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A Nix Flake to build NixOS and run it on one of several Type-2Hypervisors on NixOS/Linux. The project is intended to provide a moreisolated alternative tonixos-container. You can either build andrun MicroVMs like Nix packages, or alternatively install them assystemd services declaratively in your host's Nix Flake orimperatively with the providedmicrovm command.

Project Presentation (video)

• MicroVMs are Virtual Machines but use special device interfaces(virtio) for high performance.
• This project runs them on NixOS hosts.
• You can choose one of five hypervisors for each MicroVM.
• MicroVMs have a fixed RAM allocation (default: 512 MB) but can beshrunk usingmicrovm-balloon
• MicroVMs have a read-only root disk with either a prepopulated/nix/store or by mounting the host's along with an optionalwritable overlay. This filesystem can be built as eithersquashfs(smaller) orerofs (faster).
• You define your MicroVMs in a Nix Flake'snixosConfigurationssection, reusing thenixosModules that are exported by this Flake.
• MicroVMs can access stateful filesystems either on a image volume asa block device, or alternatively as a shared directory hierarchythrough9p orvirtiofs.
• Zero, one, or more virtual tap ethernet network interfaces can beattached to a MicroVM.qemu andkvmtool also supportusernetworking which requires no additional setup on the host.

nix registry add microvm github:microvm-nix/microvm.nix

(If you do not want to inflict this change on your system, justreplacemicrovm withgithub:microvm-nix/microvm.nix in the followingexamples.)

nix flake init -t microvm$EDITOR flake.nixnix run .#my-microvm

nix run microvm#qemu-examplenix run microvm#firecracker-examplenix run microvm#cloud-hypervisor-examplenix run microvm#crosvm-examplenix run microvm#kvmtool-examplenix run microvm#stratovirt-example

nix run microvm#vm

Checknetworkctl status virbr0 for the DHCP leases of the nestedMicroVMs. They listen for ssh with an empty root password.

nix run microvm#graphics neverball

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