path: root/doc/manual/nix-store.xml

<refentry>
  <refnamediv>
    <refname>nix-store</refname>
    <refpurpose>manipulate or query the Nix store</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>nix-store</command>
      <arg rep='repeat'><option>--verbose</option></arg>
      <arg rep='repeat'><option>-v</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--build-output</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-B</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--keep-failed</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-K</option></arg>
      <arg choice='plain'><replaceable>operation</replaceable></arg>
      <arg rep='repeat'><replaceable>options</replaceable></arg>
      <arg rep='repeat'><replaceable>arguments</replaceable></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsection>
    <title>Description</title>

    <para>
      The command <command>nix-store</command> performs primitive
      operations on the Nix store.  You generally do not need to run
      this command manually.
    </para>

    <para>
      <command>nix-store</command> takes exactly one
      <emphasis>operation</emphasis> flag which indicates the
      subcommand to be performed.  These are documented below.
    </para>

  </refsection>



  <!--######################################################################-->

  <refsection>
    <title>Common options</title>

    <para>
      This section lists the options that are common to all
      operations.  These options are allowed for every subcommand,
      though they may not always have an effect.
    </para>

    <variablelist>

      &opt-verbose;

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--keep-failed</option> / <option>-K</option></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Specifies that in case of a build failure, the temporary directory
            (usually in <filename>/tmp</filename>) in which the build takes
            place should not be deleted.  The path of the build directory is
            printed as an informational message.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

  </refsection>

  

  <!--######################################################################-->

  <refsection>
    <title>Environment variables</title>

    <para>
      The following environment variables affect the behaviour of
      <command>nix-store</command>.
    </para>
    
    <variablelist>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><envar>TMPDIR</envar>=<replaceable>path</replaceable></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Use the directory <replaceable>path</replaceable> to store
            temporary files.  In particular, this includes temporary
            build directories; these can take up substantial amounts
            of disk space.  The default is <filename>/tmp</filename>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
        
  </refsection>

  

  <!--######################################################################-->

  <refsection>
    <title>Operation <option>--realise</option></title>

    <refsection>
      <title>Synopsis</title>
      <cmdsynopsis>
        <command>nix-store</command>
        <group choice='req'>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>--realise</option></arg>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>-r</option></arg>
        </group>
        <arg choice='plain' rep='repeat'><replaceable>paths</replaceable></arg>
      </cmdsynopsis>
    </refsection>

    <refsection>
      <title>Description</title>
            
      <para>
        The operation <option>--install</option> realises in the file
        system the store expressions stored in
        <replaceable>paths</replaceable>.  If these expressions are
        derivation expressions, they are first
        <emphasis>normalised</emphasis> into a closure expression.
        This may happen in two ways.  First, the corresponding closure
        expression (the <emphasis>successor</emphasis>) may already
        known (either because the build has already been performed, or
        because a successor was explicitly registered through the
        <option>--successor</option> operation).  Otherwise, the build
        action described by the derivation is performed, and a closure
        expression is computed by scanning the result of the build for
        references to other paths in the store.
      </para>

      <para>
        The paths of the closure expression corresponding to each
        expression in <replaceable>paths</replaceable> is printed on
        standard output.
      </para>

    </refsection>
            
  </refsection>

  

  <!--######################################################################-->

  <refsection>
    <title>Operation <option>--delete</option></title>

    <refsection>
      <title>Synopsis</title>
      <cmdsynopsis>
        <command>nix-store</command>
        <group choice='req'>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>--delete</option></arg>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>-d</option></arg>
        </group>
        <arg choice='plain' rep='repeat'><replaceable>paths</replaceable></arg>
      </cmdsynopsis>
    </refsection>

    <refsection>
      <title>Description</title>
            
      <para>
        The operation <option>--delete</option> unconditionally deletes the
        paths <replaceable>paths</replaceable> from the Nix store. It is an
        error to attempt to delete paths outside of the store.
      </para>

      <warning>
        <para>
          This operation should almost never be called directly, since no
          attempt is made to verify that no references exist to the paths to
          be deleted.  Therefore, careless deletion can result in an
          inconsistent system. Deletion of paths in the store is done by the
          garbage collector (which uses <option>--delete</option> to delete
          unreferenced paths).
        </para>
      </warning>

    </refsection>
            
  </refsection>


  
  <!--######################################################################-->

  <refsection>
    <title>Operation <option>--query</option></title>

    <refsection>
      <title>Synopsis</title>
      <cmdsynopsis>
        <command>nix-store</command>
        <group choice='req'>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>--query</option></arg>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>-q</option></arg>
        </group>
        <group choice='req'>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>--list</option></arg>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>-l</option></arg>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>--requisites</option></arg>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>-R</option></arg>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>--predecessors</option></arg>
          <arg choice='plain'><option>--graph</option></arg>
        </group>
        <arg><option>--normalise</option></arg>
        <arg><option>-n</option></arg>
        <arg><option>--force-realise</option></arg>
        <arg><option>-f</option></arg>
        <arg choice='plain' rep='repeat'><replaceable>args</replaceable></arg>
      </cmdsynopsis>
    </refsection>

    <refsection>
      <title>Description</title>
            
      <para>
        The operation <option>--query</option> displays various bits
        of information about store expressions or store paths.  The
        queries are described below.  At most one query can be
        specified.  The default query is <option>--list</option>.
      </para>

    </refsection>


    <refsection>
      <title>Common query options</title>

      <variablelist>

        <varlistentry>
          <term><option>--normalise</option> / <option>-n</option></term>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              For those queries that take a Nix store expression, this
              option causes those expressions to be normalised first.
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>

        <varlistentry>
          <term><option>--force-realise</option> / <option>-f</option></term>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              For those queries that take a Nix store expression, this
              option causes those expressions to be realised first.
              This is just a short-cut for the common idiom
            </para>
            <screen>
nix-store --realise /nix/store/bla.store
x=`nix-store --query --normalise /nix/store/bla.store
<emphasis>(do something with the path $x</emphasis></screen>
            <para>
              which using this flag can be written as
            </para>
            <screen>
x=`nix-store --query --normalise --force-realise /nix/store/bla.store
<emphasis>(do something with the path $x</emphasis></screen>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>

      </variablelist>
        
    </refsection>
    

    <refsection id='nixref-queries'>
      <title>Queries</title>
            
      <variablelist>

        <varlistentry>
          <term><option>--list</option> / <option>-l</option></term>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Prints out the <emphasis>output paths</emphasis> of the
              store expressions indicated by the identifiers
              <replaceable>args</replaceable>.  In the case of a
              derivation expression, these are the paths that will be
              produced when the derivation is realised.  In the case
              of a closure expression, these are the paths that were
              produced the derivation expression of which the closure
              expression is a successor.
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>

        <varlistentry>
          <term><option>--requisites</option> / <option>-R</option></term>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Prints out the requisite paths of the store expressions
              indicated by the identifiers
              <replaceable>args</replaceable>.  The requisite paths of
              a Nix expression are the paths that need to be present
              in the system to be able to realise the expression.
              That is, they form the <emphasis>closure</emphasis> of
              the expression in the file system (i.e., no path in the
              set of requisite paths points to anything outside the
              set of requisite paths).
            </para>

            <para>
              The notion of requisite paths is very useful when one
              wants to distribute store expressions.  Since they form a
              closure, they are the only paths one needs to distribute
              to another system to be able to realise the expression
              on the other system.
            </para>

            <para>
              This query is generally used to implement various kinds
              of deployment.  A <emphasis>source deployment</emphasis>
              is obtained by distributing the requisite paths of a
              derivation expression.  A <emphasis>binary
              deployment</emphasis> is obtained by distributing the
              requisite paths of a closure expression.  A
              <emphasis>cache deployment</emphasis> is obtained by
              distributing the requisite paths of a derivation
              expression and specifying the option
              <option>--include-successors</option>.  This will
              include not just the paths of a source and binary
              deployment, but also all expressions and paths of
              subterms of the source.  This is useful if one wants to
              realise on the target system a Nix expression that is
              similar but not quite the same as the one being
              distributed, since any common subterms will be reused.
            </para>

            <para>
              This query has a number of options:
            </para> 

            <variablelist>

              <varlistentry>
                <term><option>--exclude-exprs</option></term>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    Excludes the paths of store expressions.  This
                    causes the closure property to be lost, that is,
                    the resulting set of paths is not enough to ensure
                    realisibility.
                  </para>
                </listitem>
              </varlistentry>

              <varlistentry>
                <term><option>--include-successors</option></term>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    Also include the requisites of successors (normal forms).
                    Only the requisites of <emphasis>known</emphasis>
                    successors are included, i.e., the normal forms of
                    derivation expressions that have never been normalised will
                    not be included.
                  </para>

                  <para>
                    Note that not just the successor of a derivation expression
                    will be included, but also the successors of all input
                    expressions of that derivation expression.  I.e., all
                    normal forms of subterms involved in the normalisation of
                    the top-level term are included.
                  </para>
                </listitem>
              </varlistentry>

            </variablelist>

          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>

        <varlistentry>
          <term><option>--predecessors</option></term>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              For each store expression stored at paths
              <replaceable>args</replaceable>, prints its
              <emphasis>predecessors</emphasis>.  A derivation
              expression <varname>p</varname> is a predecessor of a
              store expression <varname>q</varname> iff
              <varname>q</varname> is a successor of
              <varname>p</varname>.
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>

        <varlistentry>
          <term><option>--graph</option></term>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Prints a graph of the closure of the store expressions
              identified by <replaceable>args</replaceable> in the
              format of the <command>dot</command> tool of AT&amp;T's
              GraphViz package.
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>

      </variablelist>

    </refsection>

  </refsection>

  

  <!--######################################################################-->

  <refsection>
    <title>Operation <option>--successor</option></title>

    <refsection>
      <title>Synopsis</title>
      <cmdsynopsis>
        <command>nix-store</command>
        <arg choice='req'><option>--successor</option></arg>
        <arg choice='plain'
        rep='repeat'><replaceable>srcpath</replaceable> <replaceable>sucpath</replaceable></arg>
      </cmdsynopsis>
    </refsection>

    <refsection>
      <title>Description</title>
            
      <para>
        The operation <option>--successor</option> registers that the
        closure expression in <replaceable>sucpath</replaceable> is a
        successor of the derivation expression in
        <replaceable>srcpath</replaceable>.  This is used to implement
        binary deployment.
      </para>

    </refsection>
            
  </refsection>



  <!--######################################################################-->

  <refsection>
    <title>Operation <option>--substitute</option></title>

    <refsection>
      <title>Synopsis</title>
      <cmdsynopsis>
        <command>nix-store</command>
        <arg choice='req'><option>--substitute</option></arg>
        <arg choice='plain'
        rep='repeat'><replaceable>srcpath</replaceable> <replaceable>subpath</replaceable></arg>
      </cmdsynopsis>
    </refsection>

    <refsection>
      <title>Description</title>
            
      <para>
        The operation <option>--substitute</option> registers that the
        store path <replaceable>srcpath</replaceable> can be built by
        realising the derivation expression in
        <replaceable>subpath</replaceable>.  This is used to implement
        binary deployment.
      </para>

    </refsection>
            
  </refsection>



  <!--######################################################################-->

  <refsection>
    <title>Operation <option>--verify</option></title>

    <refsection>
      <title>Synopsis</title>
      <cmdsynopsis>
        <command>nix-store</command>
        <arg choice='req'><option>--verify</option></arg>
      </cmdsynopsis>
    </refsection>

    <refsection>
      <title>Description</title>
            
      <para>
        The operation <option>--verify</option> verifies the internal
        consistency of the Nix database, and the consistency between
        the Nix database and the Nix store.  Any inconsistencies
        encountered are automatically repaired.  Inconsistencies are
        generally the result of the Nix store or database being
        modified by non-Nix tools, or of bugs in Nix itself.
      </para>

    </refsection>
            
  </refsection>



</refentry>


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