How to install Typesense on NixOS

This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to install Typesense on NixOS, the Linux distribution.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure that you have:

  • NixOS installed on your system.
  • A terminal with administrator privileges.

Steps

  1. Open a terminal on your NixOS system with administrator access.

  2. Update the package lists by running the following command:

    sudo nix-channel --update

  3. Install Typesense from the Typesense.org package repository by running the following command:

    sudo nix-env -iA typesense -f https://packages.typesense.org/nix/typesense.nix

  4. Once installation is complete, start the Typesense server by running the following command:

    sudo systemctl start typesense

  5. To check if Typesense is running, run the following command:

    sudo systemctl status typesense

    This command should return outputs like this -

    typesense.service - Typesense
  Loaded: loaded (/nix/store/0n1yv2zzlzpjjr24z96fzymwf9afn0ya-typesense-0.19.0/lib/systemd/system/typesense.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
  Active: active (running) since Mon 2022-04-25 13:00:18 UTC; 1s ago
Main PID: 134992 (typesense)
  Tasks: 6 (limit: 534)
  Memory: 7.2M
  CGroup: /system.slice/typesense.service
          └─134992 /nix/store/0n1yv2zzlzpjjr24z96fzymwf9afn0ya-typesense-0.19.0/bin/typesense --data-dir /var/lib/typesense --api-key=xyz --enable-mentions

Apr 25 13:00:18 test-nixos systemd[1]: Started Typesense.

  6. If Typesense is not running, start it manually by running the following command:

    sudo /nix/store/0n1yv2zzlzpjjr24z96fzymwf9afn0ya-typesense-0.19.0/bin/typesense --data-dir /var/lib/typesense --api-key=xyz --enable-mentions

  7. Once Typesense is running, open a web browser and go to http://localhost:8108. This should load the Typesense dashboard where you can start creating and managing your collections.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have covered the steps required to install Typesense on NixOS. If you have encountered any issues during the installation process, please refer to the Typesense documentation or community forums for additional support.