Nix

Namespace provides high-performance compute instances that can be configured as remote Nix builders. This allows you to leverage Nix's distributed builds feature to offload builds to powerful remote machines, speeding up your development workflow while maintaining reproducibility.

Set up a DIY remote Nix builder on Namespace for faster and reproducible builds.

Create a bare compute instance

Create a new compute instance with your SSH key:

nsc create --bare --ssh_key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

You can use an existing SSH key or create a new one specifically for this purpose with ssh-keygen -t ed25519.

Grab the instance ID from the output.

Install Nix on the remote instance

SSH into the instance and install Nix using the Determinate installer:

ssh <id>@ssh.ord2.namespace.so "curl -fsSL https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install linux --determinate --init none --no-confirm"

Test the installation

Verify Nix is working by running a simple command:

ssh <id>@ssh.ord2.namespace.so nix run nixpkgs#hello

Your remote Nix builder is now ready for use with high-performance compute and network access.