Notes from a terminal-centric homelab. Zola 2026-10-30T00:00:00+00:00 https://stuckinvim.io/atom.xml 2026-10-30T00:00:00+00:00 2026-10-30T00:00:00+00:00 stuck in vim https://stuckinvim.io/posts/deploying-with-nix-zola/ <p>This site is built by Zola inside a Nix derivation and served by Caddy on a Linode VPS.</p> <h2 id="Why_Zola?">Why Zola?</h2> <p>Zola is a single static binary. It needs no runtime dependencies beyond the HTML it produces.</p> <h2 id="A_sample_table">A sample table</h2> <table><thead><tr><th>Tool</th><th>Role</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>Zola</td><td>Static site generator</td></tr> <tr><td>Nix</td><td>Reproducible build</td></tr> <tr><td>Caddy</td><td>HTTPS + file server</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h2 id="A_sample_code_block">A sample code block</h2> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #181524;" ><code data-lang="nix"><span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #BAC2DE;">{</span><span style="color: #F5C2E7;"> pkgs</span><span style="color: #89DCEB;">, ...</span><span style="color: #BAC2DE;"> }:</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #F5C2E7;">pkgs</span><span style="color: #89DCEB;">.</span><span style="color: #F5C2E7;">stdenvNoCC</span><span style="color: #89DCEB;">.</span><span style="color: #F5C2E7;">mkDerivation</span><span style="color: #BAC2DE;"> {</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #EBA0AC;"> name</span><span style="color: #89DCEB;"> =</span><span style="color: #BAC2DE;"> &quot;</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;">stuckinvim-site</span><span style="color: #BAC2DE;">&quot;;</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #EBA0AC;"> src</span><span style="color: #89DCEB;"> =</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> ./.</span><span style="color: #BAC2DE;">;</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #EBA0AC;"> nativeBuildInputs</span><span style="color: #89DCEB;"> =</span><span style="color: #BAC2DE;"> [</span><span style="color: #F5C2E7;"> pkgs</span><span style="color: #89DCEB;">.</span><span style="color: #F5C2E7;">zola</span><span style="color: #BAC2DE;"> ];</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #EBA0AC;"> buildPhase</span><span style="color: #89DCEB;"> =</span><span style="color: #BAC2DE;"> &#39;&#39;</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> zola build --root $src --base-url https://stuckinvim.io</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #BAC2DE;"> &#39;&#39;;</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #EBA0AC;"> installPhase</span><span style="color: #89DCEB;"> =</span><span style="color: #BAC2DE;"> &#39;&#39;</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> cp -r public $out</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #BAC2DE;"> &#39;&#39;;</span></span> <span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #BAC2DE;">}</span></span></code></pre><h2 id="A_blockquote">A blockquote</h2> <blockquote> <p>The best build is the one that finishes the same way every time.</p> </blockquote> <p>That is the point of pinning the source and the builder in one Nix flake.</p> 2026-10-15T00:00:00+00:00 2026-10-15T00:00:00+00:00 stuck in vim https://stuckinvim.io/posts/recovering-from-rollback/ <p>Sometimes the previous generation is not the one you want.</p> <h2 id="List_available_generations">List available generations</h2> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #181524;" ><code data-lang="shellscript"><span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;">nixos-rebuild</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> list-generations</span></span></code></pre> <p>Pick the generation number you trust, then switch to it.</p> <h2 id="Switch_to_a_specific_generation">Switch to a specific generation</h2> <pre class="giallo" style="color: #CDD6F4; background-color: #181524;" ><code data-lang="shellscript"><span class="giallo-l"><span style="color: #89B4FA;">sudo</span><span style="color: #A6E3A1;"> nixos-rebuild switch</span><span style="color: #F2CDCD;"> --generation</span><span style="color: #FAB387;"> 42</span></span></code></pre><h2 id="A_table_of_common_rescue_paths">A table of common rescue paths</h2> <table><thead><tr><th>Problem</th><th>Quick path</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>Bad kernel</td><td>Boot an older generation from the bootloader</td></tr> <tr><td>Broken service</td><td><code>systemctl stop unit</code> then rollback</td></tr> <tr><td>Lost secrets</td><td>Restore from SOPS backups before activation</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h2 id="Remember">Remember</h2> <blockquote> <p>Rollbacks are only easy if you keep generations.</p> </blockquote> <p>Set a reasonable <code>configurationLimit</code> on <code>boot.loader.systemd-boot</code> or GRUB so you do not erase your escape hatch.</p>