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nix-super/doc/manual/src/command-ref/conf-file-prefix.md
Valentin Gagarin 68c6219343 clarify setting options on the command line
2023-06-20 12:13:32 +02:00

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Name

nix.conf - Nix configuration file

Description

Nix supports a variety of configuration settings, which are read from configuration files or taken as command line flags.

Configuration file

By default Nix reads settings from the following places, in that order:

  1. The system-wide configuration file sysconfdir/nix/nix.conf (i.e. /etc/nix/nix.conf on most systems), or $NIX_CONF_DIR/nix.conf if NIX_CONF_DIR is set.

    Values loaded in this file are not forwarded to the Nix daemon. The client assumes that the daemon has already loaded them.

  2. If NIX_USER_CONF_FILES is set, then each path separated by : will be loaded in reverse order.

    Otherwise it will look for nix/nix.conf files in XDG_CONFIG_DIRS and XDG_CONFIG_HOME. If unset, XDG_CONFIG_DIRS defaults to /etc/xdg, and XDG_CONFIG_HOME defaults to $HOME/.config as per XDG Base Directory Specification.

  3. If NIX_CONFIG is set, its contents are treated as the contents of a configuration file.

File format

Configuration files consist of name = value pairs, one per line. Comments start with a # character.

Example:

keep-outputs = true       # Nice for developers
keep-derivations = true   # Idem

Other files can be included with a line like include <path>, where <path> is interpreted relative to the current configuration file. A missing file is an error unless !include is used instead.

A configuration setting usually overrides any previous value. However, for settings that take a list of items, you can prefix the name of the setting by extra- to append to the previous value.

For instance,

substituters = a b
extra-substituters = c d

defines the substituters setting to be a b c d.

Unknown option names are not an error, and are simply ignored with a warning.

Command line flags

Configuration options can be set on the command line, overriding the values set in the configuration file:

  • Every configuration setting has corresponding command line flag (e.g. --max-jobs 16). Boolean settings do not need an argument, and can be explicitly disabled with the no- prefix (e.g. --keep-failed and --no-keep-failed).

    Unknown option names are invalid flags (unless there is already a flag with that name), and are rejected with an error.

  • The flag --option <name> <value> is interpreted exactly like a <name> = <value> in a setting file.

    Unknown option names are ignored with a warning.

The extra- prefix is supported for settings that take a list of items (e.g. --extra-trusted users alice or --option extra-trusted-users alice).

Available settings