README.md

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ Below is a minimal example:
               host = "itchy.scratchy.com";
               sshUser = "matthew";
               buildOn = "remote"; # valid args are "local" or "remote"
+	            hermetic = false;
             };
           }
           # ... other configuration ...
@@ -76,3 +77,30 @@ reloading user units for matthew...
 setting up tmpfiles
 Connection to itchy.scratchy.com closed.
 ```
+
+# Available arguments via `_module.args.nixinate`
+
+- `host` *`string`*
+
+   A string representing the hostname or IP address of a machine to connect to
+   via ssh.
+
+- `sshUser` *`string`*
+
+   A string representing the username a machine to connect to via ssh.
+
+- `buildOn` *`"remote"`* or *`"local"`*
+
+  - `"remote"`
+
+    Push the flake to the remote, build and activate entirely remotely,
+    returning logs via SSH.
+
+  - `"local"`
+
+    Build the system closure locally, copy to the remote and activate.
+
+- `hermetic` *`bool`*
+
+  Whether to copy Nix to the remote for usage when building and activating,
+  instead of using the Nix which is already installed on the remote.

flake.nix

@@ -16,32 +16,49 @@
     {
       herculesCI.ciSystems = [ "x86_64-linux" ];
       overlay = final: prev: {
+        nixinate = {
+          nix = prev.pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "nix"
+            ''${final.nixVersions.unstable}/bin/nix --experimental-features "nix-command flakes" "$@"'';
+          nixos-rebuild = prev.nixos-rebuild.override { inherit (final) nix; };
+        };
         generateApps = flake:
           let
             machines = builtins.attrNames flake.nixosConfigurations;
             validMachines = final.lib.remove "" (final.lib.forEach machines (x: final.lib.optionalString (flake.nixosConfigurations."${x}"._module.args ? nixinate) "${x}" ));
             mkDeployScript = { machine, dryRun }: let
               inherit (builtins) abort;
+              inherit (final.lib) getExe;
+              nix = "${getExe final.nix}";
+              nixos-rebuild = "${getExe final.nixos-rebuild}";
+              openssh = "${getExe final.openssh}";
 
               n = flake.nixosConfigurations.${machine}._module.args.nixinate;
+              hermetic = n.hermetic or false;
               user = n.sshUser or "root";
               host = n.host;
               where = n.buildOn or "remote";
               remote = if where == "remote" then true else if where == "local" then false else abort "_module.args.nixinate.buildOn is not set to a valid value of 'local' or 'remote'";
               switch = if dryRun then "dry-activate" else "switch";
-              script = ''
+              script =
+              ''
                 set -e
                 echo "🚀 Deploying nixosConfigurations.${machine} from ${flake}"
                 echo "👤 SSH User: ${user}"
                 echo "🌐 SSH Host: ${host}"
               '' + (if remote then ''
                 echo "🚀 Sending flake to ${machine} via nix copy:"
-                ( set -x; ${final.nix}/bin/nix copy ${flake} --to ssh://${user}@${host} )
+                ( set -x; ${nix} copy ${flake} --to ssh://${user}@${host} )
-                echo "🤞 Activating configuration on ${machine} via ssh:"
+              '' + (if hermetic then ''
-                ( set -x; ${final.openssh}/bin/ssh -t ${user}@${host} 'sudo nixos-rebuild ${switch} --flake ${flake}#${machine}' )
+                echo "🤞 Activating configuration hermetically on ${machine} via ssh:"
+                ( set -x; ${nix} build ${nixos-rebuild} --no-link --store ssh://${user}@${host} )
+                ( set -x; ${openssh} -t ${user}@${host} 'sudo ${nixos-rebuild} ${switch} --flake ${flake}#${machine}' )
               '' else ''
+                echo "🤞 Activating configuration non-hermetically on ${machine} via ssh:"
+                ( set -x; ${openssh} -t ${user}@${host} 'sudo nixos-rebuild ${switch} --flake ${flake}#${machine}' )
+              '')
+              else ''
                 echo "🔨 Building system closure locally, copying it to remote store and activating it:"
-                ( set -x; NIX_SSHOPTS="-t" ${final.nixos-rebuild}/bin/nixos-rebuild ${switch} --flake ${flake}#${machine} --target-host ${user}@${host} --use-remote-sudo )
+                ( set -x; NIX_SSHOPTS="-t" ${nixos-rebuild} ${switch} --flake ${flake}#${machine} --target-host ${user}@${host} --use-remote-sudo )
               '');
             in final.writeScript "deploy-${machine}.sh" script;
           in
@@ -78,7 +95,7 @@
         let
           vmTests = import ./tests {
             makeTest = (import (nixpkgs + "/nixos/lib/testing-python.nix") { inherit system; }).makeTest;
-            inherit pkgs inputs;
+            inherit inputs; pkgs = nixpkgsFor.${system};
           };
         in
         pkgs.lib.optionalAttrs pkgs.stdenv.isLinux vmTests # vmTests can only be ran on Linux, so append them only if on Linux.

tests/vmTest/default.nix

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 { pkgs, makeTest, inputs }:
 let
+  inherit (pkgs) lib;
   # Return a store path with a closure containing everything including
   # derivations and all build dependency outputs, all the way down.
   allDrvOutputs = pkg:
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ let
     ((import (path + "/flake.nix")).outputs (inputs // {self = r;}));
   in
     r;
-  mkNixinateTest = buildOn:
+  mkNixinateTest = { buildOn, hermetic ? false, ... }:
     let
       exampleFlake = pkgs.writeTextFile {
         name = "nixinate-example-flake";
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ let
                         host = "nixinatee";
                         sshUser = "nixinator";
                         buildOn = "${buildOn}"; # valid args are "local" or "remote"
+                        hermetic = ${lib.boolToString hermetic}; # valid args are true or false
                       };
                     }
                   ];
@@ -66,7 +68,9 @@ let
           ];
           virtualisation = {
             writableStore = true;
-            additionalPaths = [] ++ pkgs.lib.optional (buildOn == "remote") (allDrvOutputs exampleSystem);
+            additionalPaths = []
+              ++ lib.optional (buildOn == "remote") (allDrvOutputs exampleSystem)
+              ++ lib.optional (hermetic == true) (pkgs.nixinate.nixos-rebuild);
           };
         };
         nixinator = { ... }: {
@@ -77,7 +81,7 @@ let
             additionalPaths = [
               (allDrvOutputs exampleSystem)
             ]
-              ++ pkgs.lib.optional (buildOn == "remote") exampleFlake;
+              ++ lib.optional (buildOn == "remote") exampleFlake;
           };
         };
       };
@@ -103,6 +107,8 @@ let
     };
 in
 {
-  local = (mkNixinateTest "local");
+  local = (mkNixinateTest { buildOn = "local"; });
-  remote = (mkNixinateTest "remote");
+  remote = (mkNixinateTest { buildOn = "remote"; });
+  localHermetic = (mkNixinateTest { buildOn = "local"; hermetic = true; });
+  remoteHermetic = (mkNixinateTest { buildOn = "remote"; hermetic = true; });
 }