Fresh install (VM / Proxmox)

Starting from nothing? Build an image from the flake and boot it. The primary documented target is a Proxmox VM, but any hypervisor or bare-metal machine that can boot a NixOS image works.

Prerequisites

• A machine with Nix and flakes to build the image (a Mac or Linux box). Windows cannot build it. See the Quickstart.
• A Proxmox node or other hypervisor to run it.
• Your SSH public key (ssh-keygen -t ed25519 if you do not have one).

1. Add your SSH key before building

hearth disables SSH password auth, so bake your key in first. Edit nixos/hosts/workstation.nix:

hearth.adminKeys = [ "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nz... you@laptop" ];

2. Build the image

cd hearth
bash scripts/build-image.sh

3. Boot it

Upload the built image to your hypervisor and boot it as a new VM. On Proxmox, import the disk and attach it to a new VM. Until your key takes effect you can reach the box through the Proxmox web console (user operator, initial password hearth, which you should change with passwd on first login).

4. Apply updates over SSH

Once it boots and you can SSH in, future changes are just rebuilds against the repo:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#workstation

Full hardware walkthrough

GPU passthrough, disk import, and the exact Proxmox steps are operational and need real hardware. They are documented step by step in the Runbook.