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284 changes: 284 additions & 0 deletions infra/nixos/hosts/installer/configuration.nix
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
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# infra/nixos/hosts/installer/configuration.nix
#
# Single-file declarative desired state for the USB-stick (or netboot)
# NixOS installer image used to bootstrap every machine in the AI cluster.
#
# Built by the flake at the repo root:
# nix build .#nixosConfigurations.installer.config.system.build.isoImage
# Then `dd` the produced ISO to a USB stick, boot the target machine,
# clone this repo, and run `nixos-install --flake .#<host>` against the
# desired host config (control-plane, worker-gpu-01, ...).
#
# Scope: ONLY packages needed ON THE STICK to reach the point where
# `nixos-install` can take over and pull everything else (K3S, ArgoCD,
# Orleans, GitLab, Argo Workflows, Argo Rollouts) from the flake.
# Do NOT add cluster runtime packages here — they belong in the
# per-host modules under infra/nixos/modules/.

{ config, pkgs, lib, modulesPath, ... }:

{
imports = [
# Use the upstream minimal installation CD as a base.
# Gives us a working live system, getty, nix, and the installer plumbing.
"${modulesPath}/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-minimal.nix"
"${modulesPath}/installer/cd-dvd/channel.nix"
];

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Identity
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
networking.hostName = "zeta-installer";
time.timeZone = "America/New_York";
i18n.defaultLocale = "en_US.UTF-8";

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Nix / Flakes
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
nix.settings = {
experimental-features = [ "nix-command" "flakes" ];
auto-optimise-store = true;
# Trust the live user so `nixos-install --flake` works without sudo dance
trusted-users = [ "root" "nixos" ];
# Big public caches so installs are fast even from the stick
substituters = [
"https://cache.nixos.org"
"https://nix-community.cachix.org"
];
trusted-public-keys = [
"cache.nixos.org-1:6NCHdD59X431o0gWypbMrAURkbJ16ZPMQFGspcDShjY="
"nix-community.cachix.org-1:mB9FSh9qf2dCimDSUo8Zy7bkq5CX+/rkCWyvRCYg3Fs="
];
};

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Networking — wired + wireless so any machine can phone home to clone Zeta
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
networking.networkmanager.enable = true;
networking.wireless.enable = lib.mkForce false; # NM handles wifi instead
# Firewall ON by default. The installer ISO is a live system that often
# boots on networks we don't control (hotel wifi, conference LAN, home
# router with port-forwarding); leaving it firewalled keeps the install
# session from being trivially probed.
networking.firewall.enable = true;

# SSH is OFF by default — installer is intended for console use. Enable
# manually on the live system for headless installs:
#
# sudo passwd nixos # set a password first
# sudo systemctl start sshd # start the service
#
# Key-only is enforced when enabled — never password auth, never root
# password login. For pre-seeded headless installs, drop the maintainer
# SSH key into `users.users.nixos.openssh.authorizedKeys.keys` here
# before building the ISO.
services.openssh = {
enable = false;
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P2 Badge Open SSH firewall port for documented headless workflow

This config documents a headless path (systemctl start sshd) but keeps networking.firewall.enable = true while declaring services.openssh.enable = false, so TCP/22 is never opened by NixOS and remote SSH attempts to the live installer will be dropped. This only affects the headless install scenario, but in that scenario the documented instructions won’t work unless the firewall is relaxed or port 22 is explicitly allowed.

Useful? React with 👍 / 👎.

settings = {
PermitRootLogin = lib.mkForce "prohibit-password";
PasswordAuthentication = lib.mkForce false;
KbdInteractiveAuthentication = lib.mkForce false;
};
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};

# No hard-coded credentials. The upstream installation-cd-minimal.nix
# imported above ships with a passwordless root account usable ONLY from
# the local console — the secure default for an ephemeral live system.
# If you need a non-root user, set its password manually on the live
# system with `passwd`. Sudo requires a password (default policy).
users.users.nixos = {
isNormalUser = true;
extraGroups = [ "wheel" "networkmanager" ];
# initialPassword intentionally unset — see comment above.
};

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# THE PACKAGE LIST — everything that must be on the USB stick
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [

# --- Version control: pull the Zeta flake onto the target ---------------
git
git-lfs
gnupg
openssh

# --- Editors (pick your poison; ship both, they're tiny) ----------------
vim
neovim
nano

# --- Shell quality of life ----------------------------------------------
bash
zsh
tmux
screen
htop
btop
tree
ripgrep
fd
fzf
bat
eza
jq
yq-go
less
file
which
unzip
zip
p7zip
rsync

# --- Network: reach the internet, GitHub, and the local LAN -------------
curl
wget
iproute2 # ip(8)
iputils # ping
inetutils # traceroute, telnet
dnsutils # dig, nslookup
nmap
tcpdump
mtr
ethtool
bind # host
networkmanager # nmcli/nmtui
iwd # wifi backend for NM
wpa_supplicant # fallback wifi
openvpn # in case the install network needs VPN
wireguard-tools

# --- Disk / partitioning / filesystems ----------------------------------
parted
gptfdisk # sgdisk
util-linux # fdisk, lsblk, blkid, wipefs
cryptsetup # LUKS for encrypted root
dosfstools # FAT32 for EFI
e2fsprogs # ext4
xfsprogs
btrfs-progs
zfs # ZFS root is common on NixOS AI rigs
lvm2
mdadm # software RAID
smartmontools # disk health before committing

# --- Hardware inspection (know your machine before installing) ----------
pciutils # lspci
usbutils # lsusb
lshw
dmidecode
hwinfo
inxi
lm_sensors
nvme-cli
hdparm

# --- GPU detection (NVIDIA + AMD; drivers come in per-host gpu.nix) -----
glxinfo
vulkan-tools
clinfo

# --- NixOS install tooling (already in the base image, listed for
# discoverability) ---------------------------------------------------
nixos-install-tools
nix-output-monitor # `nom` — prettier nix build output
nvd # nix version diff
nh # friendly nixos rebuild wrapper

# --- Kubernetes / GitOps clients on the stick so you can poke a
# just-installed control plane from the live USB before reboot ------
kubectl
kubernetes-helm
k9s
argocd # ArgoCD CLI
k3s # binary present so the installer can pre-seed if wanted

# --- Container runtime tooling (debug only on the stick) ----------------
skopeo
crane

# --- Secrets management (so encrypted secrets in the flake can be
# decrypted during install) -----------------------------------------
age
sops
ssh-to-age

# --- Build-time helpers you'll inevitably want -------------------------
coreutils
findutils
gawk
gnused
gnugrep
diffutils
patch
gcc # bootstrap compiler if a flake input needs it
gnumake
pkg-config

# --- Observability of the install itself --------------------------------
iotop
iftop
ncdu
pv
progress

# --- Documentation on the stick (no internet? still readable) -----------
man-pages
man-pages-posix
tldr
];

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# ISO branding
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
isoImage = {
isoName = lib.mkForce "zeta-installer-${config.system.nixos.release}.iso";
volumeID = lib.mkForce "ZETA_INSTALL";
makeEfiBootable = true;
makeUsbBootable = true;
};

# Install-runbook baked onto the stick at /etc/zeta-install.md so it's
# reachable from the live system even when offline.
#
# NOTE: this writes documentation only. The Zeta flake itself is NOT
# auto-staged on the ISO — clone it from network during install
# (`git clone https://github.com/Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta /mnt/etc/zeta`).
# An always-on flake-bundling pass would require build-time access to
# the flake source from this module's evaluation, which a future
# `flake.nix` at the repo root will wire via `imports = [ ./infra/... ]`
# plus `environment.etc."zeta".source = inputs.self;` — track in a
# follow-up PR.
environment.etc."zeta-install.md".text = ''
Zeta cluster installer
======================

1. Boot this USB on the target machine.
2. Log in at the console as `root` (no password — upstream installer
default; only usable from the local TTY).
3. Bring up the network (NetworkManager is enabled):
nmtui # interactive, or
nmcli device wifi connect <SSID> password <PSK>
4. Identify the target disk:
lsblk
5. Clone Zeta onto /mnt/etc/zeta after partitioning:
git clone https://github.com/Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta /mnt/etc/zeta
6. Generate hardware config for this machine:
nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
(commit the resulting hardware-configuration.nix as a per-host
artifact under infra/nixos/hosts/<host>/ when those land.)
7. Install:
nixos-install --flake /mnt/etc/zeta#<host>
— where <host> is one of the names declared in the repo-root
`flake.nix` `nixosConfigurations`. (Today: `installer` only;
per-host configs land in follow-up PRs.)
8. Reboot. K3S, ArgoCD, Orleans land automatically from the flake.

The flake itself is the tick source. Everything downstream reconciles
toward the desired state declared in Git.
'';

# NixOS release that this installer targets.
system.stateVersion = "24.11";
}
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