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[[ch-faq]]
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== Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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=== Why is there a collision error when switching generation?
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Home Manager currently installs packages into the user environment, precisely as if the packages were installed through `nix-env --install`. This means that you will get a collision error if your Home Manager configuration attempts to install a package that you already have installed manually, that is, packages that shows up when you run `nix-env --query`.
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For example, imagine you have the `hello` package installed in your environment
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[source,console]
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----
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$ nix-env --query
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hello-2.10
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----
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and your Home Manager configuration contains
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[source,nix]
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----
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home.packages = [ pkgs.hello ];
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----
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Then attempting to switch to this configuration will result in an error similar to
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[source,console]
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----
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$ home-manager switch
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these derivations will be built:
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/nix/store/xg69wsnd1rp8xgs9qfsjal017nf0ldhm-home-manager-path.drv
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[…]
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Activating installPackages
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replacing old ‘home-manager-path’
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installing ‘home-manager-path’
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building path(s) ‘/nix/store/b5c0asjz9f06l52l9812w6k39ifr49jj-user-environment’
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Wide character in die at /nix/store/64jc9gd2rkbgdb4yjx3nrgc91bpjj5ky-buildenv.pl line 79.
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collision between ‘/nix/store/fmwa4axzghz11cnln5absh31nbhs9lq1-home-manager-path/bin/hello’ and ‘/nix/store/c2wyl8b9p4afivpcz8jplc9kis8rj36d-hello-2.10/bin/hello’; use ‘nix-env --set-flag priority NUMBER PKGNAME’ to change the priority of one of the conflicting packages
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builder for ‘/nix/store/b37x3s7pzxbasfqhaca5dqbf3pjjw0ip-user-environment.drv’ failed with exit code 2
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error: build of ‘/nix/store/b37x3s7pzxbasfqhaca5dqbf3pjjw0ip-user-environment.drv’ failed
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----
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The solution is typically to uninstall the package from the environment using `nix-env --uninstall` and reattempt the Home Manager generation switch.
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You could also opt to unistall _all_ of the packages from your profile with `nix-env --uninstall '*'`.
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=== Why are the session variables not set?
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:foreign-env: https://github.com/oh-my-fish/plugin-foreign-env
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Home Manager is only able to set session variables automatically if it manages your Bash, Z shell, or fish shell configuration. To enable such management you use <<opt-programs.bash.enable>>, <<opt-programs.zsh.enable>>, or <<opt-programs.fish.enable>>.
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If you don't want to let Home Manager manage your shell then you will have to manually source the `~/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh` file in an appropriate way. In Bash and Z shell this can be done by adding
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[source,bash]
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----
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. "$HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh"
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----
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to your `.profile` and `.zshrc` files, respectively. The `hm-session-vars.sh` file should work in most Bourne-like shells. For fish shell, it is possible to source it using {foreign-env}[the foreign-env plugin]
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[source,bash]
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----
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fenv source "$HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh" > /dev/null
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----
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=== How to set up a configuration for multiple users/machines?
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:post-your-homenix: https://www.reddit.com/r/NixOS/comments/9bb9h9/post_your_homemanager_homenix_file/
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A typical way to prepare a repository of configurations for multiple logins and machines is to prepare one "top-level" file for each unique combination.
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For example, if you have two machines, called "kronos" and "rhea" on which you want to configure your user "jane" then you could create the files
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- `kronos-jane.nix`,
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- `rhea-jane.nix`, and
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- `common.nix`
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in your repository. On the kronos and rhea machines you can then make `~jane/.config/nixpkgs/home.nix` be a symbolic link to the corresponding file in your configuration repository.
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The `kronos-jane.nix` and `rhea-jane.nix` files follow the format
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[source,nix]
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----
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{ ... }:
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{
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imports = [ ./common.nix ];
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# Various options that are specific for this machine/user.
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}
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----
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while the `common.nix` file contains configuration shared across the two logins. Of course, instead of just a single `common.nix` file you can have multiple ones, even one per program or service.
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You can get some inspiration from the {post-your-homenix}[Post your home-manager home.nix file!] Reddit thread.
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=== Why do I get an error message about `ca.desrt.dconf` or `dconf.service`?
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You are most likely trying to configure something that uses dconf
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but the DBus session is not aware of the dconf service.
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The full error you might get is
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----
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error: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name ca.desrt.dconf was not provided by any .service files
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----
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or
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----
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error: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.systemd1.NoSuchUnit: Unit dconf.service not found.
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----
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The solution on NixOS is to add
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[source,nix]
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programs.dconf.enable = true;
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to your system configuration.
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=== How do I install packages from Nixpkgs unstable?
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If you are using a stable version of Nixpkgs but would like to install some particular packages from Nixpkgs unstable – or some other channel – then you can import the unstable Nixpkgs and refer to its packages within your configuration. Something like
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[source,nix]
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----
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{ pkgs, config, ... }:
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let
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pkgsUnstable = import <nixpkgs-unstable> {};
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in
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{
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home.packages = [
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pkgsUnstable.foo
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];
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# …
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}
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----
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should work provided you have a Nix channel called `nixpkgs-unstable`.
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You can add the `nixpkgs-unstable` channel by running
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[source,console]
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----
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# nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable nixpkgs-unstable
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# nix-channel --update
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----
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Note, the package will not be affected by any package overrides, overlays, etc.
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=== How do I override the package used by a module?
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:nixpkgs-overlays: https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/#chap-overlays
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By default Home Manager will install the package provided by your chosen `nixpkgs` channel but occasionally you might end up needing to change this package. This can typically be done in two ways.
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1. If the module provides a `package` option, such as `programs.beets.package`, then this is the recommended way to perform the override. For example,
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+
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[source,nix]
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programs.beets.package = pkgs.beets.override { enableCheck = true; };
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2. If no `package` option is available then you can typically override the relevant package using an {nixpkgs-overlays}[overlay].
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+
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For example, if you want to use the `programs.skim` module but use the `skim` package from Nixpkgs unstable, then a configuration like
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+
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[source,nix]
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----
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{ pkgs, config, ... }:
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let
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pkgsUnstable = import <nixpkgs-unstable> {};
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in
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{
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programs.skim.enable = true;
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nixpkgs.overlays = [
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(self: super: {
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skim = pkgsUnstable.skim;
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})
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];
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# …
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}
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----
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+
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should work OK.
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