* nix-pack-closure: store the top-level store paths in the closure.

* nix-unpack-closure: extract the top-level paths from the closure and
  print them on stdout.  This allows them to be installed, e.g.,
  "nix-env -i $(nix-unpack-closure)".  (NIX-64)

2 files changed, 14 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-pack-closure.xml b/doc/manual/nix-pack-closure.xml
index 12eacf50207f..030b155008e6 100644
--- a/doc/manual/nix-pack-closure.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-pack-closure.xml
@@ -58,6 +58,14 @@ $ nix-pack-closure $(which azureus) | ssh scratchy nix-unpack-closure</screen>
     
 </para>
 
+<para>As a variation on the previous example, copy
+<command>azureus</command>, and also install it in the user’s profile
+on the target machine:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-pack-closure $(which azureus) | ssh scratchy 'nix-env -i $(nix-unpack-closure)'</screen>
+ 
+
 </refsection>
 
 
diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-unpack-closure.xml b/doc/manual/nix-unpack-closure.xml
index 7c6d12d089a4..e95225e819a0 100644
--- a/doc/manual/nix-unpack-closure.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-unpack-closure.xml
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ closure is a single file read from standard input.  See the
 description of <command>nix-pack-closure</command> for details and
 examples.</para>
 
+<para>The top-level paths in the closure (i.e., the paths passed to
+the original <command>nix-pack-closure</command> call that created the
+closure) are printed on standard output.  These paths can be passed,
+for instance, to <literal>nix-env -i</literal> to install them into a
+user environment on the target machine.</para>
+
 </refsection>