![]() The Rust `switch-to-configuration-ng` rewrite was carefully written to be compatible with the original Perl script, has been checked against NixOS VM tests, and has been available on an opt‐in basis for testing for the 24.05 release cycle. The next step towards replacing the Perl script entirely is to switch it on by default so that we can get real‐world testing from a much greater number of users. Maintaining two implementations in parallel is becoming a burden; we are having to adjust the systemd service activation behaviour slightly to fix a long‐standing bug, and backporting the changes to the Perl script is an unpleasant process. We will do it anyway to ensure that the Rust and Perl implementations keep parity with each other throughout the 24.11 release cycle, but we think the time has come to flip the switch. Taking this step now will give us two to three months to test this in the wild before the 24.11 release and gain confidence that there are no regressions. If any non‐trivial problems arise before the final release, we will revert to the Perl implementation by default. Doing this switch ASAP will help to disentangle any problems that might arise from the Rust implementation from problems that arise from the systemd service activation changes, or the upcoming switch to using systemd in stage 1 by default. The main concern that was raised about replacing the Perl script in the PR that added `switch-to-configuration-ng` was that it is currently possible to run NixOS on systems that cannot natively host a Rust compiler. This does not apply to any platforms that have official support from NixOS, and as far as I know we do not know of any such systems with users that are not cross‐compiling anyway. My understanding is that these systems are already broken by default anyway, as `systemd.shutdownRamfs.enable` is on by default and uses `make-initrd-ng`, which is also written in Rust. Switching the default while keeping the Perl implementation around will give us at least an entire release cycle to find out if there are any users that will be affected by this and decide what to do about it if so. There is currently one known inconsistency between the Perl and Rust implementations, as documented in <https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/312297>; the Rust implementation has more accurate handling of failed systemd units. We slightly adjust the semantics of `system.switch.enable{,Ng}` to not conflict with each other, so that `system.switch.enableNg` is on by default, but turning off `system.switch.enable` still results in no `switch-to-configuration` implementation being used. This won’t break the configuration of anyone who already opted in to `system.switch.enableNg` and is probably how the option should have worked to begin with. |
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doc/manual | ||
lib | ||
maintainers | ||
modules | ||
tests | ||
COPYING | ||
default.nix | ||
README.md | ||
release-combined.nix | ||
release-small.nix | ||
release.nix |
NixOS
NixOS is a Linux distribution based on the purely functional package management system Nix. More information can be found at https://nixos.org/nixos and in the manual in doc/manual.
Testing changes
You can add new module to your NixOS configuration file (usually it’s /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
). And do sudo nixos-rebuild test -I nixpkgs=<path to your local nixpkgs folder> --fast
.
Commit conventions
-
Make sure you read about the commit conventions common to Nixpkgs as a whole.
-
Format the commit messages in the following way:
nixos/(module): (init module | add setting | refactor | etc) (Motivation for change. Link to release notes. Additional information.)
Examples:
-
nixos/hydra: add bazBaz option
Dual baz behavior is needed to do foo.
-
nixos/nginx: refactor config generation
The old config generation system used impure shell scripts and could break in specific circumstances (see #1234).
-
Reviewing contributions
When changing the bootloader installation process, extra care must be taken. Grub installations cannot be rolled back, hence changes may break people’s installations forever. For any non-trivial change to the bootloader please file a PR asking for review, especially from @edolstra.
Module updates
Module updates are submissions changing modules in some ways. These often contains changes to the options or introduce new options.
Reviewing process:
- Ensure that the module maintainers are notified.
- CODEOWNERS will make GitHub notify users based on the submitted changes, but it can happen that it misses some of the package maintainers.
- Ensure that the module tests, if any, are succeeding.
- You may invoke OfBorg with
@ofborg test <module>
to buildnixosTests.<module>
- You may invoke OfBorg with
- Ensure that the introduced options are correct.
- Type should be appropriate (string related types differs in their merging capabilities,
loaOf
andstring
types are deprecated). - Description, default and example should be provided.
- Type should be appropriate (string related types differs in their merging capabilities,
- Ensure that option changes are backward compatible.
mkRenamedOptionModuleWith
provides a way to make renamed option backward compatible.- Use
lib.versionAtLeast config.system.stateVersion "24.05"
on backward incompatible changes which may corrupt, change or update the state stored on existing setups.
- Ensure that removed options are declared with
mkRemovedOptionModule
. - Ensure that changes that are not backward compatible are mentioned in release notes.
- Ensure that documentations affected by the change is updated.
Sample template for a module update review is provided below.
##### Reviewed points
- [ ] changes are backward compatible
- [ ] removed options are declared with `mkRemovedOptionModule`
- [ ] changes that are not backward compatible are documented in release notes
- [ ] module tests succeed on ARCHITECTURE
- [ ] options types are appropriate
- [ ] options description is set
- [ ] options example is provided
- [ ] documentation affected by the changes is updated
##### Possible improvements
##### Comments
New modules
New modules submissions introduce a new module to NixOS.
Reviewing process:
- Ensure that all file paths fit the guidelines.
- Ensure that the module tests, if any, are succeeding.
- Ensure that the introduced options are correct.
- Type should be appropriate (string related types differs in their merging capabilities,
loaOf
andstring
types are deprecated). - Description, default and example should be provided.
- Type should be appropriate (string related types differs in their merging capabilities,
- Ensure that module
meta
field is present- Maintainers should be declared in
meta.maintainers
. - Module documentation should be declared with
meta.doc
.
- Maintainers should be declared in
- Ensure that the module respect other modules functionality.
- For example, enabling a module should not open firewall ports by default.
Sample template for a new module review is provided below.
##### Reviewed points
- [ ] module path fits the guidelines
- [ ] module tests succeed on ARCHITECTURE
- [ ] options have appropriate types
- [ ] options have default
- [ ] options have example
- [ ] options have descriptions
- [ ] No unneeded package is added to `environment.systemPackages`
- [ ] `meta.maintainers` is set
- [ ] module documentation is declared in `meta.doc`
##### Possible improvements
##### Comments