shell.nix outdated and failed on macOS: darwin.apple_sdk has been phased out. #1429
Description
Description
When attempting to build a Nix environment using nix-shell, the process fails with an error indicating that darwin.apple_sdk_11_0 has been removed. This appears to be due to a dependency in shell.nix that relies on this legacy SDK, which is no longer available in recent versions of Nixpkgs.
Steps to Reproduce
- Use a shell.nix file that depends on
darwin.apple_sdk. - Run nix-shell shell.nix on macOS, the build process will faild.
System:
OS: macOS 15.6
CPU: (24) arm64 Apple M2 Ultra
Memory: 627.47 MB / 64.00 GB
Shell: 5.9 - /bin/zsh
The command fails with the following error message:
❯ nix-shell shell.nix
error:
… while calling the 'derivationStrict' builtin
at <nix/derivation-internal.nix>:37:12:
36|
37| strict = derivationStrict drvAttrs;
| ^
38|
… while evaluating derivation 'nix-shell'
whose name attribute is located at /nix/store/gjl3hj01mbjmfdcydcwbldh1jh6c53h8-nixos-21.11/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix:205:7
… while evaluating attribute 'buildInputs' of derivation 'nix-shell'
at /nix/store/gjl3hj01mbjmfdcydcwbldh1jh6c53h8-nixos-21.11/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix:247:7:
246| depsHostHost = lib.elemAt (lib.elemAt dependencies 1) 0;
247| buildInputs = lib.elemAt (lib.elemAt dependencies 1) 1;
| ^
248| depsTargetTarget = lib.elemAt (lib.elemAt dependencies 2) 0;
(stack trace truncated; use '--show-trace' to show the full, detailed trace)
error: darwin.apple_sdk_11_0 has been removed as it was a legacy compatibility stub; see <https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/stable/#sec-darwin-legacy-frameworks> for migration instructions
###
Possible Solution
The error message points to the cause and solution. The dependencies need to be updated to no longer rely on the legacy apple_sdk_11_0. The migration instructions can be found in the Nixpkgs manual here: https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/stable/#sec-darwin-legacy-frameworks
The shell.nix should be updated to use the current, recommended frameworks available in Nixpkgs for macOS.