nixos-infect/MediaTemple/README.md

# NixOS on Media Temple

On Media Temple we can install NixOS on Ubuntu servers by using a custom infect script.

## Add a new server

1. Click on `Add New Service` and select `Self Managed VPS`.
1. Select appropriate server resources (e.g. 2 CPU, 4GB RAM and 100GB storage) and tick `No control panel`.
1. After order has been processed you will need to finish the installation (selecting Ubuntu
  version, setting username and password)

## Infect Ubuntu 20.04

After executing the infect script (`bash infect.sh`) you will need to modify the
`hardware-configuration.nix` file. The script will stop and you will need to do it
manually. You will need to remove all `squashfs` and `vfat` (efi boot) entries.
The automatically generated config will look something like this:

```
# Do not modify this file!  It was generated by ‘nixos-generate-config’
# and may be overwritten by future invocations.  Please make changes
# to /etc/nixos/configuration.nix instead.
{ config, lib, pkgs, modulesPath, ... }:

{
  imports =
    [ (modulesPath + "/profiles/qemu-guest.nix")
    ];

  boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ "ata_piix" "virtio_pci" "virtio_scsi" ];
  boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ ];
  boot.kernelModules = [ ];
  boot.extraModulePackages = [ ];

  fileSystems."/" =
    { device = "/dev/disk/by-uuid/e46da1b8-55a0-4df9-842e-8d80c3a22ffc";
      fsType = "ext4";
    };

  fileSystems."/snap/snapd/12883" =
    { device = "/var/lib/snapd/snaps/snapd_12883.snap";
      fsType = "squashfs";
      options = [ "loop" ];
    };

  fileSystems."/snap/core20/1081" =
    { device = "/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core20_1081.snap";
      fsType = "squashfs";
      options = [ "loop" ];
    };

  fileSystems."/boot/efi" =
    { device = "/dev/disk/by-uuid/7341-10DC";
      fsType = "vfat";
    };

  fileSystems."/snap/lxd/21545" =
    { device = "/var/lib/snapd/snaps/lxd_21545.snap";
      fsType = "squashfs";
      options = [ "loop" ];
    };

  fileSystems."/snap/snapd/14549" =
    { device = "/var/lib/snapd/snaps/snapd_14549.snap";
      fsType = "squashfs";
      options = [ "loop" ];
    };

  fileSystems."/snap/core20/1270" =
    { device = "/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core20_1270.snap";
      fsType = "squashfs";
      options = [ "loop" ];
    };

  fileSystems."/snap/lxd/21835" =
    { device = "/var/lib/snapd/snaps/lxd_21835.snap";
      fsType = "squashfs";
      options = [ "loop" ];
    };

  swapDevices = [ ];

}
```
It's also recommended to name `fileSystem."/"` device to `/dev/sda3` in case the server
gets relocated (disk UUID will change) and add `nvme` to `boot.initrd.kernelModules`.

How do I know it's `/dev/sda3` and not e.g. sda1 or sda2? Run `lsblk` and you will see
the correct pact. In our case:

```
root@ip:~# lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
loop0    7:0    0 32.3M  1 loop /snap/snapd/12883
loop1    7:1    0 61.8M  1 loop /snap/core20/1081
loop2    7:2    0 67.3M  1 loop /snap/lxd/21545
loop3    7:3    0 43.4M  1 loop /snap/snapd/14549
loop4    7:4    0 61.9M  1 loop /snap/core20/1270
loop5    7:5    0 67.2M  1 loop /snap/lxd/21835
sda      8:0    0  100G  0 disk
├─sda1   8:1    0    4M  0 part
├─sda2   8:2    0  106M  0 part /boot/efi
└─sda3   8:3    0 99.9G  0 part /
```

Optional:
- Add a bit of swap.
- Mount `/dev/sda2` partition on `/boot`

After you remove all the `squashfs` and the efi boot entries you will be left with:

```
# Do not modify this file!  It was generated by ‘nixos-generate-config’
# and may be overwritten by future invocations.  Please make changes
# to /etc/nixos/configuration.nix instead.
{ config, lib, pkgs, modulesPath, ... }:

{
  imports = [ ];

  boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ "ata_piix" "uhci_hcd" "xen_blkfront" ];
  boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ "nvme" ];
  boot.kernelModules = [ ];
  boot.extraModulePackages = [ ];

  fileSystems."/" =
    { device = "/dev/sda3";
      fsType = "ext4";
    };

  fileSystems."/boot" =
    { device = "/dev/sda2";
      fsType = "vfat";
    };

  swapDevices = [
    {
      device = "/swapfile";
      size = 1024;
      priority = 0;
    }
  ];

}
```

The last few lines of infect output will look something like this:

```
perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
	LANGUAGE = (unset),
	LC_ALL = "en_US.UTF-8",
	LC_CTYPE = "UTF-8",
	LANG = "C.UTF-8"
    are supported and installed on your system.
perl: warning: Falling back to a fallback locale ("C.UTF-8").
updating GRUB 2 menu...
installing the GRUB 2 boot loader on /dev/sda...
Installing for i386-pc platform.
/nix/store/jx1qj6fh98fnifslhllpcaqaia2nhxz5-grub-2.06/sbin/grub-install: warning: cannot open directory `/nix/store/jx1qj6fh98fnifslhllpcaqaia2nhxz5-grub-2.06/share/locale': No such file or directory.
Installation finished. No error reported.
```

Verify `/etc/nixos/*.nix` config files and make sure they are correct (especially IPs in
`configuration.nix`).

After reboot, you should be able to SSH to the server.