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# Nixie
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NixOS PXE boot install with
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[Wake-on-LAN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN),
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[Pixiecore](https://github.com/danderson/netboot/tree/main/pixiecore) and
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[nixos-anywhere](https://nix-community.github.io/nixos-anywhere).
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Currently, only `x86_64-linux` is supported.
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> [!CAUTION]
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> This project is still a work in progress and will not be ready for use until
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> most of the [features](#features) below are completed.
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Easy NixOS PXE boot install.
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## Features
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Currently, only `x86_64-linux` is supported.
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- [x] Simple, declarative JSON configuration
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- [x] Build a custom NixOS installer from a flake
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- [x] Built-in PXE server to serve netboot components from the custom installer
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- [ ] Host status check with IP discovery
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- [ ] Remote power-on with Wake-on-LAN
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- [x] Built-in PXE server based on [Pixiecore](https://github.com/danderson/netboot/tree/main/pixiecore) to serve netboot components from the custom installer
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- [ ] Custom agent and API to manage the installation process
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- [ ] Install NixOS from a flake using nixos-anywhere
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- [x] Stateless
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- [ ] Install NixOS from a flake using [nixos-anywhere](https://nix-community.github.io/nixos-anywhere)
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- [ ] Remote power-on with [Wake-on-LAN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN)
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- [ ] Host status check with IP discovery
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- [x] Stateless and ephemeral [^1]
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- [ ] Fast, under 2 minutes to install NixOS from empty hard drives [^2]
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[^1]: No pre-configured PXE server is required to install other machines - you
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only need to run Nixie on your laptop or workstation. This solves the
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"first machine in the data center" problem: in bare-metal setups with
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persistent PXE servers, you would otherwise need to automate the installation
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of the PXE server itself.
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[^2]: Using the provided examples with a warm cache. Factors that affect the
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speed include whether the configuration has been cached in the Nix store,
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the size of the NixOS configuration, the network speed, etc.
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## Usage
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Note over Nixie: Return when all machines are installed
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```
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## Acknowledgements
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This project is a rewrite of my previous ephemeral PXE server implementation in
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my [khuedoan/homelab](https://github.com/khuedoan/homelab) repository, which
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used a stateless PXE server in Docker with Ansible templating and targeted
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generic Linux distributions. It has been rebuilt from the ground up for NixOS,
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offering a more integrated and robust experience in this project. All credits
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from the previous implementation are also referenced here, as similar knowledge
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and concepts apply.
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- Ephemeral PXE server [^1] inspired by [Minimal First Machine in the DC](https://speakerdeck.com/amcguign/minimal-first-machine-in-the-dc)
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- [NixOS netboot with pixiecore](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Netboot)
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- [The Pixiecore library](https://github.com/danderson/netboot/tree/main/pixiecore)
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- Custom agent for the installation process inspired by [OpenStack ironic-python-agent](https://opendev.org/openstack/ironic-python-agent) and [Tinkerbell Worker](https://tinkerbell.org/docs/services/tink-worker)