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Sander 2025-09-06 11:40:37 +02:00
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@ -2,23 +2,18 @@
![GitHub Actions badge](https://github.com/cachix/install-nix-action/workflows/install-nix-action%20test/badge.svg) ![GitHub Actions badge](https://github.com/cachix/install-nix-action/workflows/install-nix-action%20test/badge.svg)
Installs [Nix](https://nixos.org/nix/) on GitHub Actions for the supported platforms: Linux and macOS. Installs [Nix](https://nixos.org/nix/) on GitHub Actions runners for Linux and macOS.
By default it has no nixpkgs configured, you have to set `nix_path`
by [picking a channel](https://status.nixos.org/)
or [pin nixpkgs yourself](https://nix.dev/reference/pinning-nixpkgs)
(see also [pinning tutorial](https://nix.dev/tutorials/towards-reproducibility-pinning-nixpkgs)).
# Features # Features
- Quick installation (~4s on Linux, ~20s on macOS) - Quick installation (~4s on Linux / ~20s on macOS)
- Multi-User installation (with sandboxing enabled only on Linux) - Multi-user installation with sandboxing enabled by default on Linux
- [Self-hosted GitHub runner](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/about-self-hosted-runners) support - Support for [self-hosted GitHub runners](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/about-self-hosted-runners)
- Allows specifying Nix installation URL via `install_url` (the oldest supported Nix version is 2.3.5) - Allows specifying Nix installation URL via `install_url` (the oldest supported Nix version is 2.3.5)
- Allows specifying extra Nix configuration options via `extra_nix_config` - Allows specifying extra Nix configuration options via `extra_nix_config`
- Allows specifying `$NIX_PATH` and channels via `nix_path` - Allows specifying `$NIX_PATH` and channels via `nix_path`
- Share `/nix/store` between builds using [cachix-action](https://github.com/cachix/cachix-action) for simple binary cache setup to speed up your builds and share binaries with your team
- Enables KVM on supported machines: run VMs and NixOS tests with full hardware-acceleration - Enables KVM on supported machines: run VMs and NixOS tests with full hardware-acceleration
- Pair with a binary cache from [cachix-action](https://github.com/cachix/cachix-action) to speed up re-builds and share binaries across your team
## Usage ## Usage
@ -33,7 +28,7 @@ jobs:
tests: tests:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps: steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4 - uses: actions/checkout@v5
- uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v31 - uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v31
with: with:
nix_path: nixpkgs=channel:nixos-unstable nix_path: nixpkgs=channel:nixos-unstable
@ -51,7 +46,7 @@ jobs:
tests: tests:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps: steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4 - uses: actions/checkout@v5
- uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v31 - uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v31
with: with:
github_access_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} github_access_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
@ -59,23 +54,17 @@ jobs:
- run: nix flake check - run: nix flake check
``` ```
To install Nix from any commit, go to [the corresponding installer_test action](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/runs/2219534360) and click on "Run cachix/install-nix-action@XX" step and expand the first line. ## Inputs
## Inputs (specify using `with:`) | Name | Description | Default |
|------|-------------|---------|
- `extra_nix_config`: append to `/etc/nix/nix.conf` | `install_url` | URL to install Nix from. Useful for testing non-stable releases or pinning a specific Nix version (e.g., https://releases.nixos.org/nix/nix-2.3.7/install) | `""` |
| `install_options` | Additional flags to pass to the Nix installer script | `""` |
- `github_access_token`: configure Nix to pull from GitHub using the given GitHub token. This helps work around rate limit issues. Has no effect when `access-tokens` is also specified in `extra_nix_config`. | `extra_nix_config` | Additional configuration to append to `/etc/nix/nix.conf` | `""` |
| `nix_path` | Value to set for the `NIX_PATH` environment variable (e.g., `nixpkgs=channel:nixos-unstable`) | `""` |
- `install_url`: specify URL to install Nix from (useful for testing non-stable releases or pinning Nix, for example https://releases.nixos.org/nix/nix-2.3.7/install) | `github_access_token` | GitHub token for Nix to use when pulling from GitHub repositories. Helps work around rate limit issues. Has no effect when `access-tokens` is specified in `extra_nix_config`. | `$GITHUB_TOKEN` if available |
| `set_as_trusted_user` | Add the current user to the `trusted-users` list | `true` |
- `install_options`: additional installer flags passed to the installer script. | `enable_kvm` | Enable KVM for hardware-accelerated virtualization on Linux | `true` |
- `nix_path`: set `NIX_PATH` environment variable, for example `nixpkgs=channel:nixos-unstable`
- `enable_kvm`: whether to enable KVM for hardware-accelerated virtualization on Linux. Enabled by default if available.
- `set_as_trusted_user`: whether to add the current user to `trusted-users`. Enabled by default.
## Differences from the default Nix installer ## Differences from the default Nix installer
@ -106,19 +95,30 @@ Some settings have been optimised for use in CI environments:
## FAQ ## FAQ
### How do I print nixpkgs version I have configured? ### How do I print the nixpkgs version I've configured?
```yaml ```yaml
- name: Print nixpkgs version - name: Print nixpkgs version
run: nix-instantiate --eval -E '(import <nixpkgs> {}).lib.version' run: nix-instantiate --eval -E '(import <nixpkgs> {}).lib.version'
``` ```
### How do I run NixOS tests? ### How do I add a nixpkgs channel?
With the following inputs: This action doesn't set up any channels by default.
Use `nix_path` to configure optional channels by [picking a channel](https://status.nixos.org/) or [pinning nixpkgs](https://nix.dev/reference/pinning-nixpkgs) to a specific commit.
```yaml ```yaml
- uses: cachix/install-nix-action@vXX - uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v31
with:
nix_path: nixpkgs=channel:nixos-unstable
```
See also the [tutorial on pinning on nix.dev](https://nix.dev/tutorials/towards-reproducibility-pinning-nixpkgs).
### How do I run NixOS tests on Linux?
```yaml
- uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v31
with: with:
enable_kvm: true enable_kvm: true
extra_nix_config: "system-features = nixos-test benchmark big-parallel kvm" extra_nix_config: "system-features = nixos-test benchmark big-parallel kvm"
@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ using [cachix-action](https://github.com/cachix/cachix-action), you
should use their `extraPullNames` input like this: should use their `extraPullNames` input like this:
```yaml ```yaml
- uses: cachix/cachix-action@vXX - uses: cachix/cachix-action@v31
with: with:
name: mycache name: mycache
authToken: '${{ secrets.CACHIX_AUTH_TOKEN }}' authToken: '${{ secrets.CACHIX_AUTH_TOKEN }}'
@ -214,10 +214,10 @@ job:
id-token: write id-token: write
contents: read contents: read
steps: steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4 - uses: actions/checkout@v5
- uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v31 - uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v31
- name: Assume AWS Role - name: Assume AWS Role
uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4.1.0 uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v5.0.0
with: with:
aws-region: us-east-1 aws-region: us-east-1
role-to-assume: arn:aws-cn:iam::123456789100:role/my-github-actions-role role-to-assume: arn:aws-cn:iam::123456789100:role/my-github-actions-role