Lets you choose what files and directories you want to keep between reboots - the rest are thrown away.
Why would you want this?
- It keeps your system clean by default.
- It forces you to declare settings you want to keep.
- It lets you experiment with new software without cluttering up your system.
There are a few different things to set up for this to work:
- A root filesystem which somehow gets wiped on reboot. There are a few ways to achieve this. See the System setup section for more info.
- At least one mounted volume where the files and directories you want to keep are stored permanently.
- At least one of the modules in this repository, which take care of linking or bind mounting files between the persistent storage mount point and the root file system. See the Module usage section for more info.
Join the matrix room to chat about the project.
There are many ways to wipe your root partition between boots. This section lists a few common ways to accomplish this, but is by no means an exhaustive list.
The easiest method is to use a tmpfs filesystem for the root. This is the easiest way to set up impermanence on systems which currently use a traditional filesystem (ext4, xfs, etc) as the root filesystem, since you don’t have to repartition.
All data stored in tmpfs only resides in system memory, not on disk. This automatically takes care of cleaning up between boots, but also comes with some pretty significant drawbacks:
- Downloading big files or trying programs that generate large amounts of data can easily result in either an out-of-memory or disk-full scenario.
- If the system crashes or loses power before you’ve had a chance to move files you want to keep to persistent storage, they’re gone forever.
Using tmpfs as the root filesystem, the filesystem setup would look something like this:
{
fileSystems."/" = {
device = "none";
fsType = "tmpfs";
options = [ "defaults" "size=25%" "mode=755" ];
};
fileSystems."/persistent" = {
device = "/dev/root_vg/root";
neededForBoot = true;
fsType = "btrfs";
options = [ "subvol=persistent" ];
};
fileSystems."/nix" = {
device = "/dev/root_vg/root";
fsType = "btrfs";
options = [ "subvol=nix" ];
};
fileSystems."/boot" = {
device = "/dev/disk/by-uuid/XXXX-XXXX";
fsType = "vfat";
};
}where the size option determines how much system memory is allowed
to be used by the filesystem.
A more advanced solution which doesn’t have the same drawbacks as using tmpfs is to use a regular filesystem, but clean it up between boots. A relatively easy way to do this is to use BTRFS and create a new subvolume to use as root on boot. This also allows you to keep a number of old roots around, in case of crashes, power outages or other accidents.
A setup which would remove automatically remove roots that are older than 30 days could look like this:
{
fileSystems."/" = {
device = "/dev/root_vg/root";
fsType = "btrfs";
options = [ "subvol=root" ];
};
boot.initrd.postDeviceCommands = lib.mkAfter ''
mkdir /btrfs_tmp
mount /dev/root_vg/root /btrfs_tmp
if [[ -e /btrfs_tmp/root ]]; then
mkdir -p /btrfs_tmp/old_roots
timestamp=$(date --date="@$(stat -c %Y /btrfs_tmp/root)" "+%Y-%m-%-d_%H:%M:%S")
mv /btrfs_tmp/root "/btrfs_tmp/old_roots/$timestamp"
fi
delete_subvolume_recursively() {
IFS=$'\n'
for i in $(btrfs subvolume list -o "$1" | cut -f 9- -d ' '); do
delete_subvolume_recursively "/btrfs_tmp/$i"
done
btrfs subvolume delete "$1"
}
for i in $(find /btrfs_tmp/old_roots/ -maxdepth 1 -mtime +30); do
delete_subvolume_recursively "$i"
done
btrfs subvolume create /btrfs_tmp/root
umount /btrfs_tmp
'';
fileSystems."/persistent" = {
device = "/dev/root_vg/root";
neededForBoot = true;
fsType = "btrfs";
options = [ "subvol=persistent" ];
};
fileSystems."/nix" = {
device = "/dev/root_vg/root";
fsType = "btrfs";
options = [ "subvol=nix" ];
};
fileSystems."/boot" = {
device = "/dev/disk/by-uuid/XXXX-XXXX";
fsType = "vfat";
};
}This assumes the BTRFS filesystem can be found in an LVM volume
group called root_vg. Adjust the path as necessary.
There are currently two modules: one for NixOS and one for home-manager.
To use the module, import it into your configuration with
{
imports = [ /path/to/impermanence/nixos.nix ];
}or use the provided nixosModules.impermanence flake output:
{
inputs = {
impermanence.url = "github:nix-community/impermanence";
};
outputs = { self, nixpkgs, impermanence, ... }:
{
nixosConfigurations.sythe = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
system = "x86_64-linux";
modules = [
impermanence.nixosModules.impermanence
./machines/sythe/configuration.nix
];
};
};
}This adds the environment.persistence option, which is an
attribute set of submodules, where the attribute name is the path
to persistent storage.
Usage is shown best with an example:
{
environment.persistence."/persistent" = {
hideMounts = true;
directories = [
"/var/log"
"/var/lib/bluetooth"
"/var/lib/nixos"
"/var/lib/systemd/coredump"
"/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections"
{ directory = "/var/lib/colord"; user = "colord"; group = "colord"; mode = "u=rwx,g=rx,o="; }
];
files = [
"/etc/machine-id"
{ file = "/var/keys/secret_file"; parentDirectory = { mode = "u=rwx,g=,o="; }; }
];
users.talyz = {
directories = [
"Downloads"
"Music"
"Pictures"
"Documents"
"Videos"
"VirtualBox VMs"
{ directory = ".gnupg"; mode = "0700"; }
{ directory = ".ssh"; mode = "0700"; }
{ directory = ".nixops"; mode = "0700"; }
{ directory = ".local/share/keyrings"; mode = "0700"; }
".local/share/direnv"
];
files = [
".screenrc"
];
};
};
}"/persistent"is the path to your persistent storage locationThis allows for multiple different persistent storage locations. If you, for example, have one location you back up and one you don’t, you can use both by defining two separate attributes under
environment.persistence.directoriesare all directories you want to bind mount to persistent storage. A directory can be represented either as a string, simply denoting its path, or as a submodule. The submodule representation is useful when the default assumptions, mainly regarding permissions, are incorrect. The available options are:directory, the path to the directory you want to bind mount to persistent storage. Only setting this option is equivalent to the string representation.persistentStoragePath, the path to persistent storage. Defaults to theenvironment.persistencesubmodule name, i.e."/persistent"in the example. This should most likely be left to its default value - don’t change it unless you’re certain you really need to.user, the user who should own the directory. If the directory doesn’t already exist in persistent storage, it will be created and this user will be its owner. This also applies to any parent directories which don’t yet exist. Changing this once the directory has been created has no effect.group, the group who should own the directory. If the directory doesn’t already exist in persistent storage, it will be created and this group will be its owner. This also applies to any parent directories which don’t yet exist. Changing this once the directory has been created has no effect.mode, the permissions to set for the directory. If the directory doesn’t already exist in persistent storage, it will be created with this mode. Can be either an octal mode (e.g.0700) or a symbolic mode (e.g.u=rwx,g=,o=). Parent directories that don’t yet exist are created with default permissions. Changing this once the directory has been created has no effect.
filesare all files you want to link or bind to persistent storage. A file can be represented either as a string, simply denoting its path, or as a submodule. The submodule representation is useful when the default assumptions, mainly regarding the permissions of its parent directory, are incorrect. The available options are:file, the path to the file you want to bind mount to persistent storage. Only setting this option is equivalent to the string representation.persistentStoragePath, the path to persistent storage. Defaults to theenvironment.persistencesubmodule name, i.e."/persistent"in the example. This should most likely be left to its default value - don’t change it unless you’re certain you really need to.parentDirectory, the permissions that should be applied to the file’s parent directory, if it doesn’t already exist. Available options areuser,groupandmode. See their definition indirectoriesabove.
If the file exists in persistent storage, it will be bind mounted to the target path; otherwise it will be symlinked.
hideMountsallows you to specify whether to hide the bind mounts from showing up as mounted drives in the file manager. If enabled, it sets the mount optionx-gvfs-hideon all the bind mounts.users.talyzhandles files and directories intalyz’s home directoryThe
usersoption defines a set of submodules which correspond to the users’ names. Thedirectoriesandfilesoptions of each submodule work like their root counterparts, but the paths are automatically prefixed with with the user’s home directory.If the user has a non-standard home directory (i.e. not
/home/<username>), theusers.<username>.homeoption has to be set to this path - it can’t currently be automatically deduced due to a limitation innixpkgs.
Important note: Make sure your persistent volumes are marked with
neededForBoot, otherwise you will run into problems.
Usage of the home-manager module is very similar to the one of the
NixOS module - the key differences are that the persistence option
is now under home, rather than environment, and the addition of
the submodule option removePrefixDirectory.
Important note: You have to use the home-manager NixOS module (in
the nixos directory of home-manager’s repo) in order for this
module to work as intended.
To use the module, import it into your configuration with
{
imports = [ /path/to/impermanence/home-manager.nix ];
}This adds the home.persistence option, which is an attribute set
of submodules, where the attribute name is the path to persistent
storage.
Usage is shown best with an example:
{
home.persistence."/persistent/home/talyz" = {
directories = [
"Downloads"
"Music"
"Pictures"
"Documents"
"Videos"
"VirtualBox VMs"
".gnupg"
".ssh"
".nixops"
".local/share/keyrings"
".local/share/direnv"
{
directory = ".local/share/Steam";
method = "symlink";
}
];
files = [
".screenrc"
];
allowOther = true;
};
}"/persistent/home/talyz"is the path to your persistent storage locationdirectoriesare all directories you want to link to persistent storage- It is possible to switch the linking
methodbetween bindfs (the default) and symbolic links.
- It is possible to switch the linking
filesare all files you want to link to persistent storage. These are symbolic links to their target location.allowOtherallows other users, such asroot, to access files through the bind mounted directories listed indirectories. Useful forsudooperations, Docker, etc. Requires the NixOS configurationprograms.fuse.userAllowOther = true.
Additionally, the home-manager module allows for compatibility
with dotfiles repos structured for use with GNU Stow, where the
files linked to are one level deeper than where they should end
up. This can be achieved by setting removePrefixDirectory to true:
{
home.persistence."/etc/nixos/home-talyz-nixpkgs/dotfiles" = {
removePrefixDirectory = true;
files = [
"screen/.screenrc"
];
directories = [
"fish/.config/fish"
];
};
}In the example, the .screenrc file and .config/fish directory
should be linked to from the home directory; removePrefixDirectory
removes the first part of the path when deciding where to put the
links.
Note: When using bindfs fuse filesystem for directories, the names of
the directories you add will be visible in the /etc/mtab file and in the
output of mount to all users.
The following blog posts provide more information on the concept of ephemeral roots:
- https://elis.nu/blog/2020/05/nixos-tmpfs-as-root/ — @etu’s blog post walks the reader through a NixOS-on-tmpfs installation.
- https://grahamc.com/blog/erase-your-darlings — @grahamc’s blog post details why one would want to erase their state at every boot, as well as how to achieve this using ZFS snapshots.
- https://willbush.dev/blog/impermanent-nixos/ — @willbush’s blog post provides a detailed NixOS-on-tmpfs guide with optional LUKS encryption, and utilizing nix flakes for an opinionated install.