqlite3 /nix/var/nix/db/db.sqlite 'SELECT * FROM ValidPaths ORDER BY narSize DESC LIMIT 20'```,
  [Clean Nix store], ```bash sudo nix-collect-garbage && nix store optimise```,
  [Delete generations older than 7 days], ```bash sudo nix-collect-garbage --delete-older-than 7d```,
  [Check what depends on path], ```bash nix-store --query --referrers /nix/store/aaaaaa```,
  table.header(level: 2, repeat: false, table.cell(fill: fuchsia, [*Nix development*]), table.cell(fill: fuchsia, [])),
  [Run Nix file], ```bash nix eval -f main.nix```,
  [Inspect system config in REPL], ```bash nix repl .#nixosConfigurations.$hostname```,
  [Format flake], [Add `formatter.${system} = pkgs.nixfmt-tree;` to your flake outputs, then run ```bash nix fmt```],
)