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author | Eelco Dolstra <eelco.dolstra@logicblox.com> | 2014-12-14T02·19+0100 |
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committer | Eelco Dolstra <eelco.dolstra@logicblox.com> | 2014-12-14T02·19+0100 |
commit | 2142f47c0606aac6f0b66bc3fe25fe79fc85e7d8 (patch) | |
tree | 1fb575fdc31d5e727bc25475c7337d1c798c18ff /doc/manual/packages/ssh-substituter.xml | |
parent | 4e0607369e86f0a8e2d55df831567a410ffd3328 (diff) |
Add section on SSH substituter
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/manual/packages/ssh-substituter.xml')
-rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/packages/ssh-substituter.xml | 73 |
1 files changed, 73 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/manual/packages/ssh-substituter.xml b/doc/manual/packages/ssh-substituter.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..f24f354c4c39 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/manual/packages/ssh-substituter.xml @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ +<section 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="ssec-ssh-substituter"> + +<title>Serving a Nix store via SSH</title> + +<para>You can tell Nix to automatically fetch needed binaries from a +remote Nix store via SSH. For example, the following installs Firefox, +automatically fetching any store paths in Firefox’s closure if they +are available on the server <literal>avalon</literal>: + +<screen> +$ nix-env -i firefox --option ssh-substituter-hosts alice@avalon +</screen> + +This works similar to the binary cache substituter that Nix usually +uses, only using SSH instead of HTTP: if a store path +<literal>P</literal> is needed, Nix will first check if it’s available +in the Nix store on <literal>avalon</literal>. If not, it will fall +back to using the binary cache substituter, and then to building from +source.</para> + +<note><para>The SSH substituter currently does not allow you to enter +an SSH passphrase interactively. Therefore, you should use +<command>ssh-add</command> to load the decrypted private key into +<command>ssh-agent</command>.</para></note> + +<para>You can also copy the closure of some store path, without +installing it into your profile, e.g. + +<screen> +$ nix-store -r /nix/store/m85bxg…-firefox-34.0.5 --option ssh-substituter-hosts alice@avalon +</screen> + +This is essentially equivalent to doing + +<screen> +$ nix-copy-closure --from alice@avalon /nix/store/m85bxg…-firefox-34.0.5 +</screen> + +</para> + +<para>You can use SSH’s <emphasis>forced command</emphasis> feature to +set up a restricted user account for SSH substituter access, allowing +read-only access to the local Nix store, but nothing more. For +example, add the following lines to <filename>sshd_config</filename> +to restrict the user <literal>nix-ssh</literal>: + +<programlisting> +Match User nix-ssh + AllowAgentForwarding no + AllowTcpForwarding no + PermitTTY no + PermitTunnel no + X11Forwarding no + ForceCommand nix-store --serve +Match All +</programlisting> + +On NixOS, you can accomplish the same by adding the following to your +<filename>configuration.nix</filename>: + +<programlisting> +nix.sshServe.enable = true; +nix.sshServe.keys = [ "ssh-dss AAAAB3NzaC1k... bob@example.org" ]; +</programlisting> + +where the latter line lists the public keys of users that are allowed +to connect.</para> + +</section> |