Preface
its not the first time i had to do a base installation of NixOS, the greatest Linux distrobution that has ever lived.
Still though I often finding myself in situation, where I could not figure out how a base installation in nix is working. Then I start to tinker around and loose time. that is why i just go usually with the graphical calamares installer, set up everything important and move on.
If you want or search for another inspiration here are two other projects which helped me to install nixos.
nixos-infect
nixos-infect is a collection of so called cloud-init scripts, where a series of commands gets executed to get nixos running.
even though the scripts look old, they still work really good. note to mention is that the initial nixos may be out of date. you are able to upgrade your nixos version by implementing the current configuration into your flake or update your nixos channels to the latest or unstable.
It worked for me for x86 and ARM.
nixos-anywhere
nixos-anywhere takes a similar approach to nixos-infect but more mature and easier configuration if you have somewhat a flake based configuration.
still though the first time when i tried to use nixos-anywhere for my first nixos arm server i somehow remember it took very long to compile the system configuration. thats why i used nixos-infect. the second time i installed it though on a x86 vps from hetzner and it worked flawlessly.
Installation
I use for the installation a server of Interserver. Interserver offers, as many other vps supplier the option to download and boot directly into an predefined ISO. to make this work, you need the direct download link of the iso. thats all ☺.