Nix Package Manager Cookbook

Source

Nix Package Manager Cookbook

This is a cookbook containing a list of commands to perform frequent tasks in Nix. Read the Nix Package Manager Guide for detailed information.

Install Nix.

user@host:~/Downloads$ curl -o install-nix.sh https://nixos.org/nix/install
user@host:~/Downloads$ sh install-nix.sh

You'll need to have sudo access for the script to create the /nix directory.

The installer adds the relevant paths to your .profile. To activate them

user@host:~$ . /home/YOURUSERNAME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh

Add to .bashrc if not already present in .profile. I just prefer to add it to .bashrc; your preference may vary.

if [ -e /home/YOURUSERNAME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh ]; then . /home/YOURUSERNAME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh; fi # added by Nix installer

Search for available packages.

user@host:~$ nix-env --query --available --status --description go
user@host:~$ nix-env --query --available --status --description python
user@host:~$ nix-env --query --available --status --description python3
user@host:~$ nix-env --query --available --status --description '.*virtualenv.*'

List installed packages.

user@host:~$ nix-env --query --installed

Update Nix and then update all installed packages.

user@host:~$ nix-channel --update
user@host:~$ nix-env -u '*'

Work with channels. Since I prefer bleeding edge packages I use the nixpkgs-unstable channel.

user@host:~$ nix-channel --list
user@host:~$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable
user@host:~$ nix-channel --remove nixpkgs

Install packages (derivatives).

user@host:~$ nix-env -i pycharm-community-4.0.1

Uninstall package (derivative).

user@host:~$ nix-env -e pycharm-community-4.0.1