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authorEelco Dolstra <e.dolstra@tudelft.nl>2004-02-10T16·14+0000
committerEelco Dolstra <e.dolstra@tudelft.nl>2004-02-10T16·14+0000
commit92e832348db13637875c4f529ed0aa83d3d34493 (patch)
treec00a500e1be79bf061f8ebd17e694eb4f7ee8d55 /doc/manual
parent6551b36790d47477087fc3a7f7bb779f28e42d8e (diff)
* Lots of manual stuff. Reference pages for most Nix commands.
* nix-pull now requires the full url to the manifest, i.e.,
  `/MANIFEST/' is no longer automatically appended.
* nix-prefetch-url works again.  

Diffstat (limited to 'doc/manual')
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/Makefile.am8
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/bugs.xml73
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/manual.xml20
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/nix-collect-garbage.xml75
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/nix-env.xml226
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/nix-instantiate.xml46
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/nix-prefetch-url.xml54
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/nix-pull.xml43
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/nix-push.xml138
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/overview.xml5
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/quick-start.xml2
-rw-r--r--doc/manual/style.css4
12 files changed, 674 insertions, 20 deletions
diff --git a/doc/manual/Makefile.am b/doc/manual/Makefile.am
index 8bf06cf2b468..94077acc0ce2 100644
--- a/doc/manual/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/manual/Makefile.am
@@ -6,8 +6,12 @@ XSLTPROC = $(ENV) $(xsltproc) $(xmlflags) --catalogs \
  --param section.label.includes.component.label 1 \
  --param html.stylesheet \'style.css\'
 
+man1_MANS = nix-env.1 nix-store.1 nix-instantiate.1 \
+ nix-collect-garbage.1 nix-push.1 nix-pull.1 \
+ nix-prefetch-url.1
+
 SOURCES = manual.xml introduction.xml installation.xml overview.xml \
- nix-env.xml nix-store.xml nix-instantiate.xml \
+ $(man1_MANS:.1=.xml) \
  troubleshooting.xml bugs.xml opt-common.xml opt-common-syn.xml \
  quick-start.xml style.css images
 
@@ -18,8 +22,6 @@ manual.is-valid: $(SOURCES) version.xml
 version.xml:
 	echo -n $(VERSION) > version.xml
 
-man1_MANS = nix-env.1 nix-store.1 nix-instantiate.1
-
 man $(MANS): $(SOURCES) manual.is-valid
 	$(XSLTPROC) $(docbookxsl)/manpages/docbook.xsl manual.xml
 
diff --git a/doc/manual/bugs.xml b/doc/manual/bugs.xml
index 77579776b07d..eb479945aba5 100644
--- a/doc/manual/bugs.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/bugs.xml
@@ -11,6 +11,16 @@
 
     <listitem>
       <para>
+        Generations properly form a tree.  E.g., if after switching to
+        generation 39, we perform an installation action, a generation
+        43 is created which is a descendant of 39, not 42.  So a
+        rollback from 43 ought to go back to 39.  This is not
+        currently implemented; generations form a linear sequence.
+      </para>
+    </listitem>
+
+    <listitem>
+      <para>
         Unify the concepts of successors and substitutes into a
         general notion of <emphasis>equivalent expressions</emphasis>.
         Expressions are equivalent if they have the same target paths
@@ -43,12 +53,63 @@
       </para>
     </listitem>
 
+    <listitem>
+      <para>
+        The current garbage collector is a hack.  It should be
+        integrated into <command>nix-store</command>.  It should
+        delete derivations in an order determined by topologically
+        sorting derivations under the points-to relation.  This
+        ensures that no store paths ever exist that point to
+        non-existant store paths.
+      </para>
+    </listitem>
+
+    <listitem>
+      <para>
+        There are race conditions between the garbage collector and
+        other Nix tools.  For instance, when we run
+        <command>nix-env</command> to build and install a derivation
+        and run the garbage collector at the same time, the garbage
+        collector may kick in exactly between the build and
+        installation steps, i.e., before the newly built derivation
+        has become reachable from a root of the garbage collector.
+      </para>
+
+      <para>
+        One solution would be for these programs to properly register
+        temporary roots for the collector.  Another would be to use
+        stop-the-world garbage collection: if any tool is running, the
+        garbage collector blocks, and vice versa.  These solutions do
+        not solve the situation where multiple tools are involved,
+        e.g.,
+
+        <screen>
+$ nix-store -r $(nix-instantiate foo.nix)</screen>
+
+        since even if <command>nix-instantiate</command> where to
+        register a temporary root, it would be released by the time
+        <command>nix-store</command> is started.  A solution would be
+        to write the intermediate value to a file that is used as a
+        root to the collector, e.g.,
+        
+        <screen>
+$ nix-instantiate foo.nix > /nix/var/nix/roots/bla
+$ nix-store -r $(cat /nix/var/nix/roots/bla)</screen>
+
+      </para>
+    </listitem>
+
+    <listitem>
+      <para>
+        For security, <command>nix-push</command> manifests should be
+        digitally signed, and <command>nix-pull</command> should
+        verify the signatures.  The actual NAR archives in the cache
+        do not need to be signed, since the manifest contains
+        cryptographic hashes of these files (and
+        <filename>fetchurl.nix</filename> checks them).
+      </para>
+    </listitem>
+
   </itemizedlist>
 
 </appendix>
-
-<!--
-local variables:
-sgml-parent-document: ("book.xml" "appendix")
-end:
--->
diff --git a/doc/manual/manual.xml b/doc/manual/manual.xml
index 686ab612f29a..8188a1ff993a 100644
--- a/doc/manual/manual.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/manual.xml
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
 <!ENTITY nix-env SYSTEM "nix-env.xml">
 <!ENTITY nix-store SYSTEM "nix-store.xml">
 <!ENTITY nix-instantiate SYSTEM "nix-instantiate.xml">
+<!ENTITY nix-collect-garbage SYSTEM "nix-collect-garbage.xml">
+<!ENTITY nix-push SYSTEM "nix-push.xml">
+<!ENTITY nix-pull SYSTEM "nix-pull.xml">
+<!ENTITY nix-prefetch-url SYSTEM "nix-prefetch-url.xml">
 <!ENTITY troubleshooting SYSTEM "troubleshooting.xml">
 <!ENTITY bugs SYSTEM "bugs.xml">
 <!ENTITY version SYSTEM "version.xml">
@@ -52,6 +56,22 @@
       <title>nix-instantiate</title>
       &nix-instantiate;
     </sect1>
+    <sect1>
+      <title>nix-collect-garbage</title>
+      &nix-collect-garbage;
+    </sect1>
+    <sect1>
+      <title>nix-push</title>
+      &nix-push;
+    </sect1>
+    <sect1>
+      <title>nix-pull</title>
+      &nix-pull;
+    </sect1>
+    <sect1>
+      <title>nix-prefetch-url</title>
+      &nix-prefetch-url;
+    </sect1>
   </appendix>
 
   &troubleshooting;
diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-collect-garbage.xml b/doc/manual/nix-collect-garbage.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8ff741e2212a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-collect-garbage.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+<refentry>
+  <refnamediv>
+    <refname>nix-collect-garbage</refname>
+    <refpurpose>determine the set of unreachable store paths</refpurpose>
+  </refnamediv>
+
+  <refsynopsisdiv>
+    <cmdsynopsis>
+      <command>nix-collect-garbage</command>
+      <arg><option>--invert</option></arg>
+      <arg><option>--no-successors</option></arg>
+    </cmdsynopsis>
+  </refsynopsisdiv>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Description</title>
+
+    <para>
+      The command <command>nix-collect-garbage</command> determines
+      the paths in the Nix store that are garbage, that is, not
+      reachable from outside of the store.  These paths can be safely
+      deleted without affecting the integrity of the system.
+    </para>
+
+  </refsection>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Options</title>
+
+    <variablelist>
+
+      <varlistentry>
+        <term><option>--invert</option></term>
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            Causes the set of <emphasis>reachable</emphasis> paths to
+            be printed, rather than the unreachable paths.  These are
+            the paths that may <emphasis>not</emphasis> be deleted.
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+      
+      <varlistentry>
+        <term><option>--no-successors</option></term>
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            Causes <command>nix-collect-garbage</command> not to
+            follow successor relations.  By default, if a derivation
+            store expression is reachable, its successor (i.e., a
+            closure store expression) is also considered to be
+            reachable.  This option is always safe, but garbage
+            collecting successors may cause undesirable rebuilds later
+            on.
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+      
+    </variablelist>
+
+  </refsection>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Examples</title>
+
+    <para>
+      To delete all unreachable paths, do the following:
+    
+      <screen>
+$ nix-collect-garbage | xargs nix-store --delete</screen>
+
+    </para>
+
+  </refsection>
+    
+</refentry>
diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-env.xml b/doc/manual/nix-env.xml
index 874f27081636..70069fa1af84 100644
--- a/doc/manual/nix-env.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-env.xml
@@ -111,8 +111,9 @@
         <listitem>
           <para>
             For the <option>--install</option>,
-            <option>--upgrade</option> and
-            <option>--uninstall</option> operations, this flag will
+            <option>--upgrade</option>, <option>--uninstall</option>,
+            <option>--switch-generation</option> and
+            <option>--rollback</option> operations, this flag will
             cause <command>nix-env</command> to print what
             <emphasis>would</emphasis> be done if this flag had not
             been specified, without actually doing it.
@@ -594,4 +595,225 @@ foo-1.2.3</screen>
   </refsection>
   
     
+
+  <!--######################################################################-->
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Operation <option>--switch-profile</option></title>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Synopsis</title>
+      <cmdsynopsis>
+        <command>nix-env</command>
+        <group choice='req'>
+          <arg choice='plain'><option>--switch-profile</option></arg>
+          <arg choice='plain'><option>-S</option></arg>
+        </group>
+        <arg choice='req'><replaceable>path</replaceable></arg>
+      </cmdsynopsis>
+    </refsection>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Description</title>
+            
+      <para>
+        This operation makes <replaceable>path</replaceable> the
+        current profile for the user.  That is, the symlink
+        <filename>~/.nix-profile</filename> is made to point to
+        <replaceable>path</replaceable>.
+      </para>
+
+    </refsection>
+            
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Examples</title>
+
+      <screen>
+$ nix-env -S ~/my-profile</screen>
+
+    </refsection>
+    
+  </refsection>
+
+
+  
+  <!--######################################################################-->
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Operation <option>--list-generations</option></title>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Synopsis</title>
+      <cmdsynopsis>
+        <command>nix-env</command>
+        <arg choice='req'><option>--list-generations</option></arg>
+      </cmdsynopsis>
+    </refsection>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Description</title>
+            
+      <para>
+        This operation print a list of all the currently existing
+        generations for the active profile.  These may be switched to
+        using the <option>--switch-generation</option> operation.  It
+        also prints the creation date of the generation, and indicates
+        the current generation.
+      </para>
+
+    </refsection>
+            
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Examples</title>
+
+      <screen>
+$ nix-env --list-generations
+  95   2004-02-06 11:48:24
+  96   2004-02-06 11:49:01
+  97   2004-02-06 16:22:45
+  98   2004-02-06 16:24:33   (current)</screen>
+
+    </refsection>
+    
+  </refsection>
+
+
+  
+  <!--######################################################################-->
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Operation <option>--switch-generation</option></title>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Synopsis</title>
+      <cmdsynopsis>
+        <command>nix-env</command>
+        <group choice='req'>
+          <arg choice='plain'><option>--switch-generation</option></arg>
+          <arg choice='plain'><option>-G</option></arg>
+        </group>
+        <arg choice='req'><replaceable>generation</replaceable></arg>
+      </cmdsynopsis>
+    </refsection>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Description</title>
+            
+      <para>
+        This operation makes generation number
+        <replaceable>generation</replaceable> the current generation
+        of the active profile.  That is, if the
+        <filename><replaceable>profile</replaceable></filename> is the
+        path to the active profile, then the symlink
+        <filename><replaceable>profile</replaceable></filename> is
+        made to point to
+        <filename><replaceable>profile</replaceable>-<replaceable>generation</replaceable>-link</filename>,
+        which is in turn a symlink to the actual user environment in
+        the Nix store.
+      </para>
+
+      <para>
+        Switching will fail if the specified generation does not
+        exist.
+      </para>
+
+    </refsection>
+            
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Examples</title>
+
+      <screen>
+$ nix-env -G 42
+switching from generation 50 to 42</screen>
+
+    </refsection>
+    
+  </refsection>
+
+
+  
+  <!--######################################################################-->
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Operation <option>--rollback</option></title>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Synopsis</title>
+      <cmdsynopsis>
+        <command>nix-env</command>
+        <arg choice='req'><option>--rollback</option></arg>
+      </cmdsynopsis>
+    </refsection>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Description</title>
+            
+      <para>
+        This operation switches to the <quote>previous</quote>
+        generation of the active profile, that is, the highest
+        numbered generation lower than the current generation, if it
+        exists.  It is just a convenience wrapper around
+        <option>--list-generations</option> and
+        <option>--switch-generation</option>.
+      </para>
+
+    </refsection>
+            
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Examples</title>
+
+      <screen>
+$ nix-env --rollback
+switching from generation 92 to 91
+
+$ nix-env --rolback
+error: no generation older than the current (91) exists</screen>
+
+    </refsection>
+    
+  </refsection>
+
+
+  
+  <!--######################################################################-->
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Operation <option>--import</option></title>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Synopsis</title>
+      <cmdsynopsis>
+        <command>nix-env</command>
+        <group choice='req'>
+          <arg choice='plain'><option>--import</option></arg>
+          <arg choice='plain'><option>-I</option></arg>
+        </group>
+        <arg choice='req'><replaceable>path</replaceable></arg>
+      </cmdsynopsis>
+    </refsection>
+
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Description</title>
+            
+      <para>
+        This operation makes <replaceable>path</replaceable> the
+        default active Nix expression for the user.  That is, the
+        symlink <filename>~/.nix-userenv</filename> is made to point
+        to <replaceable>path</replaceable>.
+      </para>
+
+    </refsection>
+            
+    <refsection>
+      <title>Examples</title>
+
+      <screen>
+$ nix-env -I ~/nixpkgs-0.5/</screen>
+
+    </refsection>
+    
+  </refsection>
+
+
+  
 </refentry>
diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-instantiate.xml b/doc/manual/nix-instantiate.xml
index ee073a17b7c6..69630cb552ec 100644
--- a/doc/manual/nix-instantiate.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-instantiate.xml
@@ -8,18 +8,58 @@
     <cmdsynopsis>
       <command>nix-instantiate</command>
       &opt-common-syn;
-      <arg rep='repeat'><replaceable>files</replaceable></arg>
+      <arg choice='plain' rep='repeat'><replaceable>files</replaceable></arg>
     </cmdsynopsis>
   </refsynopsisdiv>
 
-  <refsect1>
+  <refsection>
     <title>Description</title>
 
     <para>
       The command <command>nix-instantiate</command> generates
       (low-level) store expressions from (high-level) Nix expressions.
+      It loads and evaluates the Nix expressions in each of
+      <replaceable>files</replaceable>.  Each top-level expression
+      should evaluate to a derivation, a list of derivations, or a set
+      of derivations.  The paths of the resulting store expressions
+      are printed on standard output.
     </para>
 
-  </refsect1>
+    <para>
+      This command is generally used for testing Nix expression before
+      they are used with <command>nix-env</command>.
+    </para>
+
+  </refsection>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Options</title>
+
+    <variablelist>
+
+      &opt-common;
+
+    </variablelist>
+
+  </refsection>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Examples</title>
+
+    <screen>
+$ nix-instantiate gcc.nix <lineannotation>(instantiate)</lineannotation>
+/nix/store/468abdcb93aa22bb721142615b97698b-d-gcc-3.3.2.store
+
+$ nix-store -r $(nix-instantiate gcc.nix) <lineannotation>(build)</lineannotation>
+
+$ nix-store -r $(nix-instantiate gcc.nix) <lineannotation>(print output path)</lineannotation>
+/nix/store/9afa718cddfdfe94b5b9303d0430ceb1-gcc-3.3.2
+
+$ ls -l /nix/store/9afa718cddfdfe94b5b9303d0430ceb1-gcc-3.3.2
+dr-xr-xr-x    2 eelco    users         360 2003-12-01 16:12 bin
+dr-xr-xr-x    3 eelco    users          72 2003-12-01 16:12 include
+...</screen>
 
+  </refsection>
+    
 </refentry>
diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-prefetch-url.xml b/doc/manual/nix-prefetch-url.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a6b3711e3373
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-prefetch-url.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+<refentry>
+  <refnamediv>
+    <refname>nix-prefetch-url</refname>
+    <refpurpose>copy a file from a URL into the store and print its MD5 hash</refpurpose>
+  </refnamediv>
+
+  <refsynopsisdiv>
+    <cmdsynopsis>
+      <command>nix-prefetch-url</command>
+      <arg choice='plain'><replaceable>url</replaceable></arg>
+    </cmdsynopsis>
+  </refsynopsisdiv>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Description</title>
+
+    <para>
+      The command <command>nix-prefetch-url</command> downloads the
+      file referenced by the URL <replaceable>url</replaceable>,
+      prints its MD5 cryptographic hash code, and copies it into the
+      Nix store.  The file name in the store is
+      <filename><replaceable>hash</replaceable>-<replaceable>basename</replaceable></filename>,
+      where <replaceable>basename</replaceable> is everything
+      following the final slash in <replaceable>url</replaceable>.
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+      This command is just a convenience to Nix expression writers.
+      Often a Nix expressions fetch some source distribution from the
+      network using the <literal>fetchurl</literal> expression
+      contained in <literal>nixpkgs</literal>.  However,
+      <literal>fetchurl</literal> requires an MD5 hash.  If you don't
+      know the hash, you would have to download the file first, and
+      then <literal>fetchurl</literal> would download it again when
+      you build your Nix expression.  Since
+      <literal>fetchurl</literal> uses the same name for the
+      downloaded file as <command>nix-prefetch-url</command>, the
+      redundant download can be avoided.
+    </para>
+
+  </refsection>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Examples</title>
+
+    <screen>
+$ nix-prefetch-url ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/gnu/make/make-3.80.tar.bz2
+...
+file has hash 0bbd1df101bc0294d440471e50feca71
+...</screen>
+
+  </refsection>
+    
+</refentry>
diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-pull.xml b/doc/manual/nix-pull.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2e0723c10877
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-pull.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<refentry>
+  <refnamediv>
+    <refname>nix-pull</refname>
+    <refpurpose>pull substitutes from a network cache</refpurpose>
+  </refnamediv>
+
+  <refsynopsisdiv>
+    <cmdsynopsis>
+      <command>nix-pull</command>
+      <arg choice='plain'><replaceable>url</replaceable></arg>
+    </cmdsynopsis>
+  </refsynopsisdiv>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Description</title>
+
+    <para>
+      The command <command>nix-pull</command> obtains a list of
+      pre-built store paths from the URL
+      <replaceable>url</replaceable>, and for each of these store
+      paths, registers a substitute derivation that downloads and
+      unpacks it into the Nix store.  This is used to speed up
+      installations: if you attempt to install something that has
+      already been built and stored into the network cache, Nix can
+      transparently re-use the pre-built store paths.
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+      The file at <replaceable>url</replaceable> must be compatible
+      with the files created by <replaceable>nix-push</replaceable>.
+    </para>
+
+  </refsection>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Examples</title>
+
+    <screen>
+$ nix-pull http://catamaran.labs.cs.uu.nl/dist/nix/nixpkgs-0.5pre753/MANIFEST</screen>
+
+  </refsection>
+    
+</refentry>
diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-push.xml b/doc/manual/nix-push.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..be704d74675c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-push.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+<refentry>
+  <refnamediv>
+    <refname>nix-push</refname>
+    <refpurpose>push store paths onto a network cache</refpurpose>
+  </refnamediv>
+
+  <refsynopsisdiv>
+    <cmdsynopsis>
+      <command>nix-push</command>
+      <arg choice='plain'><replaceable>archives-put-url</replaceable></arg>
+      <arg choice='plain'><replaceable>archives-get-url</replaceable></arg>
+      <arg choice='plain'><replaceable>manifest-put-url</replaceable></arg>
+      <arg choice='plain' rep='repeat'><replaceable>paths</replaceable></arg>
+    </cmdsynopsis>
+  </refsynopsisdiv>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Description</title>
+
+    <para>
+      The command <command>nix-push</command> builds a set of store
+      expressions (if necessary), and then packages and uploads all
+      store paths in the resulting closures to a server.  A network
+      cache thus populated can subsequently be used to speed up
+      software deployment on other machines using the
+      <command>nix-pull</command> command.
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+      <command>nix-push</command> performs the following actions.
+      
+      <orderedlist>
+
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            The store expressions stored in
+            <replaceable>paths</replaceable> are realised (using
+            <literal>nix-store --realise</literal>).
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            All paths in the closure of the store expressions stored
+            in <replaceable>paths</replaceable> are determined (using
+            <literal>nix-store --query --requisites
+            --include-successors</literal>).  It should be noted that
+            since the <option>--include-successors</option> flag is
+            used, if you specify a derivation store expression, you
+            get a combined source/binary distribution.  If you only
+            want a binary distribution, you should specify the closure
+            store expression that result from realising these (see
+            below).
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            All store paths determined in the previous step are
+            packaged and compressed into a <command>bzip</command>ped
+            NAR archive (extension <filename>.nar.bz2</filename>).
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            A <emphasis>manifest</emphasis> is created that contains
+            information on the store paths, their eventual URLs in the
+            cache, and cryptographic hashes of the contents of the NAR
+            archives.
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            Each store path is uploaded to the remote directory
+            specified by <replaceable>archives-put-url</replaceable>.
+            HTTP PUT requests are used to do this.  However, before a
+            file <varname>x</varname> is uploaded to
+            <literal><replaceable>archives-put-url</replaceable>/<varname>x</varname></literal>,
+            <command>nix-push</command> first determines whether this
+            upload is unnecessary by issuing a HTTP HEAD request on
+            <literal><replaceable>archives-get-url</replaceable>/<varname>x</varname></literal>.
+            This allows a cache to be shared between many partially
+            overlapping <command>nix-push</command> invocations.
+            (We use two URLs because the upload URL typically
+            refers to a CGI script, while the download URL just refers
+            to a file system directory on the server.)
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            The manifest is uploaded using an HTTP PUT request to
+            <replaceable>manifest-put-url</replaceable>.  The
+            corresponding URL to download the manifest can then be
+            used by <command>nix-pull</command>.
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+        
+      </orderedlist>
+    </para>
+            
+  </refsection>
+
+  <refsection>
+    <title>Examples</title>
+
+    <para>
+      To upload files there typically is some CGI script on the server
+      side.  This script should be be protected with a password.  The
+      following example uploads the store paths resulting from
+      building the Nix expressions in <filename>foo.nix</filename>,
+      passing appropriate authentication information:
+    
+      <screen>
+$ nix-push \
+    http://foo@bar:server.domain/cgi-bin/upload.pl/cache \
+    http://server.domain/cache \
+    http://foo@bar:server.domain/cgi-bin/upload.pl/MANIFEST \
+    $(nix-instantiate foo.nix)</screen>
+
+    This will push both sources and binaries (and any build-time
+    dependencies used in the build, such as compilers).
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+      If we just want to push binaries, not sources and build-time
+      dependencies, we can do:
+      
+      <screen>
+$ nix-push <replaceable>urls</replaceable> $(nix-instantiate $(nix-store -r foo.nix))</screen>
+    
+    </para>
+
+  </refsection>
+    
+</refentry>
diff --git a/doc/manual/overview.xml b/doc/manual/overview.xml
index e42c811c014c..d3a7e443bd80 100644
--- a/doc/manual/overview.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/overview.xml
@@ -173,9 +173,8 @@ $ nix-env -if pkgs/system/i686-linux.nix pan</screen>
     </para>
 
     <screen>
-$ nix-pull
-http://catamaran.labs.cs.uu.nl/dist/nix/nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable>/
-obtaining list of Nix archives at http://catamaran.labs.cs.uu.nl/dist/nix/nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable>...
+$ nix-pull http://catamaran.labs.cs.uu.nl/dist/nix/nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable>/MANIFEST
+obtaining list of Nix archives at http://catamaran.labs.cs.uu.nl/dist/nix/nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable>/MANIFEST...
 ...</screen>
 
     <para>
diff --git a/doc/manual/quick-start.xml b/doc/manual/quick-start.xml
index b16fe7de8f53..294fbcba29f5 100644
--- a/doc/manual/quick-start.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/quick-start.xml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ $ tar xfj nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable>.tar.bz2</screen>
         network, rather than built from source.
 
         <screen>
-$ nix-pull http://<replaceable>...</replaceable>/nix/nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable>/</screen>
+$ nix-pull http://<replaceable>...</replaceable>/nix/nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable>/MANIFEST</screen>
 
       </para>
 
diff --git a/doc/manual/style.css b/doc/manual/style.css
index 3ff9edbd406a..5b8534533d05 100644
--- a/doc/manual/style.css
+++ b/doc/manual/style.css
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-/* Copied from http://bakefile.sourceforge.net/ and covered by the GNU
-   GPL. */
+/* Copied from http://bakefile.sourceforge.net/, which appears
+   licensed under the GNU GPL. */
 
 
 /***************************************************************************