How to Install Sismics Reader on NixOS

In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install Sismics Reader, a free and open-source web-based RSS reader, on the latest version of NixOS using the terminal. This tutorial is suitable for beginners and requires no prior technical knowledge.

Step 1: Update the System

Before installing any package, it is always a good practice to update your system to ensure that you have the latest software packages and security updates. You can update your system by running the following command in the terminal:

sudo nix-channel --update && sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Step 2: Install Sismics Reader

Next, we will install Sismics Reader. To install it, we need to add its package to our NixOS configuration file.

  1. Open the NixOS configuration file in your favorite text editor. The configuration file is located at /etc/nixos/configuration.nix.
sudo nano /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
  1. Add the following code snippet to the file:
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
        su-exec
        git
        nodejs-14_x
        yasm
        nginx
        gcc
        make
        cmake
        postgresql
        sismics-reader
    ];

  1. Save and close the file.

  2. Now, run the following command to rebuild your NixOS configuration to install Sismics Reader:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Step 3: Configure and Run Sismics Reader

After the installation is complete, you need to configure Sismics Reader and start the service.

  1. First, create a new PostgreSQL database and user for Sismics Reader:
sudo -u postgres createuser sismics-reader
sudo -u postgres createdb -O sismics-reader sismics-reader
  1. Next, copy the default configuration file to the NixOS configuration directory:
sudo cp /etc/sismics/sismics-reader/sismics-reader.default /etc/nixos/sismics-reader.nix
  1. Edit the configuration file to set the PostgreSQL connection parameters:
sudo nano /etc/nixos/sismics-reader.nix

postgresql = {
      enable = true;
      database = "sismics-reader";
      username = "sismics-reader";
      password = "sismics-reader";
      host = "localhost";
};

  1. Save and close the configuration file.

  2. Now, start the service:

sudo systemctl start sismics-reader
sudo systemctl enable sismics-reader
  1. Finally, access the Sismics Reader web interface by visiting http://localhost:8080 in your web browser.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Sismics Reader on NixOS.