Native NixOS for Windows?

Just curious if there’s movement on Holonix for Windows, it’s not easy for me to use a virtual machine with my current setup

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yeah apparently it works on WSL with some extra config

see the conversation at I'm spinning up some docs for holonix, feedback welcome :)

would be good to hear how you go with that approach @marcus

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Damn, I tried that before but apparently you need the windows Feature update to version 1903 before it works, but my device refuses to update to it…ARGH!

@marcus realistically it’s gonna be one of 3 options:

  • WSL1 or WSL2
  • vagrant or docker
  • dual boot

all that will happen over time is that WSL2 support will improve if NixOS becomes “official”

Okay thanks.

The dual boot option might be best if you can’t run a VM or WSL.

the thing is that you’re then dual booting a full NixOS OS

i love my NixOS laptop but it’s no joke, the learning curve is real

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Or just dual boot Ubuntu and then install nix-shell.

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Hi, did anyone try running VS Code Remote development (over SSH)?

When trying this, it seems I need to install the vscode server in the NIXOS vagrant container (I’m using VirtualBox on Windows).
This, as I understand it, requires enabling allowUnfree = true; in a file .nixpkgs/config.nix (which I can’t find), or in etc/nixos/configuration.nix.
The file is read-only, any ideas how to go about changing the configuration file properly? Of whether this is even a workable way?

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@Qubeo the nixos plugin for vagrant lets you set configuration in the provisioning step

the vagrant file that i put in the gist used in the quickstart guide is really just an MVP example, part of what is good about vagrant is that it can be tailored per-project

Hi, I can’t figure out, how to use IDE with Vindows…

Virtualbox allows me to expose a Vagrant folder to windows (as a shared folder), but when I get into nix-shell, I have no idea how to expose the folders I’m creating with nix-shell… does anyone have any idea?

Or what IDE do you use when using Windows + VirtualBox + Vagrant + nix-shell?
Do you use VSCode, or something els?

Okay, so it’s a problem with mounting the shared folder. It has worked before, but for some it doesn’t now. I get:

"GuestAdditions versions on your host (6.0.12) and guest (5.2.8) do not match.
The guest's platform ("nixos") is currently not supported, will try generic Linux method...
Copy iso file C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso into the box /tmp/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
Mounting Virtualbox Guest Additions ISO to: /mnt
mount: /mnt: mount point does not exist.
==> default: Checking for guest additions in VM...
    default: The guest additions on this VM do not match the installed version of
    default: VirtualBox! In most cases this is fine, but in rare cases it can
    default: prevent things such as shared folders from working properly."

I tried installing: $ vagrant plugin install vagrant-vbguest, but no luck.

For anyone interested, I managed to get native nixos works with WSL2. You have to have a minimum build of 18917, but you can get that from the windows insider program. Once you are on that build, download the Ubuntu app and follow these instructions : https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl2-install

You will have nixos running out of the ubuntu subsystem

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When you’ve SSH’d into the box, make sure you navigate to the shared folder which gets exposed to Windows with cd /vagrant

oh yes and be aware that additional shared folders can be configured in the vagrantfile

Thanks. The problem is no folder gets exposed, because there’s a mismatch between the guest additions: Additions versions on your host (6.0.12) and guest (5.2.8) do not match. and the vagrant-vbguest plugin doesn’t to seem to work to remedy this either.

@Qubeo we rebuilt the vagrant box in the last few days, when is the last time you tested this?

Hi David, yesterday evening. When I downgrade my VirtualBox to 5.2.8., I get:

GuestAdditions seems to be installed (5.2.8) correctly, but not running.
bash: line 4: start: command not found
bash: line 4: start: command not found
bash: line 4: setup: command not found
==> default: Checking for guest additions in VM...
The following SSH command responded with a non-zero exit status.
Vagrant assumes that this means the command failed!

 setup

Stdout from the command:



Stderr from the command:

bash: line 4: setup: command not found

Hi Quebo,

Let me debug this and get back to you :slightly_smiling_face:

This appears to be working for me, have you tried removing your virtual image and starting again? I’m using latest virtual box / vagrant