The first time
Install the controller from the official NixOS USB stick: one command, then a few questions in a terminal. The first student PC then starts from the network or from the NixOS stick over SSH, and the first backup follows.
For administrators
One configuration for the whole room.
The controller keeps one configuration for the whole lab. Change it once, review the effect, then update one PC, a group or the whole room over the local network.
- What you need
- A spare 64-bit UEFI PC as controller; student PCs that start from the network or from a USB stick.
- Routine work
- A guided menu on the controller: choose, review, confirm.
- Where to learn it
- The technician guide, on one page.
Two kinds of work
A terminal the first time, a menu after that.
A five-minute video on Get started shows the whole first setup, from the NixOS stick to the first student PC.
From then on
Everything runs from the Nixorium menu on the controller: software, updates, a PC added or reinstalled from the network or the stick over SSH, backups. Configuration files are only for advanced changes, by yourself, with the Agent Skill or Assistant.
Change once
Change it once, update in place.
There is no master image to rebuild. Add a program or change the student desktop in the guided menu, choose where it applies, and update the PCs in place: nothing is reinstalled.
- 01
Choose
Search the lab’s packages, add a software profile, or open the student workspace editor.
- 02
Scope
Apply it everywhere, to the controller only, to all clients, to a group, or to single PCs.
- 03
Review
Nixorium shows what will change before saving. Nothing reaches a client yet.
- 04
Update
Choose which PCs to update. The controller builds their systems and updates them over the network.
- 05
Verify
The result lists which PCs reached the new version and which need attention.
Setup offers seven software profiles, Essential by default, and any NixOS package can be added; a guided editor covers the student desktop, dock, VS Code and browser. See what each profile brings → How to change something, step by step →
Install a room
From the network, beside the school’s DHCP.
Start each PC from the network: the controller answers only network-boot requests and leaves address leases to the existing DHCP server. Where network boot is not possible, a PC installs from the official NixOS USB stick over SSH instead, from the same menu.
Nothing installs on its own
At each PC someone chooses which computer it is and types ERASE to confirm the disk.
About one hour for 30 PCs
The full reinstall of the first lab; one observation, not a benchmark.
Only the controller needs Internet; during lessons students still browse the school network as usual.
Install the first controller →How network installation works →
Updates you decide
Reviewed, step by step, reversible.
Nixorium and NixOS update separately, only when you choose, and always after a review.
New Nixorium versions
Choose a release. The controller is updated first; clients follow when you update them.
NixOS and applications
Move to a newer revision of the same NixOS release. A new release is a separate, explicit choice.
Undo a saved change
The last change saved on the controller can be undone, then applied and sent out like any other.
Updates never erase a client. Only installation and reinstallation write the whole disk.
PCs that are off catch up. Each one is updated as soon as it is turned on.
When things go wrong
There is always a next step.
A power cut during an update or a setting that no longer fits: Nixorium does not guess and does not retry on its own. The overview lists anything left unfinished, and every refusal ends with a Next: line that says what to do.
01After an update that causes trouble
Return to the previous system version
Choose an earlier system from the PC’s boot menu; student files remain separate.
02For a blank or failed system
Reinstall the PC
Start the PC from the network or from USB, choose which client it is, and confirm the disk before NixOS is installed again.
03For a failed controller
Restore the controller backup
Install a new controller, restore the encrypted backup, and apply it. The student PCs are managed again without reinstalling them.
Back up the controller from Maintenance → Back up lab: one file encrypted with a passphrase holds the lab configuration and its keys. Nixorium reminds you when the backup is missing or older than 30 days. Backups and controller replacement ↗
Accounts and configuration
Local accounts, a configuration you own.
Accounts are local to the lab; there is no central directory or per-student login. The lab configuration is a private Git repository on the controller, with guided settings for keyboard, time zone, homepage, software and the student workspace.
Student
Opens automatically on every client. No administrator rights; the home resets at every boot.
Teacher
Uses the classroom view on the controller, without administrator access.
Administrator
Runs the Nixorium menu.
Beyond the guided settings
On your own
Edit the modules of the lab configuration directly.
Agent Skill, free
nixorium-maintainer is an optional skill for a coding agent you set up yourself; deployment still needs your review.
Assistant
The paid service inside the Nixorium menu that writes the whole change, modules included, and checks it on your controller.
Get started
Begin with a controller and one PC.
The technician guide takes you from the controller to the first student PC and the first backup.