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Install Flox

Install Flox from scratch

View release notes

Minimum Requirements

While the resource requirements for Flox will vary based on the software you install, we recommend a minimum of 4Gb of memory and 8Gb of storage to install most software.

Minimum requirements for running installed software is not effected by Flox.

Existing Nix installations

Use the Flox installer for your system to allow some opinionated configuration of Nix, or use the "Nix - Generic" instructions for full control of your Nix installation.

For use on Debian, Ubuntu, and other Debian-based distributions.

Download and install the package

Note

The package will register a new source in /etc/apt/sources.list.d to enable upgrades via apt.

  1. Download flox.deb for your system architecture:

    64-bit Intel/AMD 64-bit ARM

  2. Install the downloaded file

    sudo dpkg -i /path/to/flox.deb

Verify Flox installation

If the following command returns without error then you're ready to get started!

$ flox --version # (1)!
1.3.8
  1. The version you will see might be different.

For use on RedHat, CentOS, Amazon Linux, and other RPM-based distributions.

Note

The rpm will register a package repository in /etc/yum.repos.d to enable upgrades. via yum, dnf and other compatible tools.

Download and install the package

  1. Download flox.rpm for your system architecture:

    64-bit Intel/AMD 64-bit ARM

  2. Install the downloaded file

    sudo rpm --import https://downloads.flox.dev/by-env/stable/rpm/flox-archive-keyring.asc
sudo rpm -ivh /path/to/flox.rpm
Replacing an existing Nix installation

The Flox installer will perform some opinionated configuration of Nix, but Nix will still be usable.
If you want full control of your Nix installation, see the instructions for installing Flox in the "Nix - Generic" tab above.

When installing over a previous installation of Nix the Flox installation will:

  1. Back out customizations made to the following files when Nix was installed:
    • /etc/bashrc
    • /etc/bash.bashrc
    • /etc/profile.d/nix.sh
    • /etc/zshrc
    • /etc/zsh/zshrc
  2. Overwrite the system-wide /etc/nix/nix.conf
  3. (If applicable) convert the Nix installation to a multi-user install
  4. Reconfigure the nix-daemon invocation

These changes are designed to improve the overall user experience and make the Nix installation more reliable and easier to support, but it's worth noting that anyone wishing to revert to a "vanilla" Nix installation after installing Flox will need to re-install Nix.

If you are installing over a previous installation of Nix we suggest that you install Flox to a test machine or VM to gain familiarity with it first.

Verify Flox installation

If the following command returns without error then you're ready to get started!

$ flox --version # (1)!
1.3.8
  1. The version you will see might be different.

Download and install the package that matches your machine's architecture.

  1. Download installer for Macs with

    Apple M1/M2 Intel processors

  2. Double-click to install the downloaded file

  3. Open a terminal window to continue below
Replacing an existing Nix installation

The Flox installer will perform some opinionated configuration of Nix, but Nix will still be usable.
If you want full control of your Nix installation, see the instructions for installing Flox in the "Nix - Generic" tab above.

When installing over a previous installation of Nix the Flox installation will:

  1. Back out customizations made to the following files when Nix was installed:
    • /etc/bashrc
    • /etc/bash.bashrc
    • /etc/profile.d/nix.sh
    • /etc/zshrc
    • /etc/zsh/zshrc
  2. Overwrite the system-wide /etc/nix/nix.conf
  3. (If applicable) convert the Nix installation to a multi-user install
  4. Reconfigure the nix-daemon invocation

These changes are designed to improve the overall user experience and make the Nix installation more reliable and easier to support, but it's worth noting that anyone wishing to revert to a "vanilla" Nix installation after installing Flox will need to re-install Nix.

If you are installing over a previous installation of Nix we suggest that you install Flox to a test machine or VM to gain familiarity with it first.

Verify Flox installation

If the following command returns without error then you're ready to get started!

$ flox --version # (1)!
1.3.8
  1. The version you will see might be different.

Note

You may be prompted for a sudo password or be asked if your terminal has authorization to modify disk contents.

In your terminal run:

brew install flox
Replacing an existing Nix installation

The Flox installer will perform some opinionated configuration of Nix, but Nix will still be usable.
If you want full control of your Nix installation, see the instructions for installing Flox in the "Nix - Generic" tab above.

When installing over a previous installation of Nix the Flox installation will:

  1. Back out customizations made to the following files when Nix was installed:
    • /etc/bashrc
    • /etc/bash.bashrc
    • /etc/profile.d/nix.sh
    • /etc/zshrc
    • /etc/zsh/zshrc
  2. Overwrite the system-wide /etc/nix/nix.conf
  3. (If applicable) convert the Nix installation to a multi-user install
  4. Reconfigure the nix-daemon invocation

These changes are designed to improve the overall user experience and make the Nix installation more reliable and easier to support, but it's worth noting that anyone wishing to revert to a "vanilla" Nix installation after installing Flox will need to re-install Nix.

If you are installing over a previous installation of Nix we suggest that you install Flox to a test machine or VM to gain familiarity with it first.

Verify Flox installation

If the following command returns without error then you're ready to get started!

$ flox --version # (1)!
1.3.8
  1. The version you will see might be different.

If you have Docker installed then you can also run flox in a container to try it out before installing on your system.

Invoke Flox container

docker run --pull always --rm -it ghcr.io/flox/flox

Verify Flox installation

If the following command returns without error then you're ready to get started!

$ flox --version # (1)!
1.3.8
  1. The version you will see might be different.

Install Nix

Please ensure you are using Nix version 2.18.0 or greater.

Install Flox with Nix imperatively

  • Configure Substituters

    Add the following values to /etc/nix/nix.conf, taking care to merge them with any trusted-substituters or trusted-public-keys values that may already be defined:

    /etc/nix/nix.conf
    extra-trusted-substituters = https://cache.flox.dev
extra-trusted-public-keys = flox-cache-public-1:7F4OyH7ZCnFhcze3fJdfyXYLQw/aV7GEed86nQ7IsOs=

    Then restart the nix-daemon, if applicable:

    • Linux: 
      sudo systemctl stop nix-daemon.service
sudo systemctl restart nix-daemon.socket
    • MacOS: 
      sudo launchctl kickstart -k -p system/org.nixos.nix-daemon

  • Install Flox to your personal profile:

    nix profile install \
      --experimental-features "nix-command flakes" \
      --accept-flake-config \
      'github:flox/flox'

  • Install Flox to the system-wide default profile as root:

    sudo -H nix profile install \
      --profile /nix/var/nix/profiles/default \
      --experimental-features "nix-command flakes" \
      --accept-flake-config \
      'github:flox/flox'
On error

If you encounter the following error then please upgrade your Nix installation (and in particular the running nix-daemon) to the latest version (minimum supported version is 2.18.0):

error: builder for '/nix/store/35l1qqyis11y88ic0cp3yxgv3286l4pb-flox-0.0.2-r295.drv' failed with exit code 1;
       last 1 log lines:
       > error: attribute 'requisites' missing

If you encounter any other errors with the installer please report the bug by way of discourse, including a full copy of the command invoked and error encountered.

Install Flox with Nix declaratively

The following example is for a Nix darwin installation. You may need to modify inputs to match your system.

Using Flox's binary cache

Flox hosts a binary cache for its packages, that can be added to your /etc/nix/nix.conf file. We recommend doing this if you are installing Flox system-wide.

/etc/nix/nix.conf
extra-trusted-substituters = https://cache.flox.dev
extra-trusted-public-keys = flox-cache-public-1:7F4OyH7ZCnFhcze3fJdfyXYLQw/aV7GEed86nQ7IsOs=

Or, to your flake configuration by using the nixConfig attribute. This will ensure that Flox's binary cache is used for all operation within that flake.

flake.nix
{
    nixConfig = {
        extra-trusted-substituters = ["https://cache.flox.dev"];
        extra-trusted-public-keys = ["flox-cache-public-1:7F4OyH7ZCnFhcze3fJdfyXYLQw/aV7GEed86nQ7IsOs="];
    };
}

Note that if you don't add either of these options, Flox will be built from source, together with a patched version of Nix. Which might take a while on less powerful systems.

{
  decription = "Example Darwin system flake";

  nixConfig = {
    extra-trusted-substituters = ["https://cache.flox.dev"];
    extra-trusted-public-keys = ["flox-cache-public-1:7F4OyH7ZCnFhcze3fJdfyXYLQw/aV7GEed86nQ7IsOs="];
  };

  inputs = {
    nixpkgs = {
      url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-23.11-darwin";
    };
    nix-darwin = {
      url = "github:LnL7/nix-darwin";
      inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
    };
    flox = {
      url = "github:flox/flox/v1.3.8";
    };
  };

  outputs = inputs@{ self, nix-darwin, nixpkgs, flox }:
  let
    configuration = { pkgs, ... }: {
      environment.systemPackages =
        [ pkgs.{{ YOUR_PACKAGES }}
          inputs.flox.packages.${pkgs.system}.default
        ];

      nix.settings = {
        experimental-features = "nix-command flakes";
        substituters = [
          "https://cache.flox.dev"
        ];
        trusted-public-keys = [
          "flox-cache-public-1:7F4OyH7ZCnFhcze3fJdfyXYLQw/aV7GEed86nQ7IsOs="
        ];
      };

      {{ YOUR_CONFIG }}
    };
  in
  {
    darwinConfigurations."{{ YOUR_HOST }}" = nix-darwin.lib.darwinSystem {
      modules = [ configuration ];
      specialArgs = { inherit inputs; };
    };
  };
}

Run nix-darwin to install the configuration and packages you’ve declared. This is an example on nix-darwin: nix run nix-darwin -- switch --flake ~/path/to/flake

Verify Flox installation

If the following command returns without error then you're ready to get started!

$ flox --version # (1)!
1.3.8
  1. The version you will see might be different.

Configure Substituters

Similarly configure /etc/nixos/configuration.nix to add the lines:

/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
nix.settings.trusted-substituters = [ "https://cache.flox.dev" ];
nix.settings.trusted-public-keys = [ "flox-cache-public-1:7F4OyH7ZCnFhcze3fJdfyXYLQw/aV7GEed86nQ7IsOs=" ];

... and then invoke:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Install Flox

  • Install to your personal profile:

    nix profile install \
      --experimental-features "nix-command flakes" \
      --accept-flake-config \
      'github:flox/flox'

  • Install Flox to the system-wide default profile as root:

    sudo -H nix profile install \
      --profile /nix/var/nix/profiles/default \
      --experimental-features "nix-command flakes" \
      --accept-flake-config \
      'github:flox/flox'
On error

If you encounter the following error then please upgrade your Nix installation (and in particular the running nix-daemon) to the latest version (minimum supported version is 2.18.0):

error: builder for '/nix/store/35l1qqyis11y88ic0cp3yxgv3286l4pb-flox-0.0.2-r295.drv' failed with exit code 1;
       last 1 log lines:
       > error: attribute 'requisites' missing

If you encounter any other errors with the installer please report the bug by way of discourse, including a full copy of the command invoked and error encountered.

Verify Flox installation

If the following command returns without error then you're ready to get started!

$ flox --version # (1)!
1.3.8
  1. The version you will see might be different.

Support for WSL 2 is experimental.

Install WSL 2

Please install and configure WSL version 2 as described in the Microsoft Learn Install WSL guide before installing Flox. Please also ensure the state (whether the distribution is running or stopped) is running.

Note that installation will fail on WSL 1.

Microsoft provides several Linux distributions for use with WSL and will use Ubuntu by default. Use the following commands to run and manage your chosen distribution:

  • list installed distributions: wsl --list
  • run specified distribution: wsl --distribution <name>
  • list all available distributions: wsl --list --online
  • install distribution: wsl --install -d <name>
  • terminate distribution: wsl --terminate <name>
  • unregister and delete distribution: wsl --unregister <name>

Supported distributions

Please follow the steps below to install Flox on the distribution of your choice:

Ubuntu

Download and install the package

  1. Download flox.deb for your system architecture:

    64-bit Intel/AMD 64-bit ARM

  2. Install the downloaded file

    sudo dpkg -i /path/to/flox.deb
Debian

Install prerequisites

sudo apt-get install policycoreutils semodule-utils tar wget xz-utils

Download and install the package

  1. Download flox.deb for your system architecture:

    64-bit Intel/AMD 64-bit ARM

  2. Install the downloaded file

    sudo dpkg -i /path/to/flox.deb
OracleLinux_8_5

Install prerequisites

sudo yum install tar xz

Download and install the package

  1. Download flox.rpm for your system architecture:

    64-bit Intel/AMD 64-bit ARM

  2. Install the downloaded file

    sudo rpm -ivh /path/to/flox.rpm

Ignore warning about systemd

You will encounter the following warning during the installation:

---- warning! ------------------------------------------------------------------
We did not detect systemd on your system. With a multi-user install
without systemd you will have to manually configure your init system to
launch the Nix daemon after installation.

You can disregard this message as we will be configuring the nix-daemon to start automatically in the next section.

Configure nix-daemon to start on activation

Once Flox has been installed on your WSL distribution the nix-daemon will need to be automatically started as you start your WSL instance.

Run the following command to add the necessary logic to invoke nix-daemon by way of your ~/.bashrc file:

cat >> ~/.bashrc <<EOF
( wsl.exe -d $WSL_DISTRO_NAME -u root service nix-daemon status 2>&1 >/dev/null ) || wsl.exe -d $WSL_DISTRO_NAME -u root service nix-daemon start
EOF

Then restart your WSL shell (or start another) and run the following command to ensure that the nix-daemon is working correctly:

nix --extra-experimental-features nix-command store ping
Verify Flox installation

If the following command returns without error then you're ready to get started!

$ flox --version # (1)!
1.3.8
  1. The version you will see might be different.

Upgrade existing Flox installation

For use on Debian, Ubuntu, and other Debian-based distributions.

sudo apt update
sudo apt --only-upgrade install flox

For use on RedHat, CentOS, Amazon Linux, and other RPM-based distributions.

sudo yum update flox

or

sudo dnf update flox

Please follow the instructions provided on either the Debian or RPM tab (whichever matches the existing Linux Distribution installed with your WSL) to update to latest version of Flox.

Download and install the latest image as described in the MacOS column of the install section.

brew upgrade flox

If you've installed Flox to the system-wide default profile

sudo -H nix profile upgrade \
        --profile /nix/var/nix/profiles/default \
        --experimental-features "nix-command flakes" \
        --accept-flake-config \
        '.*flox'

Or, if you've installed Flox to your own personal profile

nix profile upgrade \
    --experimental-features "nix-command flakes" \
    --accept-flake-config \
    '.*flox'

Or, if you've declared Flox using a flake, update the version in the flake

...
    flox = {
        url = "github:flox/flox/v1.3.8";
    };
...

Uninstall Flox

While we are sad we see you uninstalling flox we would like thank you for giving flox a try.

As we try to improve flox we really appreciate any feedback, especially where we failed. We like to know what was not working or where could we do a better job. If you can, please reach us via discourse or via email.

Here's how to completely remove flox from your system.

For use on Debian, Ubuntu, and other Debian-based distributions.

The following command will completely remove Nix and the contents of /nix/* from the system.

Be sure to back up the system and/or extract any important Nix-related files and packages before continuing.

sudo apt-get purge flox

We recommend rebooting your system after uninstalling Flox.

For use on RedHat, CentOS, Amazon Linux, and other RPM-based distributions.

The following command will completely remove Nix and the contents of /nix/* from the system.

Be sure to back up the system and/or extract any important Nix-related files and packages before continuing.

sudo yum remove flox

We recommend rebooting your system after uninstalling Flox.

Output on success: 
$ sudo yum remove flox
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Unable to read consumer identity

This system is not registered to Red Hat Subscription Management.
You can use subscription-manager to register.

Dependencies resolved.
======================================================================
    Package       Architecture    Version              Repository   Size
======================================================================
Removing:
    flox          x86_64          1.4.3-1625910780     @@System     109 M

Transaction Summary
======================================================================
Remove  1 Package

Freed space: 109 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
    Preparing        :                                               1/1
    Running scriptlet: flox-1.4.3-1625910780.x86_64                  1/1
floxadm uninstall complete

    Erasing          : flox-1.4.3-1625910780.x86_64                  1/1
    Running scriptlet: flox-1.4.3-1625910780.x86_64                  1/1
    Verifying        : flox-1.4.3-1625910780.x86_64                  1/1
Installed products updated.

Removed:
    flox-1.4.3-1625910780.x86_64

Complete!

Please follow the instructions provided on either the Debian or RPM tab (whichever matches the existing Linux Distribution installed with your WSL) to uninstall Flox.

The following commands will completely remove Nix and the contents of /nix/* from the system.

Be sure to back up the system and/or extract any important Nix-related files and packages before continuing.

  1. Ensure no running processes are using /nix.

  2. Run:

    sudo /usr/local/share/flox/scripts/uninstall

Regardless of the current state, brew can be used to perform a full clean up: 

brew uninstall --force --zap flox

We recommend rebooting your system after uninstalling Flox.

The following commands will completely remove Nix and the contents of /nix/* from the system.

Be sure to back up the system and/or extract any important Nix-related files and packages before continuing.

You may be asked if the terminal has permission to modify contents of the disk.

Run:

brew uninstall flox

To remove all traces of flox including user preferences uninstall with:

brew uninstall --zap flox

In the case of recovering a partial install, a force and zap can help: 

brew uninstall --force --zap flox

We recommend rebooting your system after uninstalling Flox.

If you've installed flox to the system-wide default profile

sudo -H nix profile remove \
        '.*flox' \
        --profile /nix/var/nix/profiles/default \
        --experimental-features "nix-command flakes"

Or, if you've installed flox to your own personal profile

nix profile remove \
        '.*flox' \
        --experimental-features "nix-command flakes"

Or, if you've declared Flox using a flake, remove the Flake