trying to apply config with nh fails

[claymorwan]

I'm trying to use nh to basically do sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake /path/to/flake#nixos, which if i understood correctly should be nh os switch /path/to/flake#nixos, except that it returns me this error:

$ nh os switch ~/.dotfiles/nixos#nixos
> Building NixOS configuration
warning: Git tree '/home/claymorwan/.dotfiles' is dirty
error: flake 'git+file:///home/claymorwan/.dotfiles?dir=nixos' does not provide attribute 'packages.x86_64-linux.nixos.config.system.build.toplevel', 'legacyPackages.x86_64-linux.nixos.config.system.build.toplevel' or 'nixos.config.system.build.toplevel'
┏━ 1 Errors:
┃ error: flake 'git+file:///home/claymorwan/.dotfiles?dir=nixos' does not provide attribute 'packages.x86_64-linux.nixos.config.system.build.toplevel…
┣━━━
┗━ ∑ ⚠ Exited with 1 errors reported by nix at 22:30:42 after 0s
Error:
   0: Failed to build configuration
   1: Command exited with status Exited(1)

Location:
   src/commands.rs:693

Which is odd cuz running with nixos-rebuild works just fine, so maybe I didn't use the correct nh command ? I'm kinda confused

[NotAShelf]

It is nh os switch /path/to/flake/dir -H hostname

E.g., nh os switch ~dots -H myHost

The critical thing to note here is that it takes a path, not an installable ref. flake.nix and the installable are constructed automatically. It is also recommended that you set NH_FLAKE variable so you may rebuild without pass a path each time.

[claymorwan]

Ya this one works thanks !

The critical thing to note here is that it takes a path, not an installable ref. flake.nix and the installable are constructed automatically. It is also recommended that you set NH_FLAKE variable so you may rebuild without pass a path each time.

o yea i think i can set it with programs.nh.flake right ?

Also while im at it, this cmd is for applying the config, but what abt upgrading the system ? for that i usually use the same nixos-rebuild cmd but i add --recreate-lock-file, would that be the same here ?

[NotAShelf]

o yea i think i can set it with programs.nh.flake right ?

Yes, programs.nh.flake in Nixpkgs sets NH_FLAKE.

Also while im at it, this cmd is for applying the config, but what abt upgrading the system ? for that i usually use the same nixos-rebuild cmd but i add --recreate-lock-file, would that be the same here ?

There exists --update and --update-input <input> flags that allow updating all or selected inputs respectively. See nh os switch --help for details. Those are the intended way of handling upgrades alongside rebuilds.

[claymorwan]

thanks again, only thing im kinda bummed abt is that i can't see the dl progression in bytes, but i think it's more related to nom and they have added it so i suppose i just gotta wait for the next nh update

[NotAShelf]

You don't need to wait for a NH update for this.

The build graph is provided by nix-output-monitor, which NH uses as a shell command instead of a library. You should get the fix as soon as it is in Nixpkgs.

[claymorwan]

o ok i though it was used as a library, just need for nom to update then thanks