Docs: lazy Nix removal, install --clone with the template's credentials

README: what --clone does for a private repository (the template's
gh/store helpers, the gh auth login offer, keep those lines in your
config, what gets cloned into and that re-running continues), the
git/gh lines in the usage example, and that uninstall no longer waits
for programs from the Nix store. docs/cleanup.md: the clone steps, the
untouched-template marker, and the LazyUnmount= drop-in.
This commit is contained in:
Pierre Kisters committed 2026-10-01 23:25:10 +02:00
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@@ -92,10 +92,18 @@ it just switches again (`--yes` answers every question). Afterwards edit
Your own config in a git repository: `--clone <git-url>` clones it into
`~/nix-config` (`--dir <path>`, branch `--ref <branch>`) and installs it like
`--flake <dir>`; an existing clone of the same repository is reused (after
asking, `git pull --ff-only`). URLs: `git@github.com:owner/repo`,
`https://...` or `github:owner/repo`; a private repository needs an SSH URL
with your key or HTTPS credentials (e.g. `gh auth login`).
`--flake <dir>`. URLs: `git@github.com:owner/repo`, `https://...` or
`github:owner/repo`. Without a Home Manager configuration it first activates
the template, whose git credential helpers then clone a private repository:
your GitHub CLI login (`~/.config/gh`, kept by `uninstall`) or
`~/.git-credentials`; git never asks for a password. If the clone fails, it
offers `gh auth login` (browser or one-time code, works with 2FA); an SSH URL
uses your key instead. The clone then replaces the template. Keep the
template's `programs.git`/`programs.gh` lines (see [Usage](#usage)) in your
config, or the helpers go with the switch to it. Only a missing
`~/nix-config` or the unchanged template is replaced by the clone; anything
else there is used as it is, without cloning. So re-running continues where
it stopped (after a failed switch it just switches again).
```sh
curl -fsSL https://steam-frame-nix.lhns.de | bash -s -- install --clone git@github.com:owner/my-config
@@ -188,6 +196,12 @@ these two files ([`template/`](template), with more comments):
home.stateVersion = "26.05";
targets.genericLinux.enable = true;
programs.home-manager.enable = true;
programs.git = { # SteamOS's git, Home Manager writes its config
enable = true;
package = null;
settings.credential.helper = "store"; # ~/.git-credentials
};
programs.gh.enable = true; # github.com credentials: gh auth login
steamFrame = {
keyboard.layout = "de"; # XKB layout, Steam session
@@ -449,11 +463,11 @@ versions left: [docs/cleanup.md](docs/cleanup.md).
- `experimental-features = nix-command flakes` in `~/.config/nix/nix.conf`
if Nix was already there without flakes;
- `~/nix-config` (your configuration, a git repository, from the template
with your user name filled into `flake.nix`) and the link
`~/.config/home-manager` to it, unless that exists or `--flake` is given
(with `--flake <dir>` or `--clone`, the link to that directory unless it
exists); uninstall removes the link, never the configuration (a clone
included);
with your user name filled into `flake.nix`; with `--clone` only until the
clone replaces it) and the link `~/.config/home-manager` to it, unless that
exists or `--flake` is given (with `--flake <dir>` or `--clone`, the link
to that directory unless it exists); uninstall removes the link, never
the configuration (a clone included);
- dotfiles in Home Manager's way, renamed to `*.hm-backup-<time>` (kept);
- `~/.local/state/home-manager`, `~/.local/state/nix` (profiles,
generations), `~/.nix-profile`, `~/.nix-defexpr`, `~/.nix-channels`,
@@ -500,12 +514,13 @@ stops Home Manager's user services (reverting the UI patches), runs
`cleanup --all`, runs `home-manager uninstall`, then removes Nix and the
per-user Nix state (see [Set up by install.sh](#set-up-by-installsh)). If
SteamVR is running, its key is restored when SteamVR stops (the closing
message says so). Nix can't be removed while programs started from the Nix
store run: `uninstall` lists them and waits; close them or run it right
after a reboot. If Nix stays (in use, `--yes`, or its uninstaller failed),
the rest still runs (the `~/.config/home-manager` link goes) except the
per-user Nix state, and the closing message says to run `uninstall` again. Your configuration, `*.hm-backup-*` files, app data and
Flatpaks stay.
message says so). Programs started from the Nix store (often the Steam
session itself) keep running until you log out or reboot: `uninstall` lists
them and removes Nix without waiting. If Nix's uninstaller fails, the rest
still runs (the `~/.config/home-manager` link goes) except the per-user Nix
state, and the closing message says to reboot and run `uninstall` again.
Your configuration, `*.hm-backup-*` files, app data, Flatpaks and the GitHub
CLI login (`~/.config/gh`) stay.
To drop steam-frame-nix from a Home Manager configuration you keep, first
run `steam-frame-nix-cleanup --all`, then remove it and switch. Or set Home
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@@ -45,11 +45,28 @@ What `install.sh install` sets up is listed in the README under
desktop can't reach it with its own environment) and uses the installed
`home-manager` if there is one, else Home Manager's `master`.
`install --clone` takes SteamOS' `git`, else `nix run nixpkgs#git`. An
existing directory is reused only if it is the top of a clone whose
`origin` is the same repository: URLs are compared as lower-case
host/path without `.git` (so `git@host:o/r`, `ssh://git@host/o/r` and
`https://host/o/r.git` match), and with `--ref` it must be on that branch.
`install --clone` takes SteamOS' `git`, else `nix run nixpkgs#git`, always
with `GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0`. Each step checks whether an earlier run did it
(Nix works: not installed). The target directory is cloned into only when it
is missing, empty or the untouched template: `create_config` writes the hash
of the configuration's files (without `.git`) to
`.git/steam-frame-nix-template`, and the template counts as untouched while
the files still match and there is at most one commit. Anything else (the
clone of an earlier run, a changed template, any other directory) is used
as it is: no clone, `--ref` ignored, straight to the switch.
Into an empty target, the template comes first, but only without a Home
Manager configuration (no `~/.config/home-manager`); with one, git clones
with that configuration's helpers. The switch to the template is skipped
when it is linked, Home Manager is installed and git has a credential
helper. The clone goes to `.<dir>.clone.XXXXXX` next to the target (removed
if it fails, the template stays), replaces the template (checked unchanged
again), then Home Manager switches to it. A failed switch leaves the clone,
so a rerun only switches. `gh auth login --hostname github.com
--git-protocol https`, with the Home Manager profile's `gh`, is offered only
for `https://github.com/` URLs and with a terminal. Tests: section G of
`modules/cleanup/check.nix` (a logging git, a fake nix,
`STEAM_FRAME_NIX_TTY` instead of `/dev/tty`).
`restart-check` (run by the session module's activation after
`steamFrameUserServices`, and by `install` at its end) compares the
@@ -60,17 +77,17 @@ with the debugger drop-in, looks for a listener on port 8087 in
`/proc/net/tcp*`. Tests use `STEAM_FRAME_NIX_PROC` and
`STEAM_FRAME_NIX_CGROUP` (section F of `modules/cleanup/check.nix`).
`uninstall` removes Nix with nix-installer, which fails when it can't
unmount `/nix` (`systemctl stop nix.mount`). Before that it scans `/proc`
for processes using `/nix`: their `exe`, `cwd`, `root` or an `fd` links into
`/nix`, or `maps` names a file there (e.g. an app started before the
uninstall that mapped Home Manager's `mime.cache`). Only the user's own
processes are readable; the Nix daemon is nix-installer's to stop. Skipped:
the script itself, its subshells (descendants) and its process group (the
`curl | bash` pipeline). Its ancestors are listed with a hint to run
`uninstall` from another terminal. Nothing is killed: it asks to close them
and re-checks on Enter, or (`--yes`, no terminal) stops before Nix. A bash
from the Nix store re-executes the script with `/usr/bin/bash` first, and
nix-installer runs from a root-owned copy in `/tmp`. The check uses
`STEAM_FRAME_NIX_PROC` as a fake `/proc` (section H of
`modules/cleanup/check.nix`).
`uninstall` removes Nix with nix-installer (from a root-owned copy in
`/tmp`), whose `systemctl stop nix.mount` fails while a process uses `/nix`,
and in the Steam session some always do until logout (e.g. Steam and
xdg-desktop-portal, once they mapped a file from the store). So first a
runtime drop-in, `/run/systemd/system/nix.mount.d/50-steam-frame-nix-lazy-unmount.conf`
with `LazyUnmount=yes`, makes that stop detach `/nix` (`umount -l`): the
programs keep their open files until they exit. The drop-in is removed
afterwards. Before that, for information, it lists the processes whose
`exe`, `cwd`, `root` or an `fd` links into `/nix`, or whose `maps` names a
file there (only the user's own are readable), except the script itself,
its subshells and its process group (the `curl | bash` pipeline). Tests:
section H of `modules/cleanup/check.nix` (`STEAM_FRAME_NIX_PROC` as a fake
`/proc`, `STEAM_FRAME_NIX_SYSTEM_RUNTIME` for the drop-in, a logging
nix-installer).
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@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ modules/
cleanup.nix switch: `cleanup --orphans`; steam-frame-nix-cleanup on PATH
cleanup/package.nix build: install.sh as a command (cleanup, steamvr-debugger-arm, restart-check)
cleanup/check.nix test: install.sh cleanup and restart-check on fake home/runtime dirs,
install --clone against local bare repos, uninstall on a fake /proc
install (template, --clone) against local bare repos, uninstall on a fake /proc
portal.nix Steam session portal config (session.portalFix)
portal/check.nix test: KDE FileChooser on by default, absent when disabled
applications-menu.nix applications.menu link for KDE apps (session.applicationsMenu)