This repository is a flake which will result in NixOS packaged up in a QCOW2 image which is compatible with virtualization platforms, like OpenStack. However you can also download the latest image built using this repository from the releases page.
The following repo assumes you have
flakesandnix-commandon your system.
- UEFI boot
- Q35 machine type (compatible)
- QEMU aware
- virtio support
- Latest stable NixOS 24.11
- Latest Kernel Image (6.8+)
- Cloud-Init enabled
- Standalone system
You don't have to clone this repo to build with it. The following command could be used to create your image from source online.
nix build git+https://github.com/cloudnull/nixos-openstack#nixosConfigurations.build-qcow2.config.system.build.qcow2If you do clone this repository, you can run the build locally from within it.
You can check the flake locally before running the build.
nix flake checkRun the build, this can take a few minutes.
nix build .#nixosConfigurations.build-qcow2.config.system.build.qcow2After the build you will have a new qcow2 file in the results directory.
ll result/
total 630988
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 649986048 Dec 31 1969 nixos.qcow2
dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Dec 31 1969 nix-supportopenstack --os-cloud default image create \
--progress \
--disk-format qcow2 \
--container-format bare \
--public \
--file result/nixos.qcow2 \
--property hw_scsi_model=virtio-scsi \
--property hw_disk_bus=scsi \
--property hw_vif_multiqueue_enabled=true \
--property hw_qemu_guest_agent=yes \
--property hypervisor_type=kvm \
--property img_config_drive=optional \
--property hw_machine_type=q35 \
--property hw_firmware_type=uefi \
--property os_require_quiesce=yes \
--property os_type=linux \
--property os_admin_user=nixos \
--property os_distro=nixos \
--property os_version=24.11 \
nixos-24.11This image will set the required metadata within the image properties to run the system with the desired feature set described in the "Image Requirements" section. The image output will look similar to this.
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| container_format | bare |
| created_at | 2024-04-06T18:31:55Z |
| disk_format | qcow2 |
| file | /v2/images/f73588c5-468e-4678-9974-33300dce7c39/file |
| id | f73588c5-468e-4678-9974-33300dce7c39 |
| min_disk | 0 |
| min_ram | 0 |
| name | nixos-24.11 |
| owner | 4d04429679c44b9ab3cafd523b9f86fd |
| properties | hw_disk_bus='scsi', hw_firmware_type='uefi', hw_machine_type='q35', hw_qemu_guest_agent='yes', hw_scsi_model='virtio-scsi', hw_vif_multiqueue_enabled='True', hypervisor_type='kvm', img_config_drive='optional', |
| | os_admin_user='nixos', os_distro='nixos', os_hidden='False', os_require_quiesce='True', os_type='linux', os_version='24.11', owner_specified.openstack.md5='', owner_specified.openstack.object='images/nixos-24.11', |
| | owner_specified.openstack.sha256='' |
| protected | False |
| schema | /v2/schemas/image |
| status | queued |
| tags | |
| updated_at | 2024-04-06T18:31:55Z |
| visibility | public |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+The metadata provided will ensure that OpenStack boots our image with the appropriate drivers and optimizations.
# note the nic, flavor, and key-name will all be unique for your environment.
openstack --os-cloud default server create \
--image nixos-24.11 \
--nic net-id=flat \
--flavor m1.small \
--key-name controller-0 \
nixos-24.11The server creation will look something similar to this
+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| OS-DCF:diskConfig | MANUAL |
| OS-EXT-AZ:availability_zone | nova |
| OS-EXT-SRV-ATTR:host | compute-0.cloud.local |
| OS-EXT-SRV-ATTR:hypervisor_hostname | compute-0.cloud.local |
| OS-EXT-SRV-ATTR:instance_name | instance-0000004d |
| OS-EXT-STS:power_state | Running |
| OS-EXT-STS:task_state | None |
| OS-EXT-STS:vm_state | active |
| OS-SRV-USG:launched_at | 2024-04-06T18:32:18.000000 |
| OS-SRV-USG:terminated_at | None |
| accessIPv4 | |
| accessIPv6 | |
| addresses | flat=172.16.25.163 |
| adminPass | ************ |
| config_drive | |
| created | 2024-04-06T18:32:09Z |
| flavor | m1.small (4ef01fb8-6afa-46f8-b20f-86cf60388791) |
| hostId | afb64fd7a445a42c4dee560085e4dc4db3751f923ecd76f98b21c36e |
| id | d212be0d-3ed0-4096-b763-b08a96fd575e |
| image | nixos-24.11 (f73588c5-468e-4678-9974-33300dce7c39) |
| key_name | controller-0 |
| name | nixos-24.11 |
| progress | 0 |
| project_id | 4d04429679c44b9ab3cafd523b9f86fd |
| properties | |
| security_groups | name='default' |
| status | ACTIVE |
| updated | 2024-04-06T18:32:18Z |
| user_id | 236cbdbe0eb545d68a21c58cb782c924 |
| volumes_attached | |
+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+After boot all of the cloud init bits will run and we'll be abel to login with our defined keypair.
While I'm sure I've made some mistakes, and there are ways this all could be a whole lot better, it works!
The console log is fully functional and will highlight the boot processes and anything configured by cloud-init.
The following configuration generates a simple, yet fully featured, NixOS virtual machine image (which could probably be used with Baremetal via Ironic too... soon-tm).
Happy Nix'ing!