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author | Mikey Ariel <mariel@redhat.com> | 2014-08-27T16·41+0200 |
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committer | Mikey Ariel <mariel@redhat.com> | 2014-08-27T16·41+0200 |
commit | 8901acc97664aa8ebf687ee904428aa57a5192be (patch) | |
tree | f7bfefccbc2a08cc49eb37b424758a6158b29b58 /doc/manual/packages/garbage-collection.xml | |
parent | 3f0a4bf0e7254edddaa864d23893d98da23c2977 (diff) |
Restructuring the Nix manual
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/manual/packages/garbage-collection.xml')
-rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/packages/garbage-collection.xml | 70 |
1 files changed, 70 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/manual/packages/garbage-collection.xml b/doc/manual/packages/garbage-collection.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..ae28c485f076 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/manual/packages/garbage-collection.xml @@ -0,0 +1,70 @@ +<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-garbage-collection'> + +<title>Garbage Collection</title> + +<para><command>nix-env</command> operations such as upgrades +(<option>-u</option>) and uninstall (<option>-e</option>) never +actually delete packages from the system. All they do (as shown +above) is to create a new user environment that no longer contains +symlinks to the “deleted” packages.</para> + +<para>Of course, since disk space is not infinite, unused packages +should be removed at some point. You can do this by running the Nix +garbage collector. It will remove from the Nix store any package +not used (directly or indirectly) by any generation of any +profile.</para> + +<para>Note however that as long as old generations reference a +package, it will not be deleted. After all, we wouldn’t be able to +do a rollback otherwise. So in order for garbage collection to be +effective, you should also delete (some) old generations. Of course, +this should only be done if you are certain that you will not need to +roll back.</para> + +<para>To delete all old (non-current) generations of your current +profile: + +<screen> +$ nix-env --delete-generations old</screen> + +Instead of <literal>old</literal> you can also specify a list of +generations, e.g., + +<screen> +$ nix-env --delete-generations 10 11 14</screen> + +</para> + +<para>After removing appropriate old generations you can run the +garbage collector as follows: + +<screen> +$ nix-store --gc</screen> + +If you are feeling uncertain, you can also first view what files would +be deleted: + +<screen> +$ nix-store --gc --print-dead</screen> + +Likewise, the option <option>--print-live</option> will show the paths +that <emphasis>won’t</emphasis> be deleted.</para> + +<para>There is also a convenient little utility +<command>nix-collect-garbage</command>, which when invoked with the +<option>-d</option> (<option>--delete-old</option>) switch deletes all +old generations of all profiles in +<filename>/nix/var/nix/profiles</filename>. So + +<screen> +$ nix-collect-garbage -d</screen> + +is a quick and easy way to clean up your system.</para> + +<xi:include href="garbage-collector-roots.xml" /> + +</chapter> \ No newline at end of file |