Nixologists of Impermanence, what do you persist?

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Hi there!

I’m about to start embracing the way of impermanence in my systems. But first, I wanted to consult with you because I have some questions.

  • Outside of the ones in the nix-community/impermanence example, what system folders and files are worth preserving?
# System
directories = [
  "/var/lib/bluetooth"
  "/var/lib/nixos"
  "/var/lib/systemd/coredump"
  "/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections"
  "/etc/ssh"
];
files = [
  "/etc/machine-id"
];
# User
directories = [
  "Downloads"
  "Music"
  "Pictures"
  "Documents"
  "Videos"
  { directory = ".gnupg"; mode = "0700"; }
  { directory = ".ssh"; mode = "0700"; }
  { directory = ".nixops"; mode = "0700"; }
];
files = [
  ".face"
];
  • Is there a folder or file that you learned the hard way you should have preserved? For example, shell history, browser settings, Steam files, or other things not in the scope of home-manager.
  • Do you have an automatic or manual check to see what should be preserved?

I’m open to hearing all of your best practices!

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2

  • I selectively persist specific directories and/or files in $XDG_{CACHE,CONFIG,STATE}_HOME for some applications.

  • For persistent systemd timers to work correctly I persist /var/lib/systemd/timers.

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