bug: error: value is null while a Boolean was expected for current unstable of nixpkgs and master of home-manager

[DanielSiepmann]

Are you following the right branch?

• My Nixpkgs and Home Manager versions are in sync

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Issue description

I'm unable to execute home-manager switch with current nixpkgs unstable and home-manager master.

Output of home-manager switch --show-trace

error:
       … while evaluating the attribute 'buildCommand' of the derivation 'home-manager-generation'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix:303:7:

          302|     // (lib.optionalAttrs (attrs ? name || (attrs ? pname && attrs ? version)) {
          303|       name =
             |       ^
          304|         let

       … while evaluating the attribute 'text' of the derivation 'activation-script'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix:303:7:

          302|     // (lib.optionalAttrs (attrs ? name || (attrs ? pname && attrs ? version)) {
          303|       name =
             |       ^
          304|         let

       … while evaluating call site

       at «none»:0: (source not available)

       … while calling 'mkCmd'

       at /home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/home-environment.nix:659:17:

          658|       let
          659|         mkCmd = res: ''
             |                 ^
          660|             _iNote "Activating %s" "${res.name}"

       … while evaluating the attribute 'data'

       at /home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/lib/dag.nix:89:37:

           88|     in if sorted ? result then {
           89|       result = map (v: { inherit (v) name data; }) sorted.result;
             |                                     ^
           90|     } else

       … while evaluating the attribute 'data'

       at /home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/lib/dag.nix:83:9:

           82|         name = n;
           83|         data = v.data;
             |         ^
           84|         after = v.after ++ dagBefore dag n;

       … while evaluating call site

       at «none»:0: (source not available)

       … while calling 'g'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/attrsets.nix:595:19:

          594|           g =
          595|             name: value:
             |                   ^
          596|             if isAttrs value && cond value

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/attrsets.nix:598:20:

          597|               then recurse (path ++ [name]) value
          598|               else f (path ++ [name]) value;
             |                    ^
          599|         in mapAttrs g;

       … while calling anonymous lambda

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:248:72:

          247|           # For definitions that have an associated option
          248|           declaredConfig = mapAttrsRecursiveCond (v: ! isOption v) (_: v: v.value) options;
             |                                                                        ^
          249|

       … while evaluating the attribute 'value'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:759:9:

          758|     in warnDeprecation opt //
          759|       { value = builtins.addErrorContext "while evaluating the option `${showOption loc}':" value;
             |         ^
          760|         inherit (res.defsFinal') highestPrio;

       … while evaluating the option `home.activation.checkFilesChanged.data':

       … while evaluating the attribute 'mergedValue'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:794:5:

          793|     # Type-check the remaining definitions, and merge them. Or throw if no definitions.
          794|     mergedValue =
             |     ^
          795|       if isDefined then

       … while evaluating the attribute 'values'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:788:9:

          787|       in {
          788|         values = defs''';
             |         ^
          789|         inherit (defs'') highestPrio;

       … while evaluating the attribute 'values'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:887:7:

          886|     in {
          887|       values = concatMap (def: if getPrio def == highestPrio then [(strip def)] else []) defs;
             |       ^
          888|       inherit highestPrio;

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:774:17:

          773|         # Process mkMerge and mkIf properties.
          774|         defs' = concatMap (m:
             |                 ^
          775|           map (value: { inherit (m) file; inherit value; }) (builtins.addErrorContext "while evaluating definitions from `${m.file}':" (dischargeProperties m.value))

       … while calling anonymous lambda

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:774:28:

          773|         # Process mkMerge and mkIf properties.
          774|         defs' = concatMap (m:
             |                            ^
          775|           map (value: { inherit (m) file; inherit value; }) (builtins.addErrorContext "while evaluating definitions from `${m.file}':" (dischargeProperties m.value))

       … while evaluating definitions from `/home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/files.nix':

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:775:137:

          774|         defs' = concatMap (m:
          775|           map (value: { inherit (m) file; inherit value; }) (builtins.addErrorContext "while evaluating definitions from `${m.file}':" (dischargeProperties m.value))
             |                                                                                                                                         ^
          776|         ) defs;

       … while calling 'dischargeProperties'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:846:25:

          845|   */
          846|   dischargeProperties = def:
             |                         ^
          847|     if def._type or "" == "merge" then

       … while evaluating the attribute 'value'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:599:44:

          598|       defnsByName' = byName "config" (module: value:
          599|           [{ inherit (module) file; inherit value; }]
             |                                            ^
          600|         ) configs;

       … while evaluating call site

       at /home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/files.nix:299:12:

          298|         declare -A changedFiles
          299|       '' + concatMapStrings (v:
             |            ^
          300|         let

       … while calling 'concatMapStrings'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/strings.nix:59:25:

           58|   */
           59|   concatMapStrings = f: list: concatStrings (map f list);
             |                         ^
           60|

       … while evaluating call site

       at «none»:0: (source not available)

       … while calling anonymous lambda

       at /home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/files.nix:299:30:

          298|         declare -A changedFiles
          299|       '' + concatMapStrings (v:
             |                              ^
          300|         let

       … while evaluating call site

       at /home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/files.nix:301:23:

          300|         let
          301|           sourceArg = escapeShellArg (sourceStorePath v);
             |                       ^
          302|           targetArg = escapeShellArg v.target;

       … while calling 'escapeShellArg'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/strings.nix:427:20:

          426|   */
          427|   escapeShellArg = arg: "'${replaceStrings ["'"] ["'\\''"] (toString arg)}'";
             |                    ^
          428|

       … while evaluating call site

       at /home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/files.nix:301:39:

          300|         let
          301|           sourceArg = escapeShellArg (sourceStorePath v);
             |                                       ^
          302|           targetArg = escapeShellArg v.target;

       … while calling 'sourceStorePath'

       at /home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/files.nix:15:21:

           14|
           15|   sourceStorePath = file:
             |                     ^
           16|     let

       … while evaluating call site

       at «none»:0: (source not available)

       … while calling 'g'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/attrsets.nix:595:19:

          594|           g =
          595|             name: value:
             |                   ^
          596|             if isAttrs value && cond value

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/attrsets.nix:598:20:

          597|               then recurse (path ++ [name]) value
          598|               else f (path ++ [name]) value;
             |                    ^
          599|         in mapAttrs g;

       … while calling anonymous lambda

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:248:72:

          247|           # For definitions that have an associated option
          248|           declaredConfig = mapAttrsRecursiveCond (v: ! isOption v) (_: v: v.value) options;
             |                                                                        ^
          249|

       … while evaluating the attribute 'value'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:759:9:

          758|     in warnDeprecation opt //
          759|       { value = builtins.addErrorContext "while evaluating the option `${showOption loc}':" value;
             |         ^
          760|         inherit (res.defsFinal') highestPrio;

       … while evaluating the option `home.file."/home/daniels/.Xresources".source':

       … while evaluating the attribute 'mergedValue'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:794:5:

          793|     # Type-check the remaining definitions, and merge them. Or throw if no definitions.
          794|     mergedValue =
             |     ^
          795|       if isDefined then

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:796:12:

          795|       if isDefined then
          796|         if all (def: type.check def.value) defsFinal then type.merge loc defsFinal
             |            ^
          797|         else let allInvalid = filter (def: ! type.check def.value) defsFinal;

       … while calling anonymous lambda

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:796:17:

          795|       if isDefined then
          796|         if all (def: type.check def.value) defsFinal then type.merge loc defsFinal
             |                 ^
          797|         else let allInvalid = filter (def: ! type.check def.value) defsFinal;

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/modules.nix:796:22:

          795|       if isDefined then
          796|         if all (def: type.check def.value) defsFinal then type.merge loc defsFinal
             |                      ^
          797|         else let allInvalid = filter (def: ! type.check def.value) defsFinal;

       … while calling 'check'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/types.nix:490:15:

          489|       descriptionClass = "noun";
          490|       check = x: isStringLike x && builtins.substring 0 1 (toString x) == "/";
             |               ^
          491|       merge = mergeEqualOption;

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix:506:14:

          505|   meta = checkMeta.commonMeta { inherit validity attrs pos references; };
          506|   validity = checkMeta.assertValidity { inherit meta attrs; };
             |              ^
          507|

       … while calling 'assertValidity'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix:442:20:

          441|
          442|   assertValidity = { meta, attrs }: let
             |                    ^
          443|       validity = checkValidity attrs;

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix:443:18:

          442|   assertValidity = { meta, attrs }: let
          443|       validity = checkValidity attrs;
             |                  ^
          444|     in validity // {

       … while calling 'checkValidity'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix:343:19:

          342|   # Along with a boolean flag for each reason
          343|   checkValidity = attrs:
             |                   ^
          344|     # Check meta attribute types first, to make sure it is always called even when there are other issues

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix:362:13:

          361|     # --- Put checks that can be ignored here ---
          362|     else if hasDeniedUnfreeLicense attrs && !(hasAllowlistedLicense attrs) then
             |             ^
          363|       { valid = "no"; reason = "unfree"; errormsg = "has an unfree license (‘${showLicense attrs.meta.license}’)"; }

       … while calling 'hasDeniedUnfreeLicense'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix:77:28:

           76|   # `allowUnfreePredicate` function.
           77|   hasDeniedUnfreeLicense = attrs:
             |                            ^
           78|     hasUnfreeLicense attrs &&

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix:78:5:

           77|   hasDeniedUnfreeLicense = attrs:
           78|     hasUnfreeLicense attrs &&
             |     ^
           79|     !allowUnfree &&

       … while calling 'hasUnfreeLicense'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix:51:22:

           50|
           51|   hasUnfreeLicense = attrs:
             |                      ^
           52|     hasLicense attrs &&

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix:52:5:

           51|   hasUnfreeLicense = attrs:
           52|     hasLicense attrs &&
             |     ^
           53|     isUnfree (lib.lists.toList attrs.meta.license);

       … while calling 'hasLicense'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix:34:16:

           33|
           34|   hasLicense = attrs:
             |                ^
           35|     attrs ? meta.license;

       … while evaluating call site

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/build-support/trivial-builders/default.nix:144:16:

          143|         passAsFile = [ "text" ];
          144|         meta = lib.optionalAttrs (executable && matches != null) {
             |                ^
          145|           mainProgram = lib.head matches;

       … while calling 'optionalAttrs'

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/lib/attrsets.nix:675:5:

          674|     # The attribute set to return if `cond` is `true`.
          675|     as:
             |     ^
          676|     if cond then as else {};

       error: value is null while a Boolean was expected

       at /nix/store/62bs9f80ppj67ridljx8pk5m1hhzqzdw-nixpkgs/nixpkgs/pkgs/build-support/trivial-builders/default.nix:144:35:

          143|         passAsFile = [ "text" ];
          144|         meta = lib.optionalAttrs (executable && matches != null) {
             |                                   ^
          145|           mainProgram = lib.head matches;

Also the system issues a warning when enabling enableNixpkgsReleaseCheck. home-manager master seems to be on 23.05 instead of 23.11-pre.

Workaround: I've now switched nixpkgs from unstable to 23.05.

Maintainer CC

No response

System information

this path will be fetched (0.00 MiB download, 0.00 MiB unpacked):
  /nix/store/nn818zlhq4hnx794c57adijwikdw6cqz-nix-info
copying path '/nix/store/nn818zlhq4hnx794c57adijwikdw6cqz-nix-info' from 'https://cache.nixos.org'...
 - system: `"x86_64-linux"`
 - host os: `Linux 5.4.0-148-generic, Ubuntu, 20.04.6 LTS (Focal Fossa), nobuild`
 - multi-user?: `no`
 - sandbox: `yes`
 - version: `nix-env (Nix) 2.13.3`
 - channels(daniels): `"home-manager, nixpkgs, phps"`
 - nixpkgs: `/home/daniels/.nix-defexpr/channels/nixpkgs`


nix-channel --list
home-manager https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/archive/master.tar.gz
nixpkgs https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable
phps https://github.com/fossar/nix-phps/archive/master.tar.gz

[XaydBayeck]

I'm using NixOS. My configuration is build by flake.

And I meet the same problem.

nixos on  main [⇡] took 4s
❯ nix-info -m
 - system: `"x86_64-linux"`
 - host os: `Linux 6.3.1-zen1, NixOS, 23.05 (Stoat), 23.05.20230522.7084250`
 - multi-user?: `yes`
 - sandbox: `yes`
 - version: `nix-env (Nix) 2.13.3`
 - channels(sid): `"nixos"`
 - channels(root): `"nixos"`
 - nixpkgs: `/nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos`

[cherryblossom000]

I believe the issue is something to do with this:

home-manager/modules/lib/file-type.nix

Lines 60 to 68 in 43ed704

	executable = mkOption {
	type = types.nullOr types.bool;
	default = null;
	description = ''
	Set the execute bit. If <literal>null</literal>, defaults to the mode
	of the <varname>source</varname> file or to <literal>false</literal>
	for files created through the <varname>text</varname> option.
	'';
	};

I think the issue occurs when executable is null, and for some reason it isn't defaulting to the executable mode of the file.

A workaround that worked for me was to modify ~/.nix-defexpr/channels/home-manager/modules/lib/file-type.nix and change the default for executable to false.

---

I tried changing my home.file."some-path".executable to false, but that didn't resolve the issue because then home-manager seemed to be using executable = null for my ssh config, which is why I ended up modifying the home-manager code as described above.

[NobbZ]

If you have missed it in the trace:

From what I have seen, this seems to be caused by home.file.*.source, not sure if it also happens for home.file.*.txt.

And I was able to extract a "good" and a "bad" commit of nixpkgs from my flake.lock, leading to the following diff on nixpkgs:

$ git diff -U10 f91ee3065de91a3531329a674a45ddcb3467a650..5e871d8aa6f57cc8e0dc087d1c5013f6e212b4ce pkgs/build-support/trivial-builders/default.nix

diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/trivial-builders/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/trivial-builders/default.nix
index e90d0a6d202..d3cb22a1f53 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/trivial-builders/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/trivial-builders/default.nix
@@ -128,23 +128,29 @@ rec {
   writeTextFile =
     { name # the name of the derivation
     , text
     , executable ? false # run chmod +x ?
     , destination ? ""   # relative path appended to $out eg "/bin/foo"
     , checkPhase ? ""    # syntax checks, e.g. for scripts
     , meta ? { }
     , allowSubstitutes ? false
     , preferLocalBuild ? true
     }:
+    let
+      matches = builtins.match "/bin/([^/]+)" destination;
+    in
     runCommand name
-      { inherit text executable checkPhase meta allowSubstitutes preferLocalBuild;
+      { inherit text executable checkPhase allowSubstitutes preferLocalBuild;
         passAsFile = [ "text" ];
+        meta = lib.optionalAttrs (executable && matches != null) {
+          mainProgram = lib.head matches;
+        } // meta;
       }
       ''
         target=$out${lib.escapeShellArg destination}
         mkdir -p "$(dirname "$target")"
 
         if [ -e "$textPath" ]; then
           mv "$textPath" "$target"
         else
           echo -n "$text" > "$target"
         fi
@@ -343,22 +349,20 @@ rec {
       checkPhase =
         if checkPhase == null then ''
           runHook preCheck
           ${stdenv.shellDryRun} "$target"
           # use shellcheck which does not include docs
           # pandoc takes long to build and documentation isn't needed for in nixpkgs usage
           ${lib.getExe (haskell.lib.compose.justStaticExecutables shellcheck.unwrapped)} "$target"
           runHook postCheck
         ''
         else checkPhase;
-
-      meta.mainProgram = name;
     };
 
   # Create a C binary
   writeCBin = name: code:
     runCommandCC name
     {
       inherit name code;
       executable = true;
       passAsFile = ["code"];
       # Pointless to do this on a remote machine.

So from my point of view, this seems to be an issue with nixpkgs.

This change breaks for anything that uses writeTextFile with a non-/bin destination and executable = true as far as I can see.

[NobbZ]

The underlying issue seems to be fixed via NixOS/nixpkgs@4431bab (NixOS/nixpkgs#234862) which is not in the channels yet.

I can successfully evaluate my configuration when using nixpkgs-master as follows, as well as passing pkgs = inputs.nixpkgs-master.legacyPackages.${system} in my flake.

I will probably just wait for the fix to propagate into the channels before updating again.

[ncfavier]

It doesn't make sense to pass null to writeTextFile. This should be fixed in HM, not in nixpkgs. #4036

[NobbZ]

I think it is totally fine to have a fix in both…

Making HM semantically correct, while at the same time keeping nixpkgs backward compatible.

Though I wouldn't mind the latter if the error was less confusing and more obvious.

[nixos-discourse]

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

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/error-value-is-null-while-a-boolean-was-expected-where-to-start/29649/1