My NixOS Basic no bs bare install guide

(for legacy bios only)

1. Download the iso from this link
2. now it's time to partition stuff

Partition table should be like this yo

3. format the partitions

mkfs.ext4 /dev/vda1
mkswap /dev/vda2
mkfs.ext4 /dev/vda3

4. Mount these sons of Bits

mount /dev/vda3 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/vda1 /mnt/boot
swapon /dev/vda2

5. generate the god damn configuration

nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
vim /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix

6. Now change these follwing options i guess.

boot.loader.grub.enable = true;
boot.loader.grub.device = "/dev/vda";  # not /dev/vda1
networking.hostName = "hostname";  # or any name you want
services.openssh.enable = true;

7. then install using this command

nixos-install

8. it should be done then reboot using reboot lol.

For UEFI systems (additional instructions)

If you're on a UEFI system instead of legacy BIOS, here's what changes:

Partition table for UEFI

Format partitions for UEFI

mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/vda1  # EFI partition needs vfat
mkswap /dev/vda2
mkfs.ext4 /dev/vda3

Mount stays the same

mount /dev/vda3 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/vda1 /mnt/boot
swapon /dev/vda2

Configuration changes for UEFI

Instead of GRUB on legacy BIOS, use systemd-boot:

boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable = true;
boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;
networking.hostName = "hostname";  # or any name you want
services.openssh.enable = true;

The rest (generate config, install, reboot) stays exactly the same.

Some extra options you should sorta edit

1. set time zone

time.timeZone = "Asia/Kolkata";

2. setup locale

i18n.defaultLocale = "en_US.UTF-8";

User adding

users.users.lordofwizard = {
	isNormalUser = true;
	extraGroups = [ "wheel" ];
	packages = with pkgs; [
		tree
		htop
	];
};