system types other than the current system. I.e., `nix-env -i'
won't install derivations for other system types, and `nix-env -q'
won't show them. The flag `--system-filter SYSTEM' can be used to
override the system type used for filtering (but not for
building!). The value `*' can be used not to filter anything.
Whenever Nix attempts to realise a derivation for which a closure is
already known, but this closure cannot be realised, fall back on
normalising the derivation.
The most common scenario in which this is useful is when we have
registered substitutes in order to perform binary distribution from,
say, a network repository. If the repository is down, the
realisation of the derivation will fail. When this option is
specified, Nix will build the derivation instead. Thus, binary
installation falls back on a source installation. This option is
not the default since it is generally not desirable for a transient
failure in obtaining the substitutes to lead to a full build from
source (with the related consumption of resources).
* A better substitute mechanism.
Instead of generating a store expression for each store path for
which we have a substitute, we can have a single store expression
that builds a generic program that is invoked to build the desired
store path, which is passed as an argument.
This means that operations like `nix-pull' only produce O(1) files
instead of O(N) files in the store when registering N substitutes.
(It consumes O(N) database storage, of course, but that's not a
performance problem).
* Added a test for the substitute mechanism.
* `nix-store --substitute' reads the substitutes from standard input,
instead of from the command line. This prevents us from running
into the kernel's limit on command line length.
print a nice backtrace of the stack, rather than vomiting a gigantic
(and useless) aterm on the screen. Example:
error: while evaluating file `.../pkgs/system/test.nix':
while evaluating attribute `subversion' at `.../pkgs/system/all-packages-generic.nix', line 533:
while evaluating function at `.../pkgs/applications/version-management/subversion/default.nix', line 1:
assertion failed at `.../pkgs/applications/version-management/subversion/default.nix', line 13
Since the Nix expression language is lazy, the trace may be
misleading. The purpose is to provide a hint as to the location of
the problem.
derivation (i.e., the closure store expression) a root of the
garbage collector. This ensures that running `nix-collect-garbage
--no-successors' is safe.
whether we want to upgrade if the current version is less than the
available version (default), when it is less or equal, or always.
* Added a flag `--dry-run' to show what would happen in `--install',
`--uninstall', and `--upgrade', without actually performing the
operation.
of the current profile, e.g.,
$ nix-env --list-generations
...
39 2004-02-02 17:53:53
40 2004-02-02 17:55:18
41 2004-02-02 17:55:41
42 2004-02-02 17:55:50 (current)
$ nix-env --switch-generation 39
$ ls -l /nix/var/nix/profiles/default
... default -> default-39-link
* Also a command `--rollback' which is just a convenience operation to
rollback to the oldest generation younger than the current one.
Note that generations properly form a tree. E.g., if after
switching to generation 39, we perform an installation action,
a generation 43 is created which is a descendant of 39, not 42. So
a rollback from 43 ought to go back to 39. This is not currently
implemented; generations form a linear sequence.
default -> default-94-link
default-82-link -> /nix/store/cc4480...
default-83-link -> /nix/store/caeec8...
...
default-94-link -> /nix/store/2896ca...
experimental -> experimental-2-link
experimental-1-link -> /nix/store/cc4480...
experimental-2-link -> /nix/store/a3148f...
* `--profile' / `-p' -> `--switch-profile' / `-S'
* `--link' / `-l' -> `--profile' / `-p'
* The default profile is stored in $prefix/var/nix/profiles.
$prefix/var/nix/links is gone. Profiles can be stored anywhere.
* The current profile is now referenced from ~/.nix-profile, not
~/.nix-userenv.
* The roots to the garbage collector now have extension `.gcroot', not
`.id'.
the output path of a derivation, not the path of its store
expression. This ensures that changes that affect the path of the
store expression but not the output path, do not affect the
`installed' state of a derivation.
path of the Nix expression to be used with the import, upgrade, and
query commands. For instance,
$ nix-env -I ~/nixpkgs/pkgs/system/i686-linux.nix
$ nix-env --query --available [aka -qa]
sylpheed-0.9.7
bison-1.875
pango-1.2.5
subversion-0.35.1
...
$ nix-env -i sylpheed
$ nix-env -u subversion
There can be only one default at a time.
* If the path to a Nix expression is a symlink, follow the symlink
prior to resolving relative path references in the expression.
the symlink ~/.nix-userenv to the given argument (which defaults to
.../links/current). /etc/profile.d/nix-profile creates this symlink
if it doesn't exist yet. Example use:
$ nix-env -l my_profile -i foo.nix subversion quake
$ nix-env -p my_profile
I don't like the term "profile". Let's deprecate it :-)
nix-env -u foo.nix strategoxt
to replace the installed `strategoxt' derivation with the one from `foo.nix', if
the latter has a higher version number. This is a no-op if `strategoxt' is not
installed. Wildcards are also accepted, so
nix-env -u foo.nix '*'
will replace any installed derivation with newer versions from `foo.nix', if
available.
The notion of "version number" is somewhat ad hoc, but should be useful in most
cases, as evidenced by the following unit tests for the version comparator:
TEST("1.0", "2.3", -1);
TEST("2.1", "2.3", -1);
TEST("2.3", "2.3", 0);
TEST("2.5", "2.3", 1);
TEST("3.1", "2.3", 1);
TEST("2.3.1", "2.3", 1);
TEST("2.3.1", "2.3a", 1);
TEST("2.3pre1", "2.3", -1);
TEST("2.3pre3", "2.3pre12", -1);
TEST("2.3a", "2.3c", -1);
TEST("2.3pre1", "2.3c", -1);
TEST("2.3pre1", "2.3q", -1);
(-1 = less, 0 = equal, 1 = greater)
* A new verbosity level `lvlInfo', between `lvlError' and `lvlTalkative'. This is
the default for `nix-env', so without any `-v' flags users should get useful
output, e.g.,
$ nix-env -u foo.nix strategoxt
upgrading `strategoxt-0.9.2' to `strategoxt-0.9.3'
