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graphical — Graphical Environment Module

This module provides a unified interface for enabling graphical environments across different types of hosts. It abstracts the differences between native Linux systems and WSL-based systems, allowing each host to declare only the desired mode.

Purpose

  • Provide a single entry point for enabling graphical environments
  • Support both native Linux desktops and WSL environments
  • Avoid duplicating graphical configuration across hosts
  • Allow per-host customization of keyboard layout and fonts

This module is imported by all hosts, but only activates when graphical.enable = true.

Modes

WSL

Designed for Windows Subsystem for Linux:

  • Does not enable X11 or Wayland
  • Does not enable SDDM or Plasma
  • Integrates with Windows graphical stack
  • Allows keyboard and font configuration
  • Minimal overhead

Use this mode when running NixOS inside WSL.

Linux

Full graphical environment for native Linux systems:

  • Enables X11 (services.xserver.enable = true)
  • Configures keyboard layout and variant
  • Enables SDDM display manager
  • Enables Plasma 6 desktop environment
  • Enables Pipewire (ALSA, PulseAudio, JACK)
  • Installs fonts declared in graphical.fonts

Use this mode for laptops, desktops, or servers with a GUI.

Options

graphical.enable

Enables the graphical module. If false, no graphical services are configured.

graphical.mode

Determines the graphical environment type.

"WSL" | "Linux"

Defaults to "Linux".

graphical.keymap

Keyboard layout (XKB layout). Defaults to "us".

graphical.variant

Keyboard layout variant. Defaults to "altgr-intl".

graphical.fonts

List of font package names to install.

Example:

graphical.fonts = [ "hack-font" "noto-fonts" ];

Behavior Summary

Mode X11 SDDM Plasma Pipewire Fonts Keyboard
WSL ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✔️ ✔️
Linux ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️

Examples

Minimal WSL configuration

{pkgs, ...}: {
  # ... other host configurations ...
  graphical = {
    enable = true;
    mode = "WSL";
  };
  # ... other host configurations ...
}

Full Linux desktop

{pkgs, ...}: {
  # ... other host configurations ...
  graphical = {
    enable = true;
    mode = "Linux";
    keymap = "us";
    variant = "altgr-intl";
    fonts = [ "hack-font" "noto-fonts" ];
  };
  # ... other host configurations ...
}

When to use this module

Use it when:

  • A host needs a graphical environment
  • You want consistent configuration across machines
  • You want to avoid duplicating X11/Plasma/SDDM setup

Do not use it for:

  • Headless servers
  • Containers
  • Remote-only machines

Notes

  • This module does not install X servers for WSL.
  • It assumes Plasma 6 as the default desktop environment.
  • Fonts must be provided as package names available in pkgs.