A simple, modern and secure encryption tool (and Go library) with small explicit keys, no config options, and UNIX-style composability.

I’ve been using NixOS for a while now, primarily to provision my personal and work Mac systems. While Nix can be complex and sometimes challenging to debug, I’ve enjoyed its unique approach to system configuration. However, I haven’t explored much beyond that scope. For some time, I’ve become particularly interested in using it for containers, as NixOS offers compelling features—reproducibility, declarative configuration, and reliable upgrades—which, in theory, make it an excellent choice. How well this theory holds up is something I’m eager to explore further. In this post, I’m documenting my steps for installing NixOS on Proxmox, my chosen virtual environment solution for my home server, as deploying NixOS onto my home server should help me further explore using it for configuring my containers

Using YAML as the base configuration format allows me to define structured defaults that are easy to read, maintain, and version-control. Environment variables then handle dynamic values for environment-specific customisations, with custom logic to support default values for additional flexibility.