Colmena

Colmena (from the Spanish word for beehive) is a declarative configuration system for NixOS. It allows users to define and manage the configuration of multiple NixOS machines, including virtual machines and containers, from a single source. Colmena builds upon the Nix package manager and NixOS operating system to provide a scalable and reproducible infrastructure management solution.

Key features of Colmena include:

• Declarative Configuration: Machine configurations are defined using the Nix expression language, enabling precise and reproducible setups.
• Centralized Management: Configuration definitions are stored in a central repository, allowing for easy management and version control.
• Parallel Deployment: Colmena can deploy configuration changes to multiple machines simultaneously, significantly reducing deployment time.
• Rollbacks: Colmena supports rolling back to previous configurations, ensuring stability and minimizing downtime in case of issues.
• Secrets Management: Colmena provides mechanisms for securely managing sensitive information such as passwords and API keys.

Colmena is typically used by system administrators and DevOps engineers to automate the provisioning, configuration, and maintenance of large-scale NixOS deployments. It helps to ensure consistency and reliability across infrastructure while simplifying the management process. Compared to other NixOS deployment tools, Colmena emphasizes a fully declarative and reproducible approach.