Nix

Nix is a package manager that enables composing environments with specific versions of packages.
multiple versions of packages can be installed at once, but only one is enabled at a time.

Nix is divided into a few different components.

• nix is a package manager
• nixpkgs exposes/configures/overrides packages from a nix repo
• nixos (optional) is a linux distro built around the use of nix

The tool nix home-manager is useful for configuring user environments.

Documentation

General
nixos docs	https://nixos.org/nix/manual/
nixos unstable docs	https://nixos.org/manual/nix/unstable/introduction.html
nixpkgs docs	https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/
nix pills	https://nixos.org/nixos/nix-pills/index.html
github (nix)	https://github.com/NixOS/nix
github (nixpkgs)	https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs
homepage	https://nixos.org/
wiki	https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Main_Page
forum	https://discourse.nixos.org/
Syntax
expressions	https://nixos.org/nix/manual/#chap-writing-nix-expressions
builtins.*	https://nixos.org/nix/manual/#ssec-builtins
nixpkgs.lib.*	https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/lib

Tutorials

See nix tutorials.

Locations

Global Config
/etc/nix/configuration.nix	nixpkgs config (overrides, overlays, etc)
/etc/nix/nix.conf	nix config (see man nix.conf)
User Config
~/.config/nix/config.nix	nix config
~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix	nixpkgs config (overrides, overlays, etc)
~/.config/nixpkgs/overlays.nix	overlays loaded into every nix env
~/.config/nixpkgs/overlays/*.nix	overlays (loaded in every shell? loaded on demand?)
~/.config/nix/nix.conf	nix config (see man nix.conf)
Data
/nix/store	packages downloaded here
/var/nix/profiles/	user profiles/generations
~/.nix-profile	active profile definition
~/.nix-channels
Logs
/nix/var/log/nix	logs stdout/stderr of nix builds

Overview

• Nix downloads multiple versions of a package to the nix store (version determined by file-hash)
• Package sources are determined by nix channels
• nix-envs contain a fixed set of packages/versions, and are configured in profiles

Setup

nix install

nix configuration

nixpkgs configuration

Usage

Package Management

nix usage

nix flakes usage

Project Management

nix packages

nix shells

General

nix channels

nix troubleshooting

nix tips and tricks

Syntax

See https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Nix_Expression_Language

nix files

nix datatypes

nix variables

nix functions

nix operators

nix conditionals

Language Support

nix libraries

nix python

nix ruby

nix golang

nix java