Restructuring the Nix manual

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+<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+      xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+      xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
+      version="5.0"
+      xml:id="sec-common-env">
+
+<title>Common Environment Variables</title>
+
+
+<para>Most Nix commands interpret the following environment variables:</para>
+
+<variablelist xml:id="env-common">
+
+  
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_PATH</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem>
+
+    <para>A colon-separated list of directories used to look up Nix
+    expressions enclosed in angle brackets (i.e.,
+    <literal>&lt;<replaceable>path</replaceable>></literal>).  For
+    instance, the value
+
+    <screen>
+/home/eelco/Dev:/etc/nixos</screen>
+
+    will cause Nix to look for paths relative to
+    <filename>/home/eelco/Dev</filename> and
+    <filename>/etc/nixos</filename>, in that order.  It is also
+    possible to match paths against a prefix.  For example, the value
+    
+    <screen>
+nixpkgs=/home/eelco/Dev/nixpkgs-branch:/etc/nixos</screen>
+
+    will cause Nix to search for
+    <literal>&lt;nixpkgs/<replaceable>path</replaceable>></literal> in
+    <filename>/home/eelco/Dev/nixpkgs-branch/<replaceable>path</replaceable></filename>
+    and
+    <filename>/etc/nixos/nixpkgs/<replaceable>path</replaceable></filename>.
+    </para>
+
+    <para>The search path can be extended using the
+    <option>-I</option> option, which takes precedence over
+    <envar>NIX_PATH</envar>.</para></listitem>
+
+</varlistentry>
+    
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_IGNORE_SYMLINK_STORE</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem>
+
+  <para>Normally, the Nix store directory (typically
+  <filename>/nix/store</filename>) is not allowed to contain any
+  symlink components.  This is to prevent “impure” builds.  Builders
+  sometimes “canonicalise” paths by resolving all symlink components.
+  Thus, builds on different machines (with
+  <filename>/nix/store</filename> resolving to different locations)
+  could yield different results.  This is generally not a problem,
+  except when builds are deployed to machines where
+  <filename>/nix/store</filename> resolves differently.  If you are
+  sure that you’re not going to do that, you can set
+  <envar>NIX_IGNORE_SYMLINK_STORE</envar> to <envar>1</envar>.</para>
+
+  <para>Note that if you’re symlinking the Nix store so that you can
+  put it on another file system than the root file system, on Linux
+  you’re better off using <literal>bind</literal> mount points, e.g.,
+
+  <screen>
+$ mkdir /nix   
+$ mount -o bind /mnt/otherdisk/nix /nix</screen>
+
+  Consult the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>mount</refentrytitle>
+  <manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> manual page for details.</para>
+
+  </listitem>
+
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_STORE_DIR</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>Overrides the location of the Nix store (default
+  <filename><replaceable>prefix</replaceable>/store</filename>).</para></listitem>
+  
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_DATA_DIR</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>Overrides the location of the Nix static data
+  directory (default
+  <filename><replaceable>prefix</replaceable>/share</filename>).</para></listitem>
+  
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_LOG_DIR</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>Overrides the location of the Nix log directory
+  (default <filename><replaceable>prefix</replaceable>/log/nix</filename>).</para></listitem>
+  
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_STATE_DIR</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>Overrides the location of the Nix state directory
+  (default <filename><replaceable>prefix</replaceable>/var/nix</filename>).</para></listitem>
+  
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_DB_DIR</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>Overrides the location of the Nix database (default
+  <filename><replaceable>$NIX_STATE_DIR</replaceable>/db</filename>, i.e.,
+  <filename><replaceable>prefix</replaceable>/var/nix/db</filename>).</para></listitem>
+  
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_CONF_DIR</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>Overrides the location of the Nix configuration
+  directory (default
+  <filename><replaceable>prefix</replaceable>/etc/nix</filename>).</para></listitem>
+  
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>TMPDIR</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>Use the specified directory 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>
+
+
+<varlistentry xml:id="envar-build-hook"><term><envar>NIX_BUILD_HOOK</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem>
+
+  <para>Specifies the location of the <emphasis>build hook</emphasis>,
+  which is a program (typically some script) that Nix will call
+  whenever it wants to build a derivation.  This is used to implement
+  distributed builds<phrase condition="manual"> (see <xref
+  linkend="chap-distributed-builds" />)</phrase>.</para>
+
+  <!--
+  The protocol by
+  which the calling Nix process and the build hook communicate is as
+  follows.
+
+  <para>The build hook is called with the following command-line
+  arguments:
+
+  <orderedlist>
+
+    <listitem><para>A boolean value <literal>0</literal> or
+    <literal>1</literal> specifying whether Nix can locally execute
+    more builds, as per the <link
+    linkend="opt-max-jobs"><option>- -max-jobs</option> option</link>.
+    The purpose of this argument is to allow the hook to not have to
+    maintain bookkeeping for the local machine.</para></listitem>
+
+    <listitem><para>The Nix platform identifier for the local machine
+    (e.g., <literal>i686-linux</literal>).</para></listitem>
+
+    <listitem><para>The Nix platform identifier for the derivation,
+    i.e., its <link linkend="attr-system"><varname>system</varname>
+    attribute</link>.</para></listitem>
+
+    <listitem><para>The store path of the derivation.</para></listitem>
+
+  </orderedlist>
+
+  </para>
+
+  <para>On the basis of this information, and whatever persistent
+  state the build hook keeps about other machines and their current
+  load, it has to decide what to do with the build.  It should print
+  out on standard error one of the following responses (terminated by
+  a newline, <literal>"\n"</literal>):
+
+  <variablelist>
+
+    <varlistentry><term><literal># decline</literal></term>
+
+      <listitem><para>The build hook is not willing or able to perform
+      the build; the calling Nix process should do the build itself,
+      if possible.</para></listitem>
+
+    </varlistentry>
+
+    <varlistentry><term><literal># postpone</literal></term>
+
+      <listitem><para>The build hook cannot perform the build now, but
+      can do so in the future (e.g., because all available build slots
+      on remote machines are in use).  The calling Nix process should
+      postpone this build until at least one currently running build
+      has terminated.</para></listitem>
+
+    </varlistentry>
+
+    <varlistentry><term><literal># accept</literal></term>
+
+      <listitem><para>The build hook has accepted the
+      build.</para></listitem>
+
+    </varlistentry>
+
+  </variablelist>
+
+  </para>
+
+  <para>After sending <literal># accept</literal>, the hook should
+  read one line from standard input, which will be the string
+  <literal>okay</literal>.  It can then proceed with the build.
+  Before sending <literal>okay</literal>, Nix will store in the hook’s
+  current directory a number of text files that contain information
+  about the derivation:
+
+  <variablelist>
+
+    <varlistentry><term><filename>inputs</filename></term>
+
+      <listitem><para>The set of store paths that are inputs to the
+      build process (one per line).  These have to be copied
+      <emphasis>to</emphasis> the remote machine (in addition to the
+      store derivation itself).</para></listitem>
+
+    </varlistentry>
+  
+    <varlistentry><term><filename>outputs</filename></term>
+
+      <listitem><para>The set of store paths that are outputs of the
+      derivation (one per line).  These have to be copied
+      <emphasis>from</emphasis> the remote machine if the build
+      succeeds.</para></listitem>
+
+    </varlistentry>
+
+    <varlistentry><term><filename>references</filename></term>
+
+      <listitem><para>The reference graph of the inputs, in the format
+      accepted by the command <command>nix-store
+      - -register-validity</command>.  It is necessary to run this
+      command on the remote machine after copying the inputs to inform
+      Nix on the remote machine that the inputs are valid
+      paths.</para></listitem>
+
+    </varlistentry>
+
+  </variablelist>
+
+  </para>
+
+  <para>The hook should copy the inputs to the remote machine,
+  register the validity of the inputs, perform the remote build, and
+  copy the outputs back to the local machine.  An exit code other than
+  <literal>0</literal> indicates that the hook has failed.  An exit
+  code equal to 100 means that the remote build failed (as opposed to,
+  e.g., a network error).</para>
+  -->
+
+  </listitem>
+
+
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry xml:id="envar-remote"><term><envar>NIX_REMOTE</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>This variable should be set to
+  <literal>daemon</literal> if you want to use the Nix daemon to
+  execute Nix operations. This is necessary in <link
+  linkend="ssec-multi-user">multi-user Nix installations</link>.
+  Otherwise, it should be left unset.</para></listitem>
+
+</varlistentry>
+
+    
+<varlistentry xml:id="envar-other-stores"><term><envar>NIX_OTHER_STORES</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>This variable contains the paths of remote Nix
+  installations from which packages can be copied, separated by colons.
+  <phrase condition="manual">See <xref linkend="sec-sharing-packages"
+  /> for details.</phrase>  Each path should be the
+  <filename>/nix</filename> directory of a remote Nix installation
+  (i.e., not the <filename>/nix/store</filename> directory).  The
+  paths are subject to globbing, so you can set it so something like
+  <literal>/var/run/nix/remote-stores/*/nix</literal> and mount
+  multiple remote filesystems in
+  <literal>/var/run/nix/remote-stores</literal>.</para>
+
+  <para>Note that if you’re building through the <link
+  linkend="sec-nix-daemon">Nix daemon</link>, the only setting for
+  this variable that matters is the one that the
+  <command>nix-daemon</command> process uses.  So if you want to
+  change it, you have to restart the daemon.</para></listitem>
+
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_SHOW_STATS</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>If set to <literal>1</literal>, Nix will print some
+  evaluation statistics, such as the number of values
+  allocated.</para></listitem>
+
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>NIX_COUNT_CALLS</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>If set to <literal>1</literal>, Nix will print how
+  often functions were called during Nix expression evaluation.  This
+  is useful for profiling your Nix expressions.</para></listitem>
+
+</varlistentry>
+
+
+<varlistentry><term><envar>GC_INITIAL_HEAP_SIZE</envar></term>
+
+  <listitem><para>If Nix has been configured to use the Boehm garbage
+  collector, this variable sets the initial size of the heap in bytes.
+  It defaults to 384 MiB.  Setting it to a low value reduces memory
+  consumption, but will increase runtime due to the overhead of
+  garbage collection.</para></listitem>
+
+</varlistentry>
+
+    
+</variablelist>
+
+
+</chapter>