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<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
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xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
xml:id="chap-quick-start">
<title>Quick Start</title>
<para>This chapter is for impatient people who don't like reading
documentation. For more in-depth information you are kindly referred
to the following chapters.</para>
<orderedlist>
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<listitem><para>Download a source tarball or RPM or Debian/Ubuntu
package from <link xlink:href='http://nixos.org/'/>. Build source
distributions using the regular sequence:
<screen>
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$ tar xvfj nix-<replaceable>version</replaceable>.tar.bz2
$ cd nix-<replaceable>version</replaceable>
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$ ./configure
$ make
$ make install <lineannotation>(as root)</lineannotation></screen>
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This will install the Nix binaries in <filename>/usr/local</filename>
and keep the Nix store and other state in <filename>/nix</filename>.
You can change the former by specifying
<option>--prefix=<replaceable>path</replaceable></option>. The
location of the store can be changed using
<option>--with-store-dir=<replaceable>path</replaceable></option>.
However, you shouldn't change the store location, if at all possible,
since that will make it impossible to use pre-built binaries from the
Nixpkgs channel and other channels. The location of the state can be
changed using
<option>--localstatedir=<replaceable>path</replaceable>.</option></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>You should add
<filename><replaceable>prefix</replaceable>/etc/profile.d/nix.sh</filename>
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to your <filename>~/.profile</filename> (or some other login
file).</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Subscribe to the Nix Packages channel.
<screen>
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$ nix-channel --add http://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable</screen>
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Download the latest Nix expressions available in the channel.
<screen>
$ nix-channel --update</screen>
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Note that this in itself doesn't download any packages, it just
downloads the Nix expressions that build them and stores them
somewhere (under <filename>~/.nix-defexpr</filename>, in case you're
curious). Also, it registers the fact that pre-built binaries are
available remotely.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>See what installable packages are currently available
in the channel:
<screen>
$ nix-env -qa \*
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docbook-xml-4.2
firefox-1.0pre-PR-0.10.1
hello-2.1.1
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libxslt-1.1.0
<replaceable>...</replaceable></screen>
</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Install some packages from the channel:
<screen>
$ nix-env -i hello firefox <replaceable>...</replaceable> </screen>
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This should download pre-built packages; it should not build them
locally (if it does, something went wrong).</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Test that they work:
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<screen>
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$ which hello
/home/eelco/.nix-profile/bin/hello
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$ hello
Hello, world!
$ firefox
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<lineannotation>(read Slashdot or something)</lineannotation></screen>
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Uninstall a package:
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<screen>
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$ nix-env -e hello</screen>
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>To keep up-to-date with the channel, do:
<screen>
$ nix-channel --update
$ nix-env -u '*'</screen>
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The latter command will upgrade each installed package for which there
is a “newer” version (as determined by comparing the version
numbers).</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>You can also install specific packages directly from
your web browser. For instance, you can go to <link
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xlink:href="http://hydra.nixos.org/jobset/nixpkgs/trunk/channel/latest"
/> and click on any link for the individual packages for your
platform. Associate <literal>application/nix-package</literal> with
the program <command>nix-install-package</command>. A window should
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appear asking you whether its okay to install the package. Say
<literal>Y</literal>. The package and all its dependencies will be
installed.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>If you're unhappy with the result of a
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<command>nix-env</command> action (e.g., an upgraded package turned
out not to work properly), you can go back:
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<screen>
$ nix-env --rollback</screen>
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</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>You should periodically run the Nix garbage collector
to get rid of unused packages, since uninstalls or upgrades don't
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actually delete them:
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<screen>
$ nix-collect-garbage -d</screen>
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<!--
The first command deletes old “generations” of your profile (making
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rollbacks impossible, but also making the packages in those old
generations available for garbage collection), while the second
command actually deletes them.-->
</para></listitem>
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</orderedlist>
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</chapter>