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Getting Started

Create your own clan with these initial steps and manage a fleet of machines with one single testable git repository!

Prerequisites

Clan depends on nix installed on your system. Run the following command to install nix.

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install

If you already have installed Nix, make sure you have the nix-command and flakes configuration enabled in your ~/.config/nix/nix.conf. The determinate installer already comes with this configuration by default.

# /etc/nix/nix.conf or ~/.config/nix/nix.conf
experimental-features = nix-command flakes

If you run NixOS the nix binary is already installed.

You will also need to enable the flakes and nix-commands experimental features in your configuration.nix:

{ nix.settings.experimental-features = [ "nix-command" "flakes" ]; }

Clan doesn't offer dedicated support for other operating systems yet.

Step 1: Add Clan CLI to Your Shell

Add the Clan CLI into your development workflow:

nix shell git+https://git.clan.lol/clan/clan-core#clan-cli

You can find reference documentation for the clan cli program here.

Alternatively you can check out the help pages directly: 

clan --help

Step 2: Initialize Your Project

Set the foundation of your Clan project by initializing it as follows:

clan flakes create my-clan

This command creates the flake.nix and .clan-flake files for your project. It will also generate files from a default template, to help show general clan usage patterns.

Step 3: Verify the Project Structure

Ensure that all project files exist by running:

cd my-clan
tree

This should yield the following:

.
├── flake.nix
├── machines
│   ├── jon
│   │   ├── configuration.nix
│   │   └── hardware-configuration.nix
│   └── sara
│       ├── configuration.nix
│       └── hardware-configuration.nix
└── modules
    └── shared.nix

5 directories, 9 files

clan machines list

jon
sara

Success

You just successfully bootstrapped your first clan directory.

What's Next?

  • Installer: Setting up new computers remotely is easy with an USB stick.