nixos-install fails with getting attributes of path /nix/store/...: No such file or directory #126141

Artturin · 2021-06-08T01:51:01Z

Describe the bug
during nixos-install a error appears getting attributes of path /nix/store/...: No such file or directory
the person who told me about this is @epsyle
i was using his dotfiles to test https://github.com/epsyle/snowflake/tree/c13f37ac19942bdcc3ddced28015b47b10e1f6b2

i did this in a vm and he did it on hw

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

boot nixos-minimal-21.05.804.5de44c15758-x86_64-linux.iso
create a root partition
add fira-code in to your systemPackages
nixos-install

Expected behavior
install should work

Screenshots

Additional context
after nix-build '<nixpkgs>' -A fira-code or nix-shell -p fira-code the install will continue until there's a another error of the same type which can be fixed by doing the same thing

nix-store --repair-path /nix/store/41qphrp1ksc1fqm01i7khs30n1zjl56r-fira-code-5.2 would fix it too

I hope this issue will help new people who are searching for a fix

Maybe related NixOS/nix#1281

Metadata

system: "x86_64-linux"
host os: Linux 5.10.40, NixOS, 21.05.804.5de44c15758 (Okapi)
multi-user?: yes
sandbox: yes
version: nix-env (Nix) 2.3.12
channels(root): "nixos-21.05.804.5de44c15758"
nixpkgs: /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

Artturin · 2021-06-09T19:29:02Z

seen 3 people with the same issue in the last 2 days

nixos-discourse · 2021-06-10T11:23:56Z

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/21-05-not-installed/13547/3

…is fixed

Artturin · 2021-06-15T17:04:07Z

i've seen this happen ~7 times in the past week

here's one just 1 hour ago https://www.reddit.com/r/NixOS/comments/o0gil2/does_anyone_know_how_to_fix_this_error/

and theres one in the Nix / NixOS matrix server right now

Artturin · 2021-06-15T18:05:18Z

a workaround by @jonringer
first

nix-build '<nixpkgs/nixos>' -A config.system.build.toplevel -I nixos-config=/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix

let it complete
and then run sudo nixos-install

jonringer · 2021-06-15T18:11:37Z

does nix-build '<nixpkgs/nixos>' -A config.system.build.toplevel -I nixos-config=/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix then re-running nixos-install fix the issue?

Curious if flakification efforts of nixos-install caused some regressions.

jonringer · 2021-06-15T18:12:03Z

oops, just noticed you posted it as well :)

jonringer · 2021-06-15T18:18:29Z

Going to pin this issue until there's a better resolution of this, but many people have been having this issue.

jonringer · 2021-06-15T19:06:51Z

cc @edolstra @jtojnar

liamwhite · 2021-06-16T01:34:15Z

Curious if flakification efforts of nixos-install caused some regressions.

Maybe, but it can be reproduced without using nixos-install at all. See nix bug: NixOS/nix#4912

jonringer · 2021-06-16T02:58:22Z

It's quite possible. The nixos-install script hasn't seen much iteration over the past few months. Much more likely there's a regression in the nix-cli

nixos-discourse · 2021-06-16T15:44:12Z

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/21-05-not-installing/13547/20

rnhmjoj · 2021-06-20T09:21:57Z

Did anyone figure this out? I've only be able to complete the installation by commeting out sections of the confiuration; once booted into the new system it worked. The problem must be with nixos-install and not nix in general.

jspaalan · 2021-06-20T09:36:19Z

@rnhmjoj I'm also currently using a similar workaround. By using a minimal configuration the only derivation that is currently causing the issue in my install-phase config is mailcap-2.1.52. I noticed that by finding the derivations in /mnt/nix/store which have .lock files in place point out at least some of such problematic derivations and they can be fixed by nix-store --repair-path.

rnhmjoj · 2021-06-20T09:51:56Z

Interesting, it was mailcap for me too, that can't be a coincidence. There must be something in common with these derivations that's making Nix fail, but only when invoked from nixos-install.

liamwhite · 2021-06-20T23:44:20Z

The bug comes from nixos-install invoking nix-store with a --store path that is not /. I strongly believe that this is a nix bug and not a nixos-install bug.

nixos-discourse · 2021-06-21T09:23:52Z

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-install-failing/13730/3

nixos-discourse · 2021-06-23T15:06:49Z

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-21-05-installation-failed-installing-from-an-existing-distro/13627/4

figsoda · 2021-06-23T17:14:09Z

might be related to NixOS/nix#4081

austinbutler · 2021-06-28T05:27:01Z

This happened to me with at least beets (but only when overridden with enableExtraFiles) and google-fonts. Using nix-shell indeed worked around it each time. This was with an install script that I used a few months back without issue.

jonringer · 2021-06-29T23:31:33Z

Did anyone figure this out? I've only be able to complete the installation by commeting out sections of the confiuration; once booted into the new system it worked. The problem must be with nixos-install and not nix in general.

don't remember where I read the issue, but there may be a regression with nix-build --store or lesser likely with nix-store --extra-substituters, as those are likely to be the only difference between what I said above, and what nixos-install is calling:

        nix-build --out-link "$outLink" --store "$mountPoint" "${extraBuildFlags[@]}" \
            --extra-substituters "$sub" \
            '<nixpkgs/nixos>' -A system -I "nixos-config=$NIXOS_CONFIG" "${verbosity[@]}"

A temporary fix could be just building it twice, once without --store and --extra-substitutes, then again with them supplied. This would essentially be applying the "work-around" listed here.

The drawbacks being:

configuration has to be evaluated twice, and from a user's perspective, it seems like repeated work to users (technically it is).
Fills up local /nix/store, which for the installation devices is tmpfs + overlay (heavy on ram usage):

    fileSystems."/nix/.rw-store" =
      { fsType = "tmpfs";
        options = [ "mode=0755" ];
        neededForBoot = true;
      };

    fileSystems."/nix/store" =
      { fsType = "overlay";
        device = "overlay";
        options = [
          "lowerdir=/nix/.ro-store"
          "upperdir=/nix/.rw-store/store"
          "workdir=/nix/.rw-store/work"
        ];

Otherwise chrooted store will fail because Nix will try to read the virtual path instead of the physical one Should fix NixOS/nixpkgs#126141

thufschmitt · 2021-07-26T09:37:56Z

@samueldr I couldn’t replicate the exact issue, but I’m fairly confident that it would be fixed by NixOS/nix@89fba5c . Do you mind giving it a try?

nixos-discourse · 2021-07-26T12:22:00Z

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/cant-log-in-to-new-install-21-05/14263/5

samueldr · 2021-07-26T19:40:11Z

✔️ @regnat verified only against 21.05, but it does fix the issue; Nix finishes the system build.

Tested with: 09ffd85 (and Nix back at 2.3.14)

(I do not know if the issue exists on unstable.)

ElvishJerricco · 2021-07-26T19:57:35Z

Can also confirm that NixOS/nix@89fba5c fixed the issue in my nix-build --store /path test. Though what I don't understand is why I can't reproduce this issue on the master branch of Nix...

thufschmitt · 2021-07-27T08:19:41Z

heavy_check_mark @regnat verified only against 21.05, but it does fix the issue; Nix finishes the system build.

Yay! I’ve opened NixOS/nix#5053 so that we can have a proper release with the fix

Though what I don't understand is why I can't reproduce this issue on the master branch of Nix...

NixOS/nix@3dbd83b (the faulty commit) is a backport of NixOS/nix@5985b8b (which is on master), but I had to rework it a little bit as the code had changed in the meantime. And that’s when I introduced the bug.

samueldr · 2021-07-27T18:29:03Z

@edolstra will a Nix 2.3.15 release be made soon enough? (before the end of the week)

Or should the patch be applied on 2.3.14 until then?

Given that this is a major blocker and tarnishes experience for new users, I think we should land a fix for this before the end of the week.

tobiasBora · 2021-07-29T14:30:53Z

As far as I understand/experiment, the proposed temporal fixe downloads everything into the live /nix folder instead of the /mnt/nix/ folder:

nix-build '<nixpkgs/nixos>' -A config.system.build.toplevel -I nixos-config=/mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
sudo nixos-install

The problem is that the livecd does not have a huge space, and it tends to run out of space. Is there a way to download packages in the /mnt/nix store to benefit from a larger space?

-- EDIT --

I also tried to upgrade nix using the unstable channel (I though the bug was not present in master) and upgrade nix with nix-env -iA nixos.nix, but it seems that it is not enough to allow nixos-install to run flawlessly.

vcunat · 2021-07-30T09:19:17Z

So... we update nix then? #132046

mixmixmix · 2021-07-30T23:22:51Z

I understand that it is happily fixed @SuperSandro2000 but what do I need to do to install a fresh nixos now? Can we have some explanation for less technical folks?

... into release-21.05 as a part of fixing #126141. (I think; I don't know how often the fallback gets used in practice.)

Artturin · 2021-07-31T08:55:14Z

I understand that it is happily fixed but what do I need to do to install a fresh nixos now? Can we have some explanation for less technical folks?

You don't have to reinstall

mixmixmix · 2021-07-31T09:38:43Z

I got a fresh install image and updated channels but still run into this problem, that's why I asked what to do :). Ultimately I see that I just needed to run what you suggested in initial post:
nix-store --repair-path /nix/store/rya2s79k5ncqbas09rwhq43lrbr4s3m0-mailcap-2.1.52

Artturin · 2021-07-31T09:58:21Z

no isos have been built with the pr yet
https://nixpk.gs/pr-tracker.html?pr=132046
backport pr https://nixpk.gs/pr-tracker.html?pr=132073

vcunat · 2021-07-31T16:11:24Z

Latest 21.05 ISOs should have all the fixes in them now.

jonringer · 2021-08-02T18:11:30Z

Just waiting on https://nixpk.gs/pr-tracker.html?pr=132046 to finish, then I'll unpin

nixos-discourse · 2021-08-03T10:16:56Z

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/tweag-nix-dev-update-16/14379/1

domenkozar · 2021-08-03T10:17:59Z

I've used 21.05 and haven't spotted this bug.

vcunat · 2021-08-03T10:52:30Z

All maintained channels and ISOs should be fixed now. (or at least contain those nix updates)

jonringer · 2021-08-04T15:27:14Z

I've used 21.05 and haven't spotted this bug.

It only occurs if you add new packages to your nixos configuration that don't exist in the image. If your initial install is a subset of the image, you're fine.

ElvishJerricco · 2021-08-06T08:15:00Z

Yep, the issue only happens if you attempt to copy a fixed output derivation from a substituter into a chroot store. It's kind of rare but very unpleasant for people who try to do this thing that should work during installation.

nixos-discourse · 2021-10-07T19:43:23Z

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-install-cant-find-iana-etc/15390/2

nixos-discourse · 2021-10-09T20:47:27Z

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/having-trouble-installing-nixos/15431/3

nixos-discourse · 2023-08-24T15:30:10Z

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/substituters-on-a-remote-builder-for-a-flake-causes-build-to-fail-with-no-such-file/32140/1

Artturin added the 0.kind: bug label Jun 8, 2021

Artturin closed this as completed Jun 8, 2021

Artturin reopened this Jun 9, 2021

jspaalan added a commit to Avarko/nixos-devkit-installer that referenced this issue Jun 12, 2021

Rolled back to channel 20.09 during install until NixOS/nixpkgs#126141 …

c572b16

…is fixed

liamwhite mentioned this issue Jun 13, 2021

Failure to build nvidia-settings package when specifying --store NixOS/nix#4912

Closed

jonringer pinned this issue Jun 15, 2021

jonringer added 6.topic: nixos 6.topic: user experience labels Jun 15, 2021

samuela mentioned this issue Jun 16, 2021

21.05 nixos-install process does not work with environment.systemPackages #125860

Closed

Artturin mentioned this issue Jun 23, 2021

Packages are not installed via nixos-install. #127839

Closed

thufschmitt added a commit to NixOS/nix that referenced this issue Jul 26, 2021

Use the real path when checking imported CA paths

89fba5c

Otherwise chrooted store will fail because Nix will try to read the virtual path instead of the physical one Should fix NixOS/nixpkgs#126141

thufschmitt mentioned this issue Jul 27, 2021

[2.3]: Use the real path when checking imported CA paths NixOS/nix#5053

Merged

vcunat mentioned this issue Jul 30, 2021

nix(Stable): 2.3.14 -> 2.3.15 #132046

Merged

11 tasks

SuperSandro2000 closed this as completed in #132046 Jul 30, 2021

vcunat added a commit that referenced this issue Jul 31, 2021

Merge #131892: nix-fallback-paths.nix: 2.3.14 -> 2.3.15

11c6620

... into release-21.05 as a part of fixing #126141. (I think; I don't know how often the fallback gets used in practice.)

vcunat unpinned this issue Aug 6, 2021

wd15 mentioned this issue Sep 27, 2021

Install error "error: getting attributes of path ...libkrb5..." nix-community/nix-user-chroot#56

Closed

ncfavier mentioned this issue Jan 1, 2023

stage-1.nix / mktemp: failed to create directory via template ‘initrd-secrets.XXXXXXXXXX’: Read-only file system #73404

Closed

nixos-install fails with getting attributes of path /nix/store/...: No such file or directory #126141

nixos-install fails with getting attributes of path /nix/store/...: No such file or directory #126141

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