100 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
100 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
# Changing the Configuration {#sec-changing-config}
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The file `/etc/nixos/configuration.nix` contains the current
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configuration of your machine. Whenever you've [changed
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something](#ch-configuration) in that file, you should do
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```ShellSession
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# nixos-rebuild switch
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```
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to build the new configuration, make it the default configuration for
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booting, and try to realise the configuration in the running system
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(e.g., by restarting system services).
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::: {.warning}
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This command doesn't start/stop [user services](#opt-systemd.user.services)
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automatically. `nixos-rebuild` only runs a `daemon-reload` for each user with running
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user services.
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:::
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::: {.warning}
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These commands must be executed as root, so you should either run them
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from a root shell or by prefixing them with `sudo -i`.
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:::
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You can also do
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```ShellSession
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# nixos-rebuild test
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```
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to build the configuration and switch the running system to it, but
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without making it the boot default. So if (say) the configuration locks
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up your machine, you can just reboot to get back to a working
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configuration.
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There is also
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```ShellSession
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# nixos-rebuild boot
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```
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to build the configuration and make it the boot default, but not switch
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to it now (so it will only take effect after the next reboot).
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You can make your configuration show up in a different submenu of the
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GRUB 2 boot screen by giving it a different *profile name*, e.g.
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```ShellSession
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# nixos-rebuild switch -p test
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```
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which causes the new configuration (and previous ones created using
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`-p test`) to show up in the GRUB submenu "NixOS - Profile 'test'".
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This can be useful to separate test configurations from "stable"
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configurations.
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Finally, you can do
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```ShellSession
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$ nixos-rebuild build
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```
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to build the configuration but nothing more. This is useful to see
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whether everything compiles cleanly.
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If you have a machine that supports hardware virtualisation, you can
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also test the new configuration in a sandbox by building and running a
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QEMU *virtual machine* that contains the desired configuration. Just do
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```ShellSession
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$ nixos-rebuild build-vm
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$ ./result/bin/run-*-vm
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```
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The VM does not have any data from your host system, so your existing
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user accounts and home directories will not be available unless you have
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set `mutableUsers = false`. Another way is to temporarily add the
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following to your configuration:
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```nix
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users.users.your-user.initialHashedPassword = "test";
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```
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*Important:* delete the \$hostname.qcow2 file if you have started the
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virtual machine at least once without the right users, otherwise the
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changes will not get picked up. You can forward ports on the host to the
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guest. For instance, the following will forward host port 2222 to guest
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port 22 (SSH):
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```ShellSession
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$ QEMU_NET_OPTS="hostfwd=tcp::2222-:22" ./result/bin/run-*-vm
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```
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allowing you to log in via SSH (assuming you have set the appropriate
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passwords or SSH authorized keys):
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```ShellSession
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$ ssh -p 2222 localhost
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```
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