ANIX Guide
The human-friendly layer for NixOS. Simple commands, powerful capabilities.
What is ANIX?
ANIX is a command layer that sits on top of NixOS. Instead of fighting with flakes and complex Nix commands, ANIX gives you simple, memorable commands for everyday system management. It provides 21 desktop environment profiles and powerful system control through ANIX configuration (not Abora configuration).
Instead of:
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake /etc/nixos
You run:
anix switch
Core Commands
anix status
Show current system generation, NixOS version, and system info
anix switch
Apply your configuration changes to the running system
anix rollback
Instantly revert to your previous system generation
anix history
List all available system generations with timestamps and dates
anix gc [--delete-older-than 7d]
Garbage collect old generations to free disk space
Desktop Environment Profiles
ANIX provides 21 built-in desktop environment profiles. Switch between them anytime without reinstalling. Your configuration persists across profile changes.
Note: ANIX is configured through anix.nix files and ANIX commands, not through Abora configuration files. This separation keeps system management clean and modular.
Available profiles include: GNOME, KDE Plasma, Hyprland, i3, Sway, Openbox, Qtile, and 14 others.
anix profile set kde
anix switch
Your First ANIX Command
Open a terminal and check your system status:
This shows your ANIX version, config path, flake status, default profile, current generation path, and snapshot/TinyPM state.
# --- System ---
version 1.0.0
config_dir /etc/nixos
anix_config present
flake present
default_profile abora
generation /nix/store/...nixos-system-abora-v3.0.0
# --- Snapshots ---
git_repo no
branch none
dirty no
commits 0
push false
# --- TinyPM ---
installed no - run: anix tinypm install
Output of anix status on Abora OS v3.14 DENALI — showing system info, snapshots, and TinyPM state
Making System Changes
The basic workflow with ANIX is simple:
- 1.
Edit your configuration
nano /etc/nixos/configuration.nix - 2.
Apply the changes
anix switch - 3.
Changes take effect immediately
No reboot needed (usually)
Profiles
Abora ships with named profiles for different use cases. Switch between them:
Each profile includes different preinstalled packages and configurations tailored for specific workflows.
Snapshots & History
ANIX keeps a full history of your system generations. View or revert to any previous state:
View your history
Shows generation number, date, time, and other metadata.
Create a snapshot
Creates a Git commit of your current config as a checkpoint.
Rollback one generation
Then reboot. Your system goes back to its previous state.
Compare two generations
See what changed between configurations.
System Recovery
Something broke? ANIX makes recovery easy:
Instant Rollback
Your system goes back one generation. If that doesn't work, you can pick from the boot menu.
Boot Previous Generation
At the GRUB boot menu, select "Advanced options" and pick a previous generation without using commands.
Test Before Committing
Common Use Cases
Install a Package System-Wide
Edit your configuration:
Then run anix switch
Enable a Service
Add to your configuration:
Run anix switch to activate.
Switch Desktops
Then reboot or logout and select at login.
Disk Cleanup
After many generations, your system can accumulate old files. Clean up safely:
You can always rebuild any recent generation if needed.
Want to learn more? Check out System Configuration or the Recovery guide.