bug: mkdir fails with 'Operation not permitted' for some pkgs during installPhase

[MSDimos]

Are you following the right branch?

• [x] My Nixpkgs and Home Manager versions are in sync

Is there an existing issue for this?

• [x] I have searched the existing issues

Issue description

What happened to me?

I can't switch home-manager generation anymore.

I use home-manager to install vscode like home.packages = [ pkgs.vscode ];, a day before, it works fine, but today everything is broken.

My command's execution result:

$ nix run home-manager/master -- switch --flake .--impure
/* some log msg not important */
error: builder for '/nix/store/qlzsz9j20dgv4mw778gjpg6rbr9ad9ml-vscode-1.97.2.drv' failed with exit code 1;
       last 9 log lines:
       > Running phase: unpackPhase
       > unpacking source archive /nix/store/7rki4hbfvg9z1c1pcq30mlcj0yihkaw6-VSCode_1.97.2_darwin-arm64.zip
       > source root is Visual Studio Code.app
       > setting SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH to timestamp 1739435512 of file "Visual
       > Running phase: patchPhase
       > Running phase: updateAutotoolsGnuConfigScriptsPhase
       > Running phase: glibPreInstallPhase
       > Running phase: installPhase
       > mkdir: cannot create directory '/nix/store/y4xz7f5qwnamnlwcn6jydds71c1r99va-vscode-1.97.2/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app': Operation not permitted
       For full logs, run:
         nix log /nix/store/qlzsz9j20dgv4mw778gjpg6rbr9ad9ml-vscode-1.97.2.drv
error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/2q1mcszy8yy4xi898267855j69yvhi5f-home-manager-applications.drv' failed to build
error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/83kxjvjj3aznrjx66gz3qpw7wx5k3wla-home-manager-fonts.drv' failed to build
error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/4wgf51r2mw6mr6jsi6piqdd7f86lcpw9-home-manager-path.drv' failed to build
error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/8lcmwjjjm7pgih0m5qh0iqg3jpsvbdwr-home-manager-generation.drv' failed to build

I have checked the permission of related directories, like below:

$ ls -la /nix/store/ -g | grep "vscode-1.97.2"
drwxr-xr-x      - _nixbld1 nixbld  2 Feb 13:35  y4xz7f5qwnamnlwcn6jydds71c1r99va-vscode-1.97.2

What did I do before?

I uninstalled the nix followed by this tutorial and reinstall it using nix-installer.

Something weired

I googled this same issue, but this unlucky guy like me is using nix-darwin. I followed what they did like:

home.packages = [
  vscode = pkgs.vscode.overrideAttrs (old: {
    installPhase = "whoami\n" + old.installPhase;
  });
];

It's okay now. But I can't understand it.

Maintainer CC

No response

System information

- system: `"aarch64-darwin"`
 - host os: `Darwin 24.4.0, macOS 15.4`
 - multi-user?: `yes`
 - sandbox: `no`
 - version: `nix-env (Nix) 2.26.2`
 - nixpkgs: `/nix/store/4yng3wz3ri8q2g64aysa72j1n3dsa0i2-source`

[terassyi]

Hi, I have same issue.

I uninstalled the nix followed by this tutorial and reinstall it using nix-installer.

I also uninstalled nix, and reinstalled it by official method. https://nixos.org/download/

My system version is here.

- system: `"aarch64-darwin"`
 - host os: `Darwin 24.3.0, macOS 15.3`
 - multi-user?: `yes`
 - sandbox: `no`
 - version: `nix-env (Nix) 2.26.3`
 - home-manager version 25.05-pre

[MSDimos]

Hi, I have same issue.

I uninstalled the nix followed by this tutorial and reinstall it using nix-installer.

I also uninstalled nix, and reinstalled it by official method. https://nixos.org/download/

My system version is here.

- system: `"aarch64-darwin"`
 - host os: `Darwin 24.3.0, macOS 15.3`
 - multi-user?: `yes`
 - sandbox: `no`
 - version: `nix-env (Nix) 2.26.3`
 - home-manager version 25.05-pre

Check this answer, this helps me resolve my problem. I don't know the reason, but it actually works. 🥲

[stale[bot]]

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