LiveInfo is a NixOS configuration that lets you create a bootable ISO with pre-installed tools to help you gather information about the system and create a PDF which you can then print.
Make sure that you have ample free storage space available on your Linux machine. (16/32GB should be enough. (not tested))
Download the .zip or .tar.gz and extract it into a directory of your choice and navigate to it in your Terminal of choice.
Run ./build.sh.
The script will do the following automatically:
- Install nix if it wasn't installed already.
- Edit the nix configuration in
$HOME/.config/nix/nix.confto allow the usage of nix-commands and flakes if this wasn't configured before. - Build the ISO by running `nix build .
If you encounter a permission denied error add the executable flag to build.sh by running chmod +x build.sh.
After building you will find the ISO in ./result/iso/nixos-XX.XX.XXXXXXXX.xxxxxxx-x86_64-linux.iso
If you have a way to boot into an ISO like with a Ventoy drive or a Zalman ZM-VE350 you can put the ISO onto the device and skip the rest of this step.
Flash the ISO onto a USB drive that is at least 8GB in size with a tool like Fedora Media Writer or Popsicle.
If you don't already have a tool to Flash a USB you can temporarily install/run it like this:
nix run nixpkgs#mediawriter- This will directly run the app.
nix shell nixpkpgs#popsicle- This will give you a shell that has the app installed which you can then run through the terminal like this:
popsicle-gtk
- This will give you a shell that has the app installed which you can then run through the terminal like this:
nix shell nixpkgs#caligula- Caligula is a lightweight TUI disk imaging tool for when the other options don't work, or when you dont have a grphical environment.
- Run it like this:
caligula burn result/iso/nixos-XX.XX.XXXXXXXX.xxxxxxx-x86_64-linux.iso(use tab-complete for the iso name).
When booting make sure that your USB drive is first in the boot order and that Secureboot is disabled.
In a shell with nix installed, navigate to the extracted liveinfo directory and run:
nix run nixpkgs#git pull and then nix build .
or you can just repeat the Build process
This project also provides a nix devshell which when activated installs all the needed development dependencies temporarily in that shell.
In a shell with nix installed, navigate to the extracted liveinfo directory and run:
nix develop or if you don't like Bash: nix develop -c zsh
In a shell with nix installed, navigate to the extracted liveinfo directory.
Running nix run .#testVm will temporarily install QEMU and directly run the liveiso NixOS configuration in a Virtual Machine.
Exchange the URL on line 10 in modules/fetchscript/package.nix with a URL to your logo.
Replace the hash in the line below so that it reads hash = pkgs.lib.fakeHash;.
Then try to build the project again with nix build ..
This will fail, but in the error it will give you the correct hash to replace the fake hash with.
The error looks something like this:
error: hash mismatch in fixed-output derivation '/nix/store/snaps3fj48bsiajmibqhcynpfamnb1cb-computerbrocki.ch_transparent.png.drv':
specified: sha256-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=
got: sha256-6LuXzzMxGC74YtGZYVEFpMnTC+a+umuUUpjaBX5dca0
Replace the fake hash with the hash that it shows after "got: " (don't forget the "" before and after the hash) and you're done.
You can exchange lines 21-26 in modules/fetchscript/assets/systemreport.typ for your address and any more information that could reasonable fit in that space.