metalogical / conf

full system configuration

conf

Reproducible system configurations with Nix! All software and most configuration should be tracked with Nix, with some exceptions outlined below.

NetworkManager

NetworkManager connections, passwords, etc. must be manually reconfigured. I tried using a static configuration, but switched to a dynamic setup, since the configurations tended to need tweaking for each machine (so reproducibility is not as valuable).

OpenVPN

OpenVPN can be configured using NetworkManager:

▶ sudo nmcli con import type openvpn file my-vpn.ovpn
▶ nmcli con up my-vpn

Note that using sudo ensured that any imported credentials are only accessible by root. In particular, it may be convenient to import password-less private keys, in which case it is crucial to prevent untrusted non-root programs from reading your keys.

Storing password-less private keys on an encrypted disk with a strong master password is equivalent to using "keyring" or "keychain" software (i.e. a password manager).