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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/manual/installation.xml')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/installation.xml | 51 |
1 files changed, 45 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/doc/manual/installation.xml b/doc/manual/installation.xml index 14cd55b63218..15463a9b64fe 100644 --- a/doc/manual/installation.xml +++ b/doc/manual/installation.xml @@ -63,7 +63,11 @@ are included in the Nix source distribution. If you build from the Subversion repository, you must download them yourself and place them in the <filename>externals/</filename> directory. See <filename>externals/Makefile.am</filename> for the precise URLs of -these packages.</para> +these packages. Alternatively, if you already have them installed, +you can use <command>configure</command>'s <option>--with-bdb</option> +and <option>--with-aterm</option> options to point to their respective +locations. Note that Berkeley DB <emphasis>must</emphasis> be version +4.2; other versions may not have compatible database formats.</para> </sect1> @@ -91,8 +95,7 @@ $ autoreconf -i</screen> <command>configure</command>. The default installation directory is <filename>/nix</filename>. You can change this to any location you like. You must have write permission to the -<replaceable>prefix</replaceable> path. - </para> +<replaceable>prefix</replaceable> path.</para> <warning><para>It is advisable <emphasis>not</emphasis> to change the installation prefix from its default, since doing so will in all @@ -123,7 +126,7 @@ based on <literal>glibc</literal> 2.3 or later.</para> <command>rpm -U</command>. For example,</para> <screen> -rpm -U nix-0.5pre664-1.i386.rpm</screen> +$ rpm -U nix-0.5pre664-1.i386.rpm</screen> <para>The RPMs install into the directory <filename>/nix</filename>. Nix can be uninstalled using <command>rpm -e nix</command>. After @@ -131,8 +134,8 @@ this it will be necessary to manually remove the Nix store and other auxiliary data:</para> <screen> -rm -rf /nix/store -rm -rf /nix/var</screen> +$ rm -rf /nix/store +$ rm -rf /nix/var</screen> </sect1> @@ -147,6 +150,42 @@ respectively). When installed from the RPM packages, these directories are owned by <systemitem class='username'>root</systemitem>.</para> +<sect2><title>Setuid installation</title> + +<para>As a somewhat <emphasis>ad hoc</emphasis> hack, you can also +install the Nix binaries <quote>setuid</quote> so that a Nix store can +be shared among several users. To do this, configure Nix with the +<emphasis>--enable-setuid</emphasis> option. Nix will be installed as +owned by a user and group specified by the +<option>--with-nix-user=<parameter>user</parameter></option> and +<option>--with-nix-group=<parameter>group</parameter></option> +options. E.g., + +<screen> +$ ./configure --enable-setuid --with-nix-user=my_nix_user --with-nix-group=my_nix_group</screen> + +The user and group default to <literal>nix</literal>. You should make +sure that both the user and the group exist. Any <quote>real</quote> +users that you want to allow access should be added to the Nix +group.</para> + +<warning><para>A setuid installation should only by used if the users +in the Nix group are mutually trusted, since any user in that group +has the ability to change anything in the Nix store or database. For +instance, they could install a trojan horse in executables used by +other users.</para></warning> + +<warning><para>On some platforms, the Nix binaries will be installed +as setuid <literal>root</literal>. They drop root privileges +immediately after startup and switch to the Nix user. The reason for +this is that both the real and effective user must be set to the Nix +user, and POSIX has no system call to do this. This is not the case +on systems that have the <function>setresuid()</function> system call +(such as Linux and FreeBSD), so on those systems the binaries are +simply owned by the Nix user.</para></warning> + +</sect2> + </sect1> |