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Development Environment Setup using Nix or Nix Flakes on Linux x86_64

docs/development/nix-linux-setup.md

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Development Environment Setup using Nix or Nix Flakes on Linux x86_64

Nix flakes can be used to provide version controlled reproducible and cross-platform development environments. The key files are:

  • flake.nix: Defines the flake inputs and outputs, including development shells.
  • shell.nix: This file defines the dependencies and additionally adds support for the Impure nix-shell method. This is used by the flake to create the dev environment.
  • flake.lock: Locks the versions of inputs for reproducibility.

Prerequisites

  • Nix the package manager or NixOs installed on Linux (x86_64-linux)
  • Optional: flakes support enabled.

Using the Development Shell

You have two primary ways to enter the development shell with Nix:

1. Using nix develop (flake-native command)

This is the recommended way if you have Nix with flakes support. Flake guarantee the versions of the dependencies and can be controlled through flake.nix and flake.lock.

bash
nix develop

This will open a shell with all dependencies and environment configured as per the flake.nix for (x86_64-linux) systems only at this time.

2. Using nix-shell (that's why shell.nix is a separate file)

If you want to use traditional nix-shell tooling which uses the nixpkgs version of your system:

bash
nix-shell

This will drop you into the shell environment defined in shell.nix. Note that this is not flake-native method and does not use the locked nixpkgs in flake.lock so exact versions of the dependancies is not guaranteed.

What's Inside the Dev Shell?

  • The environment variables and packages configured in shell.nix will be available.
  • The package set (pkgs) used aligns with the versions locked in flake.lock to ensure reproducibility.

Example Workflow Using Flakes

bash
# Navigate to the project root folder which contains the flake.nix, flake.lock and shell.nix files.

cd /home/user/dev/Libation

# Enter the flake development shell (Linux x86_64)

nix develop

# run VSCode or VSCodium from the current shell environment

code .

# Run or Debug using VSCode and VSCodium using the linux Launch configuration.

You can also Build and run your application inside the shell.

bash
dotnet build ./Source/LibationAvalonia/LibationAvalonia.csproj -p:TargetFrameworks=net9.0 -p:TargetFramework=net9.0 -p:RuntimeIdentifier=linux-x64

Notes

  • Leaving the current shell environemnt will drop all added dependancies and you will not be able to run or debug the program unless your system has those dependancies defined globally.
  • To exit the shell environment voluntarily use exit inside the shell.
  • Ensure you have no conflicting nix.conf or global.json that might affect SDK versions or runtime identifiers.
  • Keep your flake.lock file committed to ensure builds are reproducible for all collaborators.

References