How to install blender 3.6 LTS

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1

How to install Blender 3.6 LTS on NixOS? (New user, tried multiple methods)

Description:
I’m new to NixOS and need to install Blender 3.6 LTS (not the latest version) because my hardware doesn’t support newer releases. I’ve tried multiple approaches but keep hitting errors.

Attempted Methods

1. Using nix-env

nix-env -iA nixos.blender_3_6

  • Error

attribute 'blender_3_6' in selection path 'nixos.blender_3_6' not found

2. Via configuration.nix

environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
  blender_3_6
];

  • Error

error: undefined variable 'blender_3_6'
       at /etc/nixos/configuration.nix:107:5:
          106|     flatpak vlc
          107|     blender_3_6
             |     ^
          108|

please I want the solution for it

2

Hello

Welcome to the forum!

nixpkgs doesn’t maintain multiples versions of a package at the same time, or at least, not by default. However, since it is using git, it is possible to go back in time and use an older version.

Blender 3.6.5 (blender | How to install with Nix or Devbox) was available 1 year ago, therefore, the instance of nixpkgs you need must be from one year ago.

I can’t really help you more than that at the moment because I’m not in front of a computer, but you’ll find some resources on the internet on how to use an older version of nixpkgs.

3

Well thank you anyway

4

I remember @edolstra having a flake for multiple blender versions as repackaged upstream binaries. Here it is: nix-warez/blender/flake.nix at a8d868fab40b51eba89d2a6c857f9dd9c6e05518 · edolstra/nix-warez · GitHub.

1 Like
5

There are multiple ways to get Blender 3.6, some which use the “Nix” way and others that don’t. The first two commenters are Nix-focused, but if you aren’t too deep into Nix yet then it might be more work than is worth it.

IMO, the easiest way is to download Steam and install Blender using the older versions available under the “Beta” section in the game settings. Make sure your Steam settings allow you to see the “Beta” sections of games and titles.

Also as an aside, I do believe it is very strongly recommended not to use nix-env at all on NixOS (unless you have a good reason to). I’m not entirely sure on the exact reasoning since I am a relatively new user as well, but I believe that any package you could install with nix-env comes from the nixpkgs repository, which you already have access to using your configuration.nix file.

1 Like