Quick & dirty NixOS 25.11 ISO build for recent Laptop with Intel Core Ultra 7: `nix build .#nixosConfigurations.zfsIso.config.system.build.isoImage --extra-experimental-f eatures "nix-command flakes"`

flake.nix

{
  description = "NixOS ISO - Core Ultra 7 Laptop - Linux 6.18 + ZFS 2.4";

  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-25.11";
    nixos-hardware.url = "github:NixOS/nixos-hardware/master";
  };

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, nixos-hardware }: {
    nixosConfigurations.zfsIso = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      system = "x86_64-linux";
      modules = [
        "${nixpkgs}/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-minimal.nix"
        
        nixos-hardware.nixosModules.common-pc-laptop
        nixos-hardware.nixosModules.common-pc-ssd

        ({ pkgs, lib, config, ... }: {
          # --- KERNEL & ZFS CONFIGURATION ---
          
          # 1. PIN KERNEL TO 6.18
          # We use 6.18 specifically because ZFS 2.4.0 supports *up to* 6.18.
          # Using 'latest' might pull 6.19+ and break the build.
          boot.kernelPackages = pkgs.linuxPackages_6_18;

          # 2. FORCE ZFS 2.4 MODULE
          # The 'mkForce' is critical here. It overwrites the broken default
          # in the installer that tries to point to the deleted 'zfs' alias.
          boot.zfs.modulePackage = lib.mkForce pkgs.linuxPackages_6_18.zfs_2_4;
          
          # 3. SET USERSPACE TOOLS
          boot.zfs.package = pkgs.zfs_2_4;

          # --- ZFS Settings ---
          boot.supportedFilesystems = [ "zfs" ];
          boot.zfs.forceImportRoot = false;
          networking.hostId = "8425e349"; 

          # --- Hardware & Drivers ---
          boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ "xe" ]; # Intel Arc
          hardware.enableAllFirmware = true;
          nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;
          
          # --- GUI (XFCE) ---
          services.xserver = {
            enable = true;
            videoDrivers = [ "modesetting" ];
            desktopManager.xfce.enable = true;
            displayManager.lightdm.enable = true;
            displayManager.autoLogin.enable = true;
            displayManager.autoLogin.user = "nixos";
          };
          networking.networkmanager.enable = true;
          networking.wireless.enable = false;

          environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
            neovim git pciutils usbutils lm_sensors firefox networkmanagerapplet gparted curl wget
          ];
          
          isoImage.squashfsCompression = "zstd -Xcompression-level 6";
        })
      ];
    };
  };
}