This chapter is for impatient people who don't like reading documentation. For more in-depth information you are kindly referred to subsequent chapters. Install single-user Nix by running the following: $ bash <(curl https://nixos.org/nix/install) This will install Nix in /nix. The install script will create /nix using sudo, so make sure you have sufficient rights. (For other installation methods, see .) See what installable packages are currently available in the channel: $ nix-env -qa docbook-xml-4.3 docbook-xml-4.5 firefox-33.0.2 hello-2.9 libxslt-1.1.28 ... Install some packages from the channel: $ nix-env -i hello This should download pre-built packages; it should not build them locally (if it does, something went wrong). Test that they work: $ which hello /home/eelco/.nix-profile/bin/hello $ hello Hello, world! Uninstall a package: $ nix-env -e hello You can also test a package without installing it: $ nix-shell -p hello This builds or downloads GNU Hello and its dependencies, then drops you into a Bash shell where the hello command is present, all without affecting your normal environment: [nix-shell:~]$ hello Hello, world! [nix-shell:~]$ exit $ hello hello: command not found To keep up-to-date with the channel, do: $ nix-channel --update nixpkgs $ nix-env -u '*' The latter command will upgrade each installed package for which there is a “newer” version (as determined by comparing the version numbers). If you're unhappy with the result of a nix-env action (e.g., an upgraded package turned out not to work properly), you can go back: $ nix-env --rollback You should periodically run the Nix garbage collector to get rid of unused packages, since uninstalls or upgrades don't actually delete them: $ nix-collect-garbage -d