Configure Managed DinD on NixOS

Managed rootless DinD is for running untrusted Agents on a shared NixOS host. NiceEval’s NixOS module creates a dedicated system user, rootless Docker daemon, capacity-limited data volume, resource slice, and watchdog. Day-to-day NiceEval runs do not need sudo, but the initial deployment and system-configuration updates require administrator access. If you can trust the Agent or run only in a disposable VM, read Let a Sandbox Use Docker first to choose a Docker socket or raw privileged DinD. Neither needs this host profile.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, confirm that:

NixOS manages its system configuration with flakes.
The host uses systemd and cgroup v2.
You know the NixOS username that runs NiceEval day to day.
The host has enough CPU, memory, and disk for eval containers.

The following examples assume that the system-configuration repository already has flake.nix, the configuration is named my-host, and the day-to-day username is alice. Replace them with your own values.

Add the NiceEval module

Add NiceEval as an input in the system configuration’s flake.nix, then put its module in the host’s modules:

flake.nix

{
  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
    niceeval.url = "github:NiceEval/NiceEval";
  };

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, niceeval, ... }: {
    nixosConfigurations.my-host = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      system = "x86_64-linux";
      modules = [
        niceeval.nixosModules.default
        ./configuration.nix
      ];
    };
  };
}

After the first Nix command, Nix writes NiceEval’s exact commit to flake.lock. Commit that lock file so different machines do not use different module versions at an unreviewed time.

Declare a profile

Declare a profile named default in the NixOS configuration:

configuration.nix

{ ... }:
{
  services.niceeval.dockerProfiles.default = {
    enable = true;
    accessUsers = [ "alice" ];

    capacity = {
      cpus = 4;
      memory = "8G";
      pids = 4096;
      maxContainers = 2;
      maxBuilds = 1;
    };

    aggregate = {
      cpus = 6;
      memory = "12G";
      pids = 6144;
    };

    storage = {
      size = "30G";
      backing = "loop-ext4";
    };
  };
}

capacity is the budget NiceEval may assign to eval work. aggregate is the hard limit shared by the daemon, build processes, watchdog, and eval containers, so none of its values can be smaller than capacity. Leave the difference for host-side overhead. loop-ext4 creates a sparse image at /var/lib/niceeval/docker-profiles/default.img and mounts it as Docker’s data root. size is the profile’s disk limit; it does not mean a rebuild immediately consumes that much physical space.

Apply the system configuration

First check that the configuration evaluates, then switch the system:

nix flake check
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#my-host

The module adds alice to the profile’s access group. After rebuilding, sign out of the current login session and sign in again so the new supplementary group membership takes effect. Rerunning commands only in the old shell does not refresh supplementary groups. After signing in again, check the services:

systemctl status niceeval-docker-profile-default.service
systemctl status niceeval-docker-profile-watchdog-default.service

Both should show active (running). If either fails, read the corresponding unit log:

journalctl -u niceeval-docker-profile-default.service -b
journalctl -u niceeval-docker-profile-watchdog-default.service -b

Verify the profile

In an eval project with NiceEval installed, run these commands as the day-to-day user:

pnpm exec niceeval docker profile list
pnpm exec niceeval docker profile doctor default

list should show default. doctor always checks the descriptor, Unix socket, cgroup, capacity, watchdog, offline assets, a cold build, and a constrained outer container with nested Docker. Use the host profile for production evals only after every check passes. Do not use sudo pnpm exec niceeval ... to bypass a permissions error. If the day-to-day user cannot access the profile, first confirm that the username is in accessUsers, then sign in again and rerun doctor.

Use it in an Experiment

After the host passes verification, reference the same alias in an Experiment’s Docker Sandbox:

dockerAccess: {
  mode: "dind",
  isolation: "managed-rootless",
  profile: "default",
},

The Experiment must also declare per-container CPU, memory, PID, read-only-rootfs, and tmpfs settings. See the full configuration in Let a Sandbox Use Docker. Start once with a small maxConcurrency, then increase concurrency according to the profile’s capacity.

Update the module

When you need to update the NiceEval module, update its input in the system-configuration repository, inspect the diff, then rebuild:

nix flake update niceeval
nix flake check
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#my-host

An update changes host services; updating npm dependencies in the eval project alone is not enough. Keep the old generation, and clean up NixOS generations only after doctor and a real eval both pass.

Get Started

Connect Your Agent

Write Evals

Run, Observe & Publish

Troubleshooting

Configure Managed DinD on NixOS

Prerequisites

Add the NiceEval module

Declare a profile

Apply the system configuration

Verify the profile

Use it in an Experiment

Update the module

​Prerequisites

​Add the NiceEval module

​Declare a profile

​Apply the system configuration

​Verify the profile

​Use it in an Experiment

​Update the module

Prerequisites

Add the NiceEval module

Declare a profile

Apply the system configuration

Verify the profile

Use it in an Experiment

Update the module