feat: add installer ISO + reorganize image modules#21
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…nstaller}; add installer ISO Reorganize the prebuilt-image modules and add a new installer ISO host. nixos/ layout: - nixos/_images/_base/hardware.nix — all-hardware (single source) - nixos/_images/_base/iso.nix — shared ISO mechanics (iso-image.nix import, EFI/BIOS/USB bootable, bootloader overrides); NO image identity - nixos/_images/box-turnkey.nix — moved from nixos/_appliance/; shared turn-key Coder box (bake /etc/nixos-repo, registry, coderbox autologin, coder admin env); now imports _base/hardware.nix and is shared by all image hosts - nixos/_images/_appliance/iso.nix — was nixos/_appliance/live-iso.nix; now only sets appliance image identity (volumeID CODER_BOX_APPLIANCE, menu label, baseName) - nixos/_images/_installer/iso.nix — NEW; mirrors the appliance ISO (full GUI box + turn-key) but with installer identity (CODER_BOX_INSTALLER / coder-box-installer-<arch>) hosts/: - _appliance_iso, _appliance-disk: import paths updated to nixos/_images/... - _installer-iso: NEW host (ISO only) Makefile: add installer/iso[/<arch>] targets (reuses box_build). flake.nix: comment-only (installer keeps configuration.nix → GUI on). Docs: README + agents.md updated for the _images/ layout and installer ISO. The installer is intentionally GUI-on for now; the minimal/bash-only installer environment is deferred. Verified (nix): all 5 hosts eval; installer ISO builds end-to-end (4.1G, out/installer-iso/iso/coder-box-installer-x86_64-linux.iso) with volumeID CODER_BOX_INSTALLER, xserver enabled, coder admin env, autologin coderbox, hostname coder-box; appliance ISO/qcow2/raw still eval (volumeID CODER_BOX_APPLIANCE); coder-thinkcentre & qemu-arm64 toplevel drv hashes byte-identical to origin/main (no install-flow regression).
…ance/_installer -> base/appliance/installer) The _images parent already signals 'not a host'; the subfolders don't need the underscore. Rename the three subdirs and update all import paths and doc/comment references. No behavior change. Verified: all 5 hosts eval; installer + appliance ISO derivations still build.
box-turnkey autologins into the Plasma desktop; for the installer ISO add a system-wide XDG autostart entry that opens Konsole full-screen on session start with --workdir /etc/nixos-repo (the baked coder/box repo). Installer-only; the appliance keeps a normal desktop.
Login is already passwordless (coderbox autologin + passwordless sudo); the only remaining password gate was KDE's screen locker (idle auto-lock / lock-on-resume). Disable it system-wide for the installer via kscreenlockerrc (Autolock=false, LockOnResume=false) so the installer is never locked. Appliance keeps the default locker.
…into writable git repo) On the installer/appliance ISO, /etc/nixos-repo is a symlink into the read-only Nix store with no .git, so install.sh's writes (mkdir hosts/<host>) failed with 'Read-only file system', and there was no git repo to leave on the installed box. Fix: - install.sh: when REPO_DIR is read-only or not a git repo, clone the upstream repo (CODER_BOX_REPO_URL / CODER_BOX_REPO_REF, default public coder/box main) into a writable tmpdir (tmpfs/RAM on the live ISO) and re-exec from there. The clone is a real git repo (origin + tracking branch), so after cp -a to /mnt the installed /etc/nixos-repo supports 'git pull'. The normal live-USB flow (already a writable git clone) is unchanged. git add --intent-to-add is now unconditional since REPO_DIR is always a git repo. - nixos/_images/installer/iso.nix: set vm.overcommit_memory=1 (mirrors nixpkgs installation-device.nix) for low-RAM installs; document why install.sh works on the read-only ISO (writable tmpfs /nix/store overlay; closure builds into the target /mnt/nix/store). Verified: clone-relocation triggers on a read-only no-.git dir and re-execs; normal writable git repo does not clone; installer ISO still evaluates.
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… git pull Per request, don't re-clone from the network when install.sh runs on the ISO — the full repo is already baked into the image. When REPO_DIR is read-only / not a git repo, copy the baked tree into a writable tmpdir, 'git init' it locally (commit a snapshot labeled with the baked upstream rev), and set origin + branch.main.merge so the installed /etc/nixos-repo can 'git pull' future updates. No network needed at install time. CODER_BOX_REPO_URL only sets the origin URL. Record provenance: box-turnkey.nix writes /etc/coder-box-rev from self.rev (or dirtyRev), which install.sh uses to label the initial commit. Verified: offline copy+init path materializes a git repo with origin and tracking branch (no clone); installer ISO still evaluates; rev file populated.
…ll), offline fallback Mirror the manual 'copy /etc/nixos-repo somewhere writable, make it git, run install.sh there' workflow precisely: copy the baked repo (no full re-download), git init + add origin, then — if online — 'git fetch' upstream and 'reset --hard' to it so the installed /etc/nixos-repo has real upstream history and future 'git pull' is clean (no unrelated-histories reconcile). Offline / fetch failure falls back to the baked snapshot commit (install still works; first pull may need --rebase). A fetch transfers deltas, not a full clone. Verified both paths locally against a fake upstream (online anchors + sets tracking branch; offline keeps snapshot); installer ISO still evaluates.
…wizardry Per feedback: - Drop the .coder-box-write-test probe; detect read-only REPO_DIR with [[ ! -w ]]. On NixOS /etc/nixos-repo is a read-only *mount*, so access(W_OK)=EROFS makes -w false even for root. - Remove all git init/commit/remote-add/fetch logic (it failed: the baked repo already has a .git with origin, so 'git remote add origin' errored 'already exists'). Now we just 'cp -a' the baked repo to a writable tmpdir and re-exec. cp -a keeps the baked .git (if present), so the installed /etc/nixos-repo can still 'git pull'; if absent, install still works as a path flake. - Guard the intent-to-add (skip when the copy has no .git). - Remove the now-unused /etc/coder-box-rev from box-turnkey.nix. Verified: relocation copies + re-execs cleanly with and without a baked .git (no 'origin already exists'/'re-init' noise); installer ISO still evaluates.
…ole; drop to bash on failure - install.sh: list_disks now skips /dev/zram* (and dm-/md/loop) — zram reports TYPE=disk RM=0 so it was wrongly offered as an install target. - installer iso.nix: the preopened full-screen Konsole now runs a launcher (konsole -e) that cd's to /etc/nixos-repo and runs 'sudo ./install.sh' (passwordless sudo), then execs an interactive bash shell if install.sh fails — so a failed install leaves the user at a usable prompt instead of a dead terminal. On success install.sh reboots. Verified: zram filter keeps vda/sda, drops zram/loop/rom; installer ISO evaluates; Konsole Exec runs the launcher; bash -n clean.
…ate failure on the box ISO) When installing FROM a Coder box image (installer/appliance ISO), the target's system closure already exists in the live /nix/store — but in the read-only squashfs lower layer of the overlay. nixos-install builds the flake with 'nix build --store /mnt --extra-substituters <host-store>', i.e. it substitutes the closure into /mnt from the host store; the squashfs paths lack the signatures/narinfo substitution needs, so the copy silently yields nothing. /mnt is left empty (no bash, system profile points at nixos-repo-src) and the chroot 'activate' fails: 'No such file or directory'. (Confirmed on-device: /mnt/nix/store had no bash, system-1-link -> ...-nixos-repo-src, /mnt 34M used.) Fix: when the target closure is already present in the live store, copy it into /mnt explicitly with 'nix copy --no-check-sigs' (bypasses the signature/substituter machinery); nixos-install then finds it and just activates. On a stock NixOS live ISO the closure isn't present, so we skip the copy and let nixos-install build straight into /mnt as before (no extra tmpfs/RAM use). Pure 'nix eval' (no build) gets the path so the stock-ISO case isn't forced to realise the closure in the host store. Verified: bash -n clean; nix eval --raw returns the toplevel out path for the presence check. Needs on-device confirmation on the installer ISO.
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…al fix for chroot activate failure) My previous attempt gated the nix-copy on the target toplevel already being realised in the live store. But install.sh installs host 'coder-nixos', which is a DIFFERENT system than the image's own host (_installer-iso), so its toplevel is never pre-realised — the check failed, the copy was skipped, and nixos-install fell back to the broken squashfs substitution. That's why the auto-relocated install failed while the user's manual 'copy to /tmp/box and run' worked. Fix: on a baked image (relocation now exports CODER_BOX_FROM_IMAGE=1), explicitly build the coder-nixos toplevel (cheap — KDE/Coder/k3s/etc. are reused from the squashfs; only host-specific derivations are new), 'nix copy --no-check-sigs' its full closure into /mnt, then 'nixos-install --system' activates it. The squashfs-substitution-into-/mnt path (which silently no-ops on signature-less store paths) is no longer used. Stock live-USB installs keep the original 'nixos-install --flake' (direct build into /mnt; no tmpfs OOM). Verified: bash -n clean; nixos-install --system/--no-channel-copy/--no-root-passwd all valid in the pinned nixpkgs. Needs on-device confirmation.
- nixos/_images/installer/iso.nix: take 'self', derive boxRev (self.rev / dirtyRev / unknown) and a 12-char short form; append the short rev to the boot-menu label -> 'NixOS <ver> - Coder Box Installer (<rev>)'. Also write the full rev to /etc/coder-box-rev (the baked /etc/nixos-repo has no .git, so install.sh can't get it from git on the image). - install.sh: print ' revision: <rev>' under the banner. Resolves via git (live-USB clone / fork checkout), else /etc/coder-box-rev, else 'unknown'. Verified: installer ISO evaluates; menu label = ' - Coder Box Installer (7ac3deb)'; /etc/coder-box-rev populated; bash -n clean.
The installer ISO inherits the full box config but its only job is to install coder/box onto a disk — running the Coder server, k3s, PostgreSQL, Podman, and the bootstrap/redirect/reaper/logstream units + template-sync activation in the live environment is dead weight (slow boot, wasted RAM/CPU during install). Disable them in the installer module: - services.coder-nixos.k3s-sysbox / postgresql / podman -> mkForce false - systemd coder, coder-init-admin, coder-redirect, coder-logstream-kube, coder-workspace-reaper (+ timer), coder-sync-ssh-keys -> enable = false - coder-template-sync activation script -> mkForce "" The INSTALLED system still gets everything; this only affects the live ISO. Verified: installer ISO evaluates; all listed services enable=false (k3s off); appliance still has them all enabled; coder-thinkcentre toplevel drv unchanged.
The boot menu showed '(unknown)' because the Makefile builds through a *path*
flakeref — getFlake (toString ./.) — which carries NO git metadata, so
self.rev/dirtyRev were empty (a previous _module.args attempt also threw
'attribute coderBoxRev missing' under .# builds because the formal-arg default
isn't honored).
Add a proper NixOS option 'coderBox.rev' in the shared box-turnkey.nix
(defined there so it exists for every image host the Makefile builds), defaulting
to self.rev/dirtyRev for .# (git+file) builds. The Makefile computes the git rev
(GIT_REV, full hash + -dirty) and overrides it via 'coderBox.rev' on every
target. box-turnkey's config is now wrapped in 'config = { }' as required when a
module declares options.
Verified: installer boot label shows (78ac95f) via both Makefile-style and
.# builds; appliance ISO + disk still evaluate with coderBox.rev set; all 5
hosts visible.
Revert the *.tar.gz ignore added in cc5670d: the only tarball in the tree is the build-critical pkgs/sysbox-runc-vendor-*.tar.gz vendor source, and tarballs here are intentionally committed, so a blanket ignore is wrong. The hosts/ ignore (user hosts vs centrally-managed) stays.
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Code changes LGTM. Building the installer ISO now and will try on my machine when I get home :)
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Closes #4
Summary
Reorganizes the prebuilt-image modules under
nixos/_images/(with a shared_base/of primitives) and adds a new installer ISO host.nixos/layout_base/holds primitives only;box-turnkey.nixis the shared payload one level up, and imports_base/hardware.nixso the disk host (noiso.nix) still gets all-hardware.New
_installer-isohosthosts/_installer-iso/builds ISO only (no qcow2/raw).configuration.nixvia the unchangedmkHost, plusbox-turnkeyfor thecoderboxautologin). Differs from the appliance only in image identity (CODER_BOX_INSTALLER,coder-box-installer-<arch>.iso).Other
isoImage.volumeIDchangedCODER_BOX_LIVE→CODER_BOX_APPLIANCE.Makefile: addedinstaller/iso+installer/iso/<arch>(reusesbox_build).flake.nix: comment-only.README.md+agents.mdupdated for the_images/layout and installer ISO.Validation (real Nix)
nix flake show: 5 hosts incl._installer-iso.out/installer-iso/iso/coder-box-installer-x86_64-linux.iso(4.1 GB); asserts:volumeID=CODER_BOX_INSTALLER,xserver.enable=true, coder admin env present, autologincoderbox, hostnamecoder-box.volumeID=CODER_BOX_APPLIANCE).coder-thinkcentreandqemu-arm64toplevel drv hashes byte-identical toorigin/main— no install-flow impact.make -nfor all five targets resolves to the correct hosts.