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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/manual/packages/basic-package-mgmt.xml')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/packages/basic-package-mgmt.xml | 138 |
1 files changed, 81 insertions, 57 deletions
diff --git a/doc/manual/packages/basic-package-mgmt.xml b/doc/manual/packages/basic-package-mgmt.xml index 69c955c1dd11..540d3ec223cc 100644 --- a/doc/manual/packages/basic-package-mgmt.xml +++ b/doc/manual/packages/basic-package-mgmt.xml @@ -28,40 +28,71 @@ Nix expressions called the Nix Package collection that contains packages ranging from basic development stuff such as GCC and Glibc, to end-user applications like Mozilla Firefox. (Nix is however not tied to the Nix Package collection; you could write your own Nix -expressions based on it, or completely new ones.) You can download -the latest version from <link -xlink:href='http://nixos.org/nixpkgs/download.html' />.</para> +expressions based on it, or completely new ones.)</para> + +<para>You can manually download the latest version of Nixpkgs from +<link xlink:href='http://nixos.org/nixpkgs/download.html'/>. However, +it’s much more convenient to use the Nixpkgs +<emphasis>channel</emphasis>, since it makes it easy to stay up to +date with new versions of Nixpkgs. (Channels are described in more +detail in <xref linkend="sec-channels"/>.) Nixpkgs is automatically +added to your list of “subscribed” channels when when you install +Nix. If this is not the case for some reason, you can add it as +follows: -<para>Assuming that you have downloaded and unpacked a release of Nix -Packages, you can view the set of available packages in the release: +<screen> +$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable +$ nix-channel --update +</screen> + +</para> + +<note><para>On NixOS, you’re automatically subscribed to a NixOS +channel corresponding to your NixOS major release +(e.g. <uri>http://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.12</uri>). A NixOS +channel is identical to the Nixpkgs channel, except that it contains +only Linux binaries and is updated only if a set of regression tests +succeed.</para></note> + +<para>You can view the set of available packages in Nixpkgs: <screen> -$ nix-env -qaf nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable> '*' -ant-blackdown-1.4.2 +$ nix-env -qa aterm-2.2 bash-3.0 binutils-2.15 bison-1.875d blackdown-1.4.2 bzip2-1.0.2 -...</screen> - -where <literal>nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable></literal> is -where you’ve unpacked the release. The flag <option>-q</option> -specifies a query operation; <option>-a</option> means that you want -to show the “available” (i.e., installable) packages, as opposed to -the installed packages; and <option>-f</option> -<filename>nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable></filename> -specifies the source of the packages. The argument -<literal>'*'</literal> shows all installable packages. (The quotes are -necessary to prevent shell expansion.) You can also select specific -packages by name: +…</screen> + +The flag <option>-q</option> specifies a query operation, and +<option>-a</option> means that you want to show the “available” (i.e., +installable) packages, as opposed to the installed packages. If you +downloaded Nixpkgs yourself, or if you checked it out from GitHub, +then you need to pass the path to your Nixpkgs tree using the +<option>-f</option> flag: + +<screen> +$ nix-env -qaf <replaceable>/path/to/nixpkgs</replaceable> +</screen> + +where <replaceable>/path/to/nixpkgs</replaceable> is where you’ve +unpacked or checked out Nixpkgs.</para> + +<para>You can select specific packages by name: + +<screen> +$ nix-env -qa firefox +firefox-34.0.5 +firefox-with-plugins-34.0.5 +</screen> + +and using regular expressions: <screen> -$ nix-env -qaf nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable> gcc -gcc-3.4.6 -gcc-4.0.3 -gcc-4.1.1</screen> +$ nix-env -qa 'firefox.*' +</screen> </para> @@ -70,12 +101,12 @@ available packages, i.e., whether they are installed into the user environment and/or present in the system: <screen> -$ nix-env -qasf nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable> '*' -... +$ nix-env -qas +… -PS bash-3.0 --S binutils-2.15 IPS bison-1.875d -...</screen> +…</screen> The first character (<literal>I</literal>) indicates whether the package is installed in your current user environment. The second @@ -88,40 +119,33 @@ just means that Nix knows that it can fetch a pre-built package from somewhere (typically a network server) instead of building it locally.</para> -<para>So now that we have a set of Nix expressions we can build the -packages contained in them. This is done using <literal>nix-env --i</literal>. For instance, +<para>You can install a package using <literal>nix-env -i</literal>. +For instance, <screen> -$ nix-env -f nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable> -i subversion</screen> +$ nix-env -i subversion</screen> will install the package called <literal>subversion</literal> (which is, of course, the <link xlink:href='http://subversion.tigris.org/'>Subversion version management system</link>).</para> -<para>When you do this for the first time, Nix will start building -Subversion and all its dependencies. This will take quite a while — -typically an hour or two on modern machines. Fortunately, there is a -faster way (so do a Ctrl-C on that install operation!): you just need -to tell Nix that pre-built binaries of all those packages are -available somewhere. This is done using the -<command>nix-pull</command> command, which must be supplied with a URL -containing a <emphasis>manifest</emphasis> describing what binaries -are available. This URL should correspond to the Nix Packages release -that you’re using. For instance, if you obtained a release from <link -xlink:href='http://nixos.org/releases/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-0.12pre11712-4lrp7j8x' -/>, then you should do: - -<screen> -$ nix-pull http://nixos.org/releases/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-0.12pre11712-4lrp7j8x/MANIFEST</screen> - -If you then issue the installation command, it should start -downloading binaries from <systemitem -class='fqdomainname'>nixos.org</systemitem>, instead of building -them from source. This might still take a while since all -dependencies must be downloaded, but on a reasonably fast connection -such as a DSL line it’s on the order of a few minutes.</para> +<note><para>When you ask Nix to install a package, it will first try +to get it in pre-compiled form from a <emphasis>binary +cache</emphasis>. By default, Nix will use the binary cache +<uri>https://cache.nixos.org</uri>; it contains binaries for most +packages in Nixpkgs. Only if no binary is available in the binary +cache, Nix will build the package from source. So if <literal>nix-env +-i subversion</literal> results in Nix building stuff from source, +then either the package is not built for your platform by the Nixpkgs +build servers, or your version of Nixpkgs is too old or too new. For +instance, if you have a very recent checkout of Nixpkgs, then the +Nixpkgs build servers may not have had a chance to build everything +and upload the resulting binaries to +<uri>https://cache.nixos.org</uri>. The Nixpkgs channel is only +updated after all binaries have been uploaded to the cache, so if you +stick to the Nixpkgs channel (rather than using a Git checkout of the +Nixpkgs tree), you will get binaries for most packages.</para></note> <para>Naturally, packages can also be uninstalled: @@ -134,7 +158,7 @@ $ nix-env -e subversion</screen> release of Nix Packages, you can do: <screen> -$ nix-env -f nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable> -u subversion</screen> +$ nix-env -u subversion</screen> This will <emphasis>only</emphasis> upgrade Subversion if there is a “newer” version in the new set of Nix expressions, as @@ -149,17 +173,17 @@ whatever version is already installed.</para> versions: <screen> -$ nix-env -f nixpkgs-<replaceable>version</replaceable> -u '*'</screen> +$ nix-env -u</screen> </para> <para>Sometimes it’s useful to be able to ask what <command>nix-env</command> would do, without actually doing it. For instance, to find out what packages would be upgraded by -<literal>nix-env -u '*'</literal>, you can do +<literal>nix-env -u</literal>, you can do <screen> -$ nix-env ... -u '*' --dry-run +$ nix-env -u --dry-run (dry run; not doing anything) upgrading `libxslt-1.1.0' to `libxslt-1.1.10' upgrading `graphviz-1.10' to `graphviz-1.12' @@ -167,4 +191,4 @@ upgrading `coreutils-5.0' to `coreutils-5.2.1'</screen> </para> -</chapter> \ No newline at end of file +</chapter> |