Editing Xmonad/Installing xmonad (section)

=== NixOS ===

To use xmonad as your window manager, modify /etc/nixos/configuration.nix to specify (as of 2016 Nov, NixOS 16.x or 17.x):

   services.xserver = {
     windowManager.xmonad = {
       enable = true;
       enableContribAndExtras = true;
       extraPackages = haskellPackages: [
         haskellPackages.xmonad-contrib
         haskellPackages.xmonad-extras
         haskellPackages.xmonad
       ];
     };
     windowManager.default = "xmonad";

It may also be convenient to perform various startup operations like adjusting the keymappings:

     displayManager.sessionCommands = with pkgs; lib.mkAfter
       '''''''
       xmodmap /path/to/.Xmodmap
       ''''''';
   };

It's also helpful to specify the above package list in the `environment.systemPackages` portion of the configuration.nix file.

The above will enable you to login with the generic xmonad configuration; most xmonad users will customize their configuration via <code>$HOME/.xmonad/xmonad.hs</code>.  In order for this local version to be built (or rebuilt, on Alt-Q for example) the xmonad libraries and dependencies must be present in the logged-in users environment:

   $ nix-env -f "<nixpkgs>" -iA haskellPackages.xmonad \
                             -A haskellPackages.xmonad-extras \
                             -A haskellPackages.xmonad-contrib
 
Remember to also install any applications that you specified in the displayManager.sessionCommands:

   $ nix-env -i xmodmap