doc: Add pulseaudio documentation.
[jackhill/guix/guix.git] / doc / guix-cookbook.texi
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1\input texinfo
2@c -*-texinfo-*-
3
4@c %**start of header
5@setfilename guix-cookbook.info
6@documentencoding UTF-8
7@settitle GNU Guix Cookbook
8@c %**end of header
9
10@copying
11Copyright @copyright{} 2019 Ricardo Wurmus@*
12Copyright @copyright{} 2019 Efraim Flashner@*
13Copyright @copyright{} 2019 Pierre Neidhardt@*
14
15Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
16under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
17any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
18Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A
19copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free
20Documentation License''.
21@end copying
22
23@dircategory System administration
24@direntry
25* Guix cookbook: (guix-cookbook). Tutorials and examples for GNU Guix.
26@end direntry
27
28@titlepage
29@title GNU Guix Cookbook
30@subtitle Tutorials and examples for using the GNU Guix Functional Package Manager
31@author The GNU Guix Developers
32
33@page
34@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
35
36@insertcopying
37@end titlepage
38
39@contents
40
41@c *********************************************************************
42@node Top
43@top GNU Guix Cookbook
44
45This document presents tutorials and detailed examples for GNU@tie{}Guix, a
46functional package management tool written for the GNU system. Please
47@pxref{Top,,, guix, GNU Guix reference manual} for details about the system,
48its API, and related concepts.
49
50@c TRANSLATORS: You can replace the following paragraph with information on
51@c how to join your own translation team and how to report issues with the
52@c translation.
53If you would like to translate this document in your native language, consider
54joining the @uref{https://translationproject.org/domain/guix-cookbook.html,
55Translation Project}.
56
57@menu
58* Scheme tutorials:: Meet your new favorite language!
59* Packaging:: Packaging tutorials
60* System Configuration:: Customizing the GNU System
4c463569 61* Advanced package management:: Power to the users!
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62
63* Acknowledgments:: Thanks!
64* GNU Free Documentation License:: The license of this document.
65* Concept Index:: Concepts.
66
67@detailmenu
68 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
69
70Scheme tutorials
71
72* A Scheme Crash Course:: Learn the basics of Scheme
73
74Packaging
75
76* Packaging Tutorial:: Let's add a package to Guix!
77
78System Configuration
79
80* Customizing the Kernel:: Creating and using a custom Linux kernel
81
82
83@end detailmenu
84@end menu
85
86@c *********************************************************************
87@node Scheme tutorials
88@chapter Scheme tutorials
89
90GNU@tie{}Guix is written in the general purpose programming language Scheme,
91and many of its features can be accessed and manipulated programmatically.
92You can use Scheme to generate package definitions, to modify them, to build
93them, to deploy whole operating systems, etc.
94
95Knowing the basics of how to program in Scheme will unlock many of the
96advanced features Guix provides --- and you don't even need to be an
97experienced programmer to use them!
98
99Let's get started!
100
101@node A Scheme Crash Course
102@section A Scheme Crash Course
103
104@cindex Scheme, crash course
105
106Guix uses the Guile implementation of Scheme. To start playing with the
107language, install it with @code{guix install guile} and start a
108@uref{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read%E2%80%93eval%E2%80%93print_loop,
109REPL} by running @code{guile} from the command line.
110
111Alternatively you can also run @code{guix environment --ad-hoc guile -- guile}
112if you'd rather not have Guile installed in your user profile.
113
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114In the following examples, lines show what you would type at the REPL;
115lines starting with ``@result{}'' show evaluation results, while lines
116starting with ``@print{}'' show things that get printed. @xref{Using Guile
117Interactively,,, guile, GNU Guile Reference Manual}), for more details on the
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118REPL.
119
120@itemize
121@item
122Scheme syntax boils down to a tree of expressions (or @emph{s-expression} in
123Lisp lingo). An expression can be a literal such as numbers and strings, or a
124compound which is a parenthesized list of compounds and literals. @code{#t}
0cbef07b 125and @code{#f} stand for the Booleans ``true'' and ``false'', respectively.
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126
127Examples of valid expressions:
128
b1eecb5c 129@lisp
7bc46ecc 130"Hello World!"
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131@result{} "Hello World!"
132
7bc46ecc 13317
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134@result{} 17
135
136(display (string-append "Hello " "Guix" "\n"))
137@print{} Hello Guix!
138@result{} #<unspecified>
b1eecb5c 139@end lisp
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140
141@item
142This last example is a function call nested in another function call. When a
143parenthesized expression is evaluated, the first term is the function and the
144rest are the arguments passed to the function. Every function returns the
145last evaluated expression as its return value.
146
147@item
148Anonymous functions are declared with the @code{lambda} term:
149
b1eecb5c 150@lisp
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151(lambda (x) (* x x))
152@result{} #<procedure 120e348 at <unknown port>:24:0 (x)>
b1eecb5c 153@end lisp
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154
155The above procedure returns the square of its argument. Since everything is
156an expression, the @code{lambda} expression returns an anonymous procedure,
157which can in turn be applied to an argument:
158
b1eecb5c 159@lisp
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160((lambda (x) (* x x)) 3)
161@result{} 9
b1eecb5c 162@end lisp
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163
164@item
165Anything can be assigned a global name with @code{define}:
166
b1eecb5c 167@lisp
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168(define a 3)
169(define square (lambda (x) (* x x)))
170(square a)
171@result{} 9
b1eecb5c 172@end lisp
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173
174@item
175Procedures can be defined more concisely with the following syntax:
176
b1eecb5c 177@lisp
7bc46ecc 178(define (square x) (* x x))
b1eecb5c 179@end lisp
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180
181@item
182A list structure can be created with the @code{list} procedure:
183
b1eecb5c 184@lisp
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185(list 2 a 5 7)
186@result{} (2 3 5 7)
b1eecb5c 187@end lisp
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188
189@item
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190The @dfn{quote} disables evaluation of a parenthesized expression: the
191first term is not called over the other terms (@pxref{Expression Syntax,
192quote,, guile, GNU Guile Reference Manual}). Thus it effectively
193returns a list of terms.
7bc46ecc 194
b1eecb5c 195@lisp
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196'(display (string-append "Hello " "Guix" "\n"))
197@result{} (display (string-append "Hello " "Guix" "\n"))
198
199'(2 a 5 7)
200@result{} (2 a 5 7)
b1eecb5c 201@end lisp
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202
203@item
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204The @dfn{quasiquote} disables evaluation of a parenthesized expression
205until @dfn{unquote} (a comma) re-enables it. Thus it provides us with
206fine-grained control over what is evaluated and what is not.
7bc46ecc 207
b1eecb5c 208@lisp
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209`(2 a 5 7 (2 ,a 5 ,(+ a 4)))
210@result{} (2 a 5 7 (2 3 5 7))
b1eecb5c 211@end lisp
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212
213Note that the above result is a list of mixed elements: numbers, symbols (here
214@code{a}) and the last element is a list itself.
215
216@item
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217Multiple variables can be named locally with @code{let} (@pxref{Local
218Bindings,,, guile, GNU Guile Reference Manual}):
7bc46ecc 219
b1eecb5c 220@lisp
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221(define x 10)
222(let ((x 2)
223 (y 3))
224 (list x y))
225@result{} (2 3)
226
227x
228@result{} 10
229
230y
231@error{} In procedure module-lookup: Unbound variable: y
b1eecb5c 232@end lisp
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233
234Use @code{let*} to allow later variable declarations to refer to earlier
235definitions.
236
b1eecb5c 237@lisp
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238(let* ((x 2)
239 (y (* x 3)))
240 (list x y))
241@result{} (2 6)
b1eecb5c 242@end lisp
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243
244@item
245The keyword syntax is @code{#:}; it is used to create unique identifiers.
246@pxref{Keywords,,, guile, GNU Guile Reference Manual}.
247
248@item
249The percentage @code{%} is typically used for read-only global variables in
250the build stage. Note that it is merely a convention, like @code{_} in C.
251Scheme treats @code{%} exactly the same as any other letter.
252
253@item
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254Modules are created with @code{define-module} (@pxref{Creating Guile
255Modules,,, guile, GNU Guile Reference Manual}). For instance
7bc46ecc 256
b1eecb5c 257@lisp
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258(define-module (guix build-system ruby)
259 #:use-module (guix store)
260 #:export (ruby-build
261 ruby-build-system))
b1eecb5c 262@end lisp
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263
264defines the module @code{guix build-system ruby} which must be located in
265@file{guix/build-system/ruby.scm} somewhere in the Guile load path. It
266depends on the @code{(guix store)} module and it exports two variables,
267@code{ruby-build} and @code{ruby-build-system}.
268@end itemize
269
270For a more detailed introduction, check out
271@uref{http://www.troubleshooters.com/codecorn/scheme_guile/hello.htm, Scheme
272at a Glance}, by Steve Litt.
273
274One of the reference Scheme books is the seminal ``Structure and
275Interpretation of Computer Programs'', by Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay
276Sussman, with Julie Sussman. You'll find a
277@uref{https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/sicp/index.html, free copy
278online}, together with
279@uref{https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-spring-2005/video-lectures/,
280videos of the lectures by the authors}. The book is available in Texinfo
281format as the @code{sicp} Guix package. Go ahead, run @code{guix install
ed79636c 282sicp} and start reading with @code{info sicp} (@pxref{,,, sicp, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs}).
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283An @uref{https://sarabander.github.io/sicp/, unofficial ebook is also
284available}.
285
286You'll find more books, tutorials and other resources at
287@url{https://schemers.org/}.
288
289
290@c *********************************************************************
291@node Packaging
292@chapter Packaging
293
294@cindex packaging
295
296This chapter is dedicated to teaching you how to add packages to the
297collection of packages that come with GNU Guix. This involves writing package
298definitions in Guile Scheme, organizing them in package modules, and building
299them.
300
301@menu
302* Packaging Tutorial:: A tutorial on how to add packages to Guix.
303@end menu
304
305@node Packaging Tutorial
306@section Packaging Tutorial
307
308GNU Guix stands out as the @emph{hackable} package manager, mostly because it
309uses @uref{https://www.gnu.org/software/guile/, GNU Guile}, a powerful
310high-level programming language, one of the
311@uref{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_%28programming_language%29, Scheme}
312dialects from the
313@uref{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_%28programming_language%29, Lisp family}.
314
315Package definitions are also written in Scheme, which empowers Guix in some
316very unique ways, unlike most other package managers that use shell scripts or
317simple languages.
318
319@itemize
320@item
321Use functions, structures, macros and all of Scheme expressiveness for your
322package definitions.
323
324@item
325Inheritance makes it easy to customize a package by inheriting from it and
326modifying only what is needed.
327
328@item
329Batch processing: the whole package collection can be parsed, filtered and
330processed. Building a headless server with all graphical interfaces stripped
331out? It's possible. Want to rebuild everything from source using specific
332compiler optimization flags? Pass the @code{#:make-flags "..."} argument to
333the list of packages. It wouldn't be a stretch to think
334@uref{https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/USE_flag, Gentoo USE flags} here, but this
335goes even further: the changes don't have to be thought out beforehand by the
336packager, they can be @emph{programmed} by the user!
337@end itemize
338
339The following tutorial covers all the basics around package creation with Guix.
340It does not assume much knowledge of the Guix system nor of the Lisp language.
341The reader is only expected to be familiar with the command line and to have some
342basic programming knowledge.
343
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344@node A ``Hello World'' package
345@subsection A ``Hello World'' package
7bc46ecc 346
0cbef07b 347The ``Defining Packages'' section of the manual introduces the basics of Guix
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348packaging (@pxref{Defining Packages,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual}). In
349the following section, we will partly go over those basics again.
350
0cbef07b 351GNU@tie{}Hello is a dummy project that serves as an idiomatic example for
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352packaging. It uses the GNU build system (@code{./configure && make && make
353install}). Guix already provides a package definition which is a perfect
354example to start with. You can look up its declaration with @code{guix edit
355hello} from the command line. Let's see how it looks:
356
b1eecb5c 357@lisp
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358(define-public hello
359 (package
360 (name "hello")
361 (version "2.10")
362 (source (origin
363 (method url-fetch)
364 (uri (string-append "mirror://gnu/hello/hello-" version
365 ".tar.gz"))
366 (sha256
367 (base32
368 "0ssi1wpaf7plaswqqjwigppsg5fyh99vdlb9kzl7c9lng89ndq1i"))))
369 (build-system gnu-build-system)
370 (synopsis "Hello, GNU world: An example GNU package")
371 (description
372 "GNU Hello prints the message \"Hello, world!\" and then exits. It
373serves as an example of standard GNU coding practices. As such, it supports
374command-line arguments, multiple languages, and so on.")
375 (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/hello/")
376 (license gpl3+)))
b1eecb5c 377@end lisp
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378
379As you can see, most of it is rather straightforward. But let's review the
380fields together:
381
382@table @samp
383@item name
384The project name. Using Scheme conventions, we prefer to keep it
385lower case, without underscore and using dash-separated words.
386
387@item source
388This field contains a description of the source code origin. The
389@code{origin} record contains these fields:
390
391@enumerate
392@item The method, here @code{url-fetch} to download via HTTP/FTP, but other methods
393 exist, such as @code{git-fetch} for Git repositories.
394@item The URI, which is typically some @code{https://} location for @code{url-fetch}. Here
395 the special `mirror://gnu` refers to a set of well known locations, all of
396 which can be used by Guix to fetch the source, should some of them fail.
397@item The @code{sha256} checksum of the requested file. This is essential to ensure
398 the source is not corrupted. Note that Guix works with base32 strings,
399 hence the call to the @code{base32} function.
400@end enumerate
401
402@item build-system
403
404This is where the power of abstraction provided by the Scheme language really
405shines: in this case, the @code{gnu-build-system} abstracts away the famous
406@code{./configure && make && make install} shell invocations. Other build
407systems include the @code{trivial-build-system} which does not do anything and
408requires from the packager to program all the build steps, the
409@code{python-build-system}, the @code{emacs-build-system}, and many more
410(@pxref{Build Systems,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual}).
411
412@item synopsis
413It should be a concise summary of what the package does. For many packages a
414tagline from the project's home page can be used as the synopsis.
415
416@item description
417Same as for the synopsis, it's fine to re-use the project description from the
418homepage. Note that Guix uses Texinfo syntax.
419
420@item home-page
421Use HTTPS if available.
422
423@item license
424See @code{guix/licenses.scm} in the project source for a full list of
425available licenses.
426@end table
427
428Time to build our first package! Nothing fancy here for now: we will stick to a
0cbef07b 429dummy @code{my-hello}, a copy of the above declaration.
7bc46ecc 430
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431As with the ritualistic ``Hello World'' taught with most programming languages,
432this will possibly be the most ``manual'' approach. We will work out an ideal
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433setup later; for now we will go the simplest route.
434
435Save the following to a file @file{my-hello.scm}.
436
b1eecb5c 437@lisp
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438(use-modules (guix packages)
439 (guix download)
440 (guix build-system gnu)
441 (guix licenses))
442
443(package
444 (name "my-hello")
445 (version "2.10")
446 (source (origin
447 (method url-fetch)
448 (uri (string-append "mirror://gnu/hello/hello-" version
449 ".tar.gz"))
450 (sha256
451 (base32
452 "0ssi1wpaf7plaswqqjwigppsg5fyh99vdlb9kzl7c9lng89ndq1i"))))
453 (build-system gnu-build-system)
454 (synopsis "Hello, Guix world: An example custom Guix package")
455 (description
456 "GNU Hello prints the message \"Hello, world!\" and then exits. It
457serves as an example of standard GNU coding practices. As such, it supports
458command-line arguments, multiple languages, and so on.")
459 (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/hello/")
460 (license gpl3+))
b1eecb5c 461@end lisp
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462
463We will explain the extra code in a moment.
464
465Feel free to play with the different values of the various fields. If you
466change the source, you'll need to update the checksum. Indeed, Guix refuses to
467build anything if the given checksum does not match the computed checksum of the
468source code. To obtain the correct checksum of the package declaration, we
469need to download the source, compute the sha256 checksum and convert it to
470base32.
471
472Thankfully, Guix can automate this task for us; all we need is to provide the
473URI:
474
475@c TRANSLATORS: This is example shell output.
476@example sh
477$ guix download mirror://gnu/hello/hello-2.10.tar.gz
478
479Starting download of /tmp/guix-file.JLYgL7
480From https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/hello/hello-2.10.tar.gz...
481following redirection to `https://mirror.ibcp.fr/pub/gnu/hello/hello-2.10.tar.gz'...
482 …10.tar.gz 709KiB 2.5MiB/s 00:00 [##################] 100.0%
483/gnu/store/hbdalsf5lpf01x4dcknwx6xbn6n5km6k-hello-2.10.tar.gz
4840ssi1wpaf7plaswqqjwigppsg5fyh99vdlb9kzl7c9lng89ndq1i
485@end example
486
487In this specific case the output tells us which mirror was chosen.
488If the result of the above command is not the same as in the above snippet,
489update your @code{my-hello} declaration accordingly.
490
491Note that GNU package tarballs come with an OpenPGP signature, so you
492should definitely check the signature of this tarball with `gpg` to
493authenticate it before going further:
494
495@c TRANSLATORS: This is example shell output.
496@example sh
497$ guix download mirror://gnu/hello/hello-2.10.tar.gz.sig
498
499Starting download of /tmp/guix-file.03tFfb
500From https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/hello/hello-2.10.tar.gz.sig...
501following redirection to `https://ftp.igh.cnrs.fr/pub/gnu/hello/hello-2.10.tar.gz.sig'...
502 ….tar.gz.sig 819B 1.2MiB/s 00:00 [##################] 100.0%
503/gnu/store/rzs8wba9ka7grrmgcpfyxvs58mly0sx6-hello-2.10.tar.gz.sig
5040q0v86n3y38z17rl146gdakw9xc4mcscpk8dscs412j22glrv9jf
505$ gpg --verify /gnu/store/rzs8wba9ka7grrmgcpfyxvs58mly0sx6-hello-2.10.tar.gz.sig /gnu/store/hbdalsf5lpf01x4dcknwx6xbn6n5km6k-hello-2.10.tar.gz
506gpg: Signature made Sun 16 Nov 2014 01:08:37 PM CET
507gpg: using RSA key A9553245FDE9B739
508gpg: Good signature from "Sami Kerola <kerolasa@@iki.fi>" [unknown]
509gpg: aka "Sami Kerola (http://www.iki.fi/kerolasa/) <kerolasa@@iki.fi>" [unknown]
510gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
511gpg: There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
512Primary key fingerprint: 8ED3 96E3 7E38 D471 A005 30D3 A955 3245 FDE9 B739
513@end example
514
515You can then happily run
516
517@c TRANSLATORS: Do not translate this command
518@example sh
519$ guix package --install-from-file=my-hello.scm
520@end example
521
522You should now have @code{my-hello} in your profile!
523
524@c TRANSLATORS: Do not translate this command
525@example sh
526$ guix package --list-installed=my-hello
527my-hello 2.10 out
528/gnu/store/f1db2mfm8syb8qvc357c53slbvf1g9m9-my-hello-2.10
529@end example
530
531We've gone as far as we could without any knowledge of Scheme. Before moving
532on to more complex packages, now is the right time to brush up on your Scheme
533knowledge. @pxref{A Scheme Crash Course} to get up to speed.
534
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535@node Setup
536@subsection Setup
7bc46ecc 537
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538In the rest of this chapter we will rely on some basic Scheme
539programming knowledge. Now let's detail the different possible setups
540for working on Guix packages.
541
542There are several ways to set up a Guix packaging environment.
543
544We recommend you work directly on the Guix source checkout since it makes it
545easier for everyone to contribute to the project.
546
547But first, let's look at other possibilities.
548
549@node Local file
550@subsubsection Local file
551
552This is what we previously did with @samp{my-hello}. With the Scheme basics we've
553covered, we are now able to explain the leading chunks. As stated in @code{guix
554package --help}:
555
556@example
557 -f, --install-from-file=FILE
558 install the package that the code within FILE
559 evaluates to
560@end example
561
562Thus the last expression @emph{must} return a package, which is the case in our
563earlier example.
564
565The @code{use-modules} expression tells which of the modules we need in the file.
566Modules are a collection of values and procedures. They are commonly called
0cbef07b 567``libraries'' or ``packages'' in other programming languages.
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568
569@node @samp{GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH}
570@subsubsection @samp{GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH}
571
0cbef07b 572@emph{Note: Starting from Guix 0.16, the more flexible Guix @dfn{channels} are the
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573preferred way and supersede @samp{GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH}. See next section.}
574
575It can be tedious to specify the file from the command line instead of simply
576calling @code{guix package --install my-hello} as you would do with the official
577packages.
578
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579Guix makes it possible to streamline the process by adding as many ``package
580declaration directories'' as you want.
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581
582Create a directory, say @samp{~./guix-packages} and add it to the @samp{GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH}
583environment variable:
584
585@example
586$ mkdir ~/guix-packages
587$ export GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH=~/guix-packages
588@end example
589
590To add several directories, separate them with a colon (@code{:}).
591
592Our previous @samp{my-hello} needs some adjustments though:
593
d482e13f 594@lisp
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595(define-module (my-hello)
596 #:use-module (guix licenses)
597 #:use-module (guix packages)
598 #:use-module (guix build-system gnu)
599 #:use-module (guix download))
600
601(define-public my-hello
602 (package
603 (name "my-hello")
604 (version "2.10")
605 (source (origin
606 (method url-fetch)
607 (uri (string-append "mirror://gnu/hello/hello-" version
608 ".tar.gz"))
609 (sha256
610 (base32
611 "0ssi1wpaf7plaswqqjwigppsg5fyh99vdlb9kzl7c9lng89ndq1i"))))
612 (build-system gnu-build-system)
613 (synopsis "Hello, Guix world: An example custom Guix package")
614 (description
615 "GNU Hello prints the message \"Hello, world!\" and then exits. It
616serves as an example of standard GNU coding practices. As such, it supports
617command-line arguments, multiple languages, and so on.")
618 (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/hello/")
619 (license gpl3+)))
d482e13f 620@end lisp
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621
622Note that we have assigned the package value to an exported variable name with
623@code{define-public}. This is effectively assigning the package to the @code{my-hello}
624variable so that it can be referenced, among other as dependency of other
625packages.
626
627If you use @code{guix package --install-from-file=my-hello.scm} on the above file, it
628will fail because the last expression, @code{define-public}, does not return a
629package. If you want to use @code{define-public} in this use-case nonetheless, make
630sure the file ends with an evaluation of @code{my-hello}:
631
d482e13f 632@lisp
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633; ...
634(define-public my-hello
635 ; ...
636 )
637
638my-hello
d482e13f 639@end lisp
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640
641This last example is not very typical.
642
643Now @samp{my-hello} should be part of the package collection like all other official
644packages. You can verify this with:
645
646@example
647$ guix package --show=my-hello
648@end example
649
650@node Guix channels
651@subsubsection Guix channels
652
653Guix 0.16 features channels, which is very similar to @samp{GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH} but
654provides better integration and provenance tracking. Channels are not
655necessarily local, they can be maintained as a public Git repository for
656instance. Of course, several channels can be used at the same time.
657
658@xref{Channels,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual} for setup details.
659
660@node Direct checkout hacking
661@subsubsection Direct checkout hacking
662
663Working directly on the Guix project is recommended: it reduces the friction
664when the time comes to submit your changes upstream to let the community benefit
665from your hard work!
666
667Unlike most software distributions, the Guix repository holds in one place both
668the tooling (including the package manager) and the package definitions. This
669choice was made so that it would give developers the flexibility to modify the
670API without breakage by updating all packages at the same time. This reduces
671development inertia.
672
673Check out the official @uref{https://git-scm.com/, Git} repository:
674
675@example
676$ git clone https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix.git
677@end example
678
679In the rest of this article, we use @samp{$GUIX_CHECKOUT} to refer to the location of
680the checkout.
681
682
e97a4a29 683Follow the instructions in the manual (@pxref{Contributing,,, guix, GNU Guix
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684Reference Manual}) to set up the repository environment.
685
686Once ready, you should be able to use the package definitions from the
687repository environment.
688
689Feel free to edit package definitions found in @samp{$GUIX_CHECKOUT/gnu/packages}.
690
691The @samp{$GUIX_CHECKOUT/pre-inst-env} script lets you use @samp{guix} over the package
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692collection of the repository (@pxref{Running Guix Before It Is
693Installed,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual}).
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694
695@itemize
696@item
697Search packages, such as Ruby:
698
699@example
700 $ cd $GUIX_CHECKOUT
701 $ ./pre-inst-env guix package --list-available=ruby
702 ruby 1.8.7-p374 out gnu/packages/ruby.scm:119:2
703 ruby 2.1.6 out gnu/packages/ruby.scm:91:2
704 ruby 2.2.2 out gnu/packages/ruby.scm:39:2
705@end example
706
707@item
708Build a package, here Ruby version 2.1:
709
710@example
711 $ ./pre-inst-env guix build --keep-failed ruby@@2.1
712 /gnu/store/c13v73jxmj2nir2xjqaz5259zywsa9zi-ruby-2.1.6
713@end example
714
715@item
716Install it to your user profile:
717
718@example
719 $ ./pre-inst-env guix package --install ruby@@2.1
720@end example
721
722@item
723Check for common mistakes:
724
725@example
726 $ ./pre-inst-env guix lint ruby@@2.1
727@end example
728@end itemize
729
730Guix strives at maintaining a high packaging standard; when contributing to the
731Guix project, remember to
732
733@itemize
734@item
735follow the coding style (@pxref{Coding Style,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual}),
736@item
737and review the check list from the manual (@pxref{Submitting Patches,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual}).
738@end itemize
739
740Once you are happy with the result, you are welcome to send your contribution to
741make it part of Guix. This process is also detailed in the manual. (@pxref{Contributing,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual})
742
743
744It's a community effort so the more join in, the better Guix becomes!
745
746@node Extended example
747@subsection Extended example
748
0cbef07b 749The above ``Hello World'' example is as simple as it goes. Packages can be more
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750complex than that and Guix can handle more advanced scenarios. Let's look at
751another, more sophisticated package (slightly modified from the source):
752
d482e13f 753@lisp
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754(define-module (gnu packages version-control)
755 #:use-module ((guix licenses) #:prefix license:)
756 #:use-module (guix utils)
757 #:use-module (guix packages)
758 #:use-module (guix git-download)
759 #:use-module (guix build-system cmake)
760 #:use-module (gnu packages ssh)
761 #:use-module (gnu packages web)
762 #:use-module (gnu packages pkg-config)
763 #:use-module (gnu packages python)
764 #:use-module (gnu packages compression)
765 #:use-module (gnu packages tls))
766
767(define-public my-libgit2
768 (let ((commit "e98d0a37c93574d2c6107bf7f31140b548c6a7bf")
769 (revision "1"))
770 (package
771 (name "my-libgit2")
772 (version (git-version "0.26.6" revision commit))
773 (source (origin
774 (method git-fetch)
775 (uri (git-reference
776 (url "https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/")
777 (commit commit)))
778 (file-name (git-file-name name version))
779 (sha256
780 (base32
781 "17pjvprmdrx4h6bb1hhc98w9qi6ki7yl57f090n9kbhswxqfs7s3"))
782 (patches (search-patches "libgit2-mtime-0.patch"))
783 (modules '((guix build utils)))
784 (snippet '(begin
785 ;; Remove bundled software.
786 (delete-file-recursively "deps")
787 #t))))
788 (build-system cmake-build-system)
789 (outputs '("out" "debug"))
790 (arguments
791 `(#:tests? #t ; Run the test suite (this is the default)
792 #:configure-flags '("-DUSE_SHA1DC=ON") ; SHA-1 collision detection
793 #:phases
794 (modify-phases %standard-phases
795 (add-after 'unpack 'fix-hardcoded-paths
796 (lambda _
797 (substitute* "tests/repo/init.c"
798 (("#!/bin/sh") (string-append "#!" (which "sh"))))
799 (substitute* "tests/clar/fs.h"
800 (("/bin/cp") (which "cp"))
801 (("/bin/rm") (which "rm")))
802 #t))
803 ;; Run checks more verbosely.
804 (replace 'check
805 (lambda _ (invoke "./libgit2_clar" "-v" "-Q")))
806 (add-after 'unpack 'make-files-writable-for-tests
807 (lambda _ (for-each make-file-writable (find-files "." ".*")))))))
808 (inputs
809 `(("libssh2" ,libssh2)
810 ("http-parser" ,http-parser)
811 ("python" ,python-wrapper)))
812 (native-inputs
813 `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))
814 (propagated-inputs
815 ;; These two libraries are in 'Requires.private' in libgit2.pc.
816 `(("openssl" ,openssl)
817 ("zlib" ,zlib)))
818 (home-page "https://libgit2.github.com/")
819 (synopsis "Library providing Git core methods")
820 (description
821 "Libgit2 is a portable, pure C implementation of the Git core methods
822provided as a re-entrant linkable library with a solid API, allowing you to
823write native speed custom Git applications in any language with bindings.")
824 ;; GPLv2 with linking exception
825 (license license:gpl2))))
d482e13f 826@end lisp
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827
828(In those cases were you only want to tweak a few fields from a package
829definition, you should rely on inheritance instead of copy-pasting everything.
830See below.)
831
832Let's discuss those fields in depth.
833
834@subsubsection @code{git-fetch} method
835
836Unlike the @code{url-fetch} method, @code{git-fetch} expects a @code{git-reference} which takes
837a Git repository and a commit. The commit can be any Git reference such as
838tags, so if the @code{version} is tagged, then it can be used directly. Sometimes
839the tag is prefixed with a @code{v}, in which case you'd use @code{(commit (string-append
840"v" version))}.
841
842To ensure that the source code from the Git repository is stored in a unique
843directory with a readable name we use @code{(file-name (git-file-name name
844version))}.
845
846Note that there is also a @code{git-version} procedure that can be used to derive the
847version when packaging programs for a specific commit.
848
849@subsubsection Snippets
850
851Snippets are quoted (i.e. non-evaluated) Scheme code that are a means of patching
852the source. They are a Guix-y alternative to the traditional @samp{.patch} files.
853Because of the quote, the code in only evaluated when passed to the Guix daemon
0cbef07b 854for building. There can be as many snippets as needed.
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855
856Snippets might need additional Guile modules which can be imported from the
857@code{modules} field.
858
859@subsubsection Inputs
860
861First, a syntactic comment: See the quasi-quote / comma syntax?
862
d482e13f 863@lisp
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864 (native-inputs
865 `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))
d482e13f 866@end lisp
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867
868is equivalent to
869
d482e13f 870@lisp
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871 (native-inputs
872 (list (list "pkg-config" pkg-config)))
d482e13f 873@end lisp
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874
875You'll mostly see the former because it's shorter.
876
877There are 3 different input types. In short:
878
879@table @asis
880@item native-inputs
881Required for building but not runtime -- installing a package
882through a substitute won't install these inputs.
883@item inputs
884Installed in the store but not in the profile, as well as being
885present at build time.
886@item propagated-inputs
887Installed in the store and in the profile, as well as
888being present at build time.
889@end table
890
891@xref{Package Reference,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual} for more details.
892
893The distinction between the various inputs is important: if a dependency can be
894handled as an @emph{input} instead of a @emph{propagated input}, it should be done so, or
0cbef07b 895else it ``pollutes'' the user profile for no good reason.
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896
897For instance, a user installing a graphical program that depends on a
898command line tool might only be interested in the graphical part, so there is no
899need to force the command line tool into the user profile. The dependency is a
900concern to the package, not to the user. @emph{Inputs} make it possible to handle
901dependencies without bugging the user by adding undesired executable files (or
902libraries) to their profile.
903
904Same goes for @emph{native-inputs}: once the program is installed, build-time
905dependencies can be safely garbage-collected.
906It also matters when a substitute is available, in which case only the @emph{inputs}
907and @emph{propagated inputs} will be fetched: the @emph{native inputs} are not required to
908install a package from a substitute.
909
910@subsubsection Outputs
911
912Just like how a package can have multiple inputs, it can also produce multiple
913outputs.
914
915Each output corresponds to a separate directory in the store.
916
917The user can choose which output to install; this is useful to save space or
918to avoid polluting the user profile with unwanted executables or libraries.
919
920Output separation is optional. When the @code{outputs} field is left out, the
921default and only output (the complete package) is referred to as @code{"out"}.
922
923Typical separate output names include @code{debug} and @code{doc}.
924
925It's advised to separate outputs only when you've shown it's worth it: if the
926output size is significant (compare with @code{guix size}) or in case the package is
927modular.
928
929@subsubsection Build system arguments
930
931The @code{arguments} is a keyword-value list used to configure the build process.
932
933The simplest argument @code{#:tests?} can be used to disable the test suite when
934building the package. This is mostly useful when the package does not feature
935any test suite. It's strongly recommended to keep the test suite on if there is
936one.
937
938Another common argument is @code{:make-flags}, which specifies a list of flags to
939append when running make, as you would from the command line. For instance, the
940following flags
941
d482e13f 942@lisp
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943#:make-flags (list (string-append "prefix=" (assoc-ref %outputs "out"))
944 "CC=gcc")
d482e13f 945@end lisp
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946
947translate into
948
949@example
950$ make CC=gcc prefix=/gnu/store/...-<out>
951@end example
952
953This sets the C compiler to @code{gcc} and the @code{prefix} variable (the installation
954directory in Make parlance) to @code{(assoc-ref %outputs "out")}, which is a build-stage
955global variable pointing to the destination directory in the store (something like
956@samp{/gnu/store/...-my-libgit2-20180408}).
957
0cbef07b 958Similarly, it's possible to set the configure flags:
ffe059af 959
d482e13f 960@lisp
ffe059af 961#:configure-flags '("-DUSE_SHA1DC=ON")
d482e13f 962@end lisp
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963
964The @code{%build-inputs} variable is also generated in scope. It's an association
965table that maps the input names to their store directories.
966
967The @code{phases} keyword lists the sequential steps of the build system. Typically
968phases include @code{unpack}, @code{configure}, @code{build}, @code{install} and @code{check}. To know
969more about those phases, you need to work out the appropriate build system
970definition in @samp{$GUIX_CHECKOUT/guix/build/gnu-build-system.scm}:
971
d482e13f 972@lisp
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973(define %standard-phases
974 ;; Standard build phases, as a list of symbol/procedure pairs.
975 (let-syntax ((phases (syntax-rules ()
976 ((_ p ...) `((p . ,p) ...)))))
977 (phases set-SOURCE-DATE-EPOCH set-paths install-locale unpack
978 bootstrap
979 patch-usr-bin-file
980 patch-source-shebangs configure patch-generated-file-shebangs
981 build check install
982 patch-shebangs strip
983 validate-runpath
984 validate-documentation-location
985 delete-info-dir-file
986 patch-dot-desktop-files
987 install-license-files
988 reset-gzip-timestamps
989 compress-documentation)))
d482e13f 990@end lisp
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991
992Or from the REPL:
993
d482e13f 994@lisp
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995(add-to-load-path "/path/to/guix/checkout")
996,use (guix build gnu-build-system)
997(map first %standard-phases)
998@result{} (set-SOURCE-DATE-EPOCH set-paths install-locale unpack bootstrap patch-usr-bin-file patch-source-shebangs configure patch-generated-file-shebangs build check install patch-shebangs strip validate-runpath validate-documentation-location delete-info-dir-file patch-dot-desktop-files install-license-files reset-gzip-timestamps compress-documentation)
d482e13f 999@end lisp
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1000
1001If you want to know more about what happens during those phases, consult the
1002associated procedures.
1003
1004For instance, as of this writing the definition of @code{unpack} for the GNU build
1005system is
1006
d482e13f 1007@lisp
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1008(define* (unpack #:key source #:allow-other-keys)
1009 "Unpack SOURCE in the working directory, and change directory within the
1010source. When SOURCE is a directory, copy it in a sub-directory of the current
1011working directory."
1012 (if (file-is-directory? source)
1013 (begin
1014 (mkdir "source")
1015 (chdir "source")
1016
1017 ;; Preserve timestamps (set to the Epoch) on the copied tree so that
1018 ;; things work deterministically.
1019 (copy-recursively source "."
1020 #:keep-mtime? #t))
1021 (begin
1022 (if (string-suffix? ".zip" source)
1023 (invoke "unzip" source)
1024 (invoke "tar" "xvf" source))
1025 (chdir (first-subdirectory "."))))
1026 #t)
d482e13f 1027@end lisp
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1028
1029Note the @code{chdir} call: it changes the working directory to where the source was
1030unpacked.
1031Thus every phase following the @code{unpack} will use the source as a working
1032directory, which is why we can directly work on the source files.
1033That is to say, unless a later phase changes the working directory to something
1034else.
1035
1036We modify the list of @code{%standard-phases} of the build system with the
1037@code{modify-phases} macro as per the list of specified modifications, which may have
1038the following forms:
1039
1040@itemize
1041@item
1042@code{(add-before PHASE NEW-PHASE PROCEDURE)}: Run @code{PROCEDURE} named @code{NEW-PHASE} before @code{PHASE}.
1043@item
1044@code{(add-after PHASE NEW-PHASE PROCEDURE)}: Same, but afterwards.
1045@item
1046@code{(replace PHASE PROCEDURE)}.
1047@item
1048@code{(delete PHASE)}.
1049@end itemize
1050
1051The @code{PROCEDURE} supports the keyword arguments @code{inputs} and @code{outputs}. Each
1052input (whether @emph{native}, @emph{propagated} or not) and output directory is referenced
1053by their name in those variables. Thus @code{(assoc-ref outputs "out")} is the store
1054directory of the main output of the package. A phase procedure may look like
1055this:
1056
d482e13f 1057@lisp
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1058(lambda* (#:key inputs outputs #:allow-other-keys)
1059 (let (((bash-directory (assoc-ref inputs "bash"))
1060 (output-directory (assoc-ref outputs "out"))
1061 (doc-directory (assoc-ref outputs "doc"))
1062 ; ...
1063 #t)
d482e13f 1064@end lisp
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1065
1066The procedure must return @code{#t} on success. It's brittle to rely on the return
1067value of the last expression used to tweak the phase because there is no
1068guarantee it would be a @code{#t}. Hence the trailing @code{#t} to ensure the right value
1069is returned on success.
1070
1071@subsubsection Code staging
1072
1073The astute reader may have noticed the quasi-quote and comma syntax in the
1074argument field. Indeed, the build code in the package declaration should not be
1075evaluated on the client side, but only when passed to the Guix daemon. This
1076mechanism of passing code around two running processes is called @uref{https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.00833, code staging}.
1077
0cbef07b 1078@subsubsection Utility functions
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1079
1080When customizing @code{phases}, we often need to write code that mimics the
1081equivalent system invocations (@code{make}, @code{mkdir}, @code{cp}, etc.) commonly used during
0cbef07b 1082regular ``Unix-style'' installations.
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1083
1084Some like @code{chmod} are native to Guile.
1085@xref{,,, guile, Guile reference manual} for a complete list.
1086
1087Guix provides additional helper functions which prove especially handy in the
1088context of package management.
1089
1090Some of those functions can be found in
1091@samp{$GUIX_CHECKOUT/guix/guix/build/utils.scm}. Most of them mirror the behaviour
1092of the traditional Unix system commands:
1093
1094@table @asis
1095@item which
1096Like the @samp{which} system command.
1097@item find-files
1098Akin to the @samp{find} system command.
1099@item mkdir-p
1100Like @samp{mkdir -p}, which creates all parents as needed.
1101@item install-file
1102Similar to @samp{install} when installing a file to a (possibly
1103non-existing) directory. Guile has @code{copy-file} which works
1104like @samp{cp}.
1105@item copy-recursively
1106Like @samp{cp -r}.
1107@item delete-file-recursively
1108Like @samp{rm -rf}.
1109@item invoke
1110Run an executable. This should be used instead of @code{system*}.
1111@item with-directory-excursion
1112Run the body in a different working directory,
1113then restore the previous working directory.
1114@item substitute*
0cbef07b 1115A ``@command{sed}-like'' function.
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1116@end table
1117
1118@subsubsection Module prefix
1119
1120The license in our last example needs a prefix: this is because of how the
1121@code{license} module was imported in the package, as @code{#:use-module ((guix licenses)
1122#:prefix license:)}. The Guile module import mechanism
1123(@pxref{Using Guile Modules,,, guile, Guile reference manual})
1124gives the user full control over namespacing: this is needed to avoid
1125clashes between, say, the
1126@samp{zlib} variable from @samp{licenses.scm} (a @emph{license} value) and the @samp{zlib} variable
1127from @samp{compression.scm} (a @emph{package} value).
1128
1129@node Other build systems
1130@subsection Other build systems
1131
1132What we've seen so far covers the majority of packages using a build system
1133other than the @code{trivial-build-system}. The latter does not automate anything
1134and leaves you to build everything manually. This can be more demanding and we
1135won't cover it here for now, but thankfully it is rarely necessary to fall back
1136on this system.
1137
1138For the other build systems, such as ASDF, Emacs, Perl, Ruby and many more, the
1139process is very similar to the GNU build system except for a few specialized
1140arguments.
1141
1142Learn more about build systems in
1143@itemize
1144@item
1145@uref{https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Build-Systems.html#Build-Systems, the manual, section 4.2 Build systems},
1146@item
1147the source code in the @samp{$GUIX_CHECKOUT/guix/build} and
1148@samp{$GUIX_CHECKOUT/guix/build-system} directories.
1149@end itemize
1150
1151@node Programmable and automated package definition
1152@subsection Programmable and automated package definition
1153
1154We can't repeat it enough: having a full-fledged programming language at hand
1155empowers us in ways that reach far beyond traditional package management.
1156
1157Let's illustrate this with some awesome features of Guix!
1158
1159@node Recursive importers
1160@subsubsection Recursive importers
1161
1162You might find some build systems good enough that there is little to do at all
1163to write a package, to the point that it becomes repetitive and tedious after a
1164while. A @emph{raison d'être} of computers is to replace human beings at those
1165boring tasks. So let's tell Guix to do this for us and create the package
1166definition of an R package from CRAN (the output is trimmed for conciseness):
1167
1168@example
1169$ guix import cran --recursive walrus
1170
1171(define-public r-mc2d
1172 ; ...
1173 (license gpl2+)))
1174
1175(define-public r-jmvcore
1176 ; ...
1177 (license gpl2+)))
1178
1179(define-public r-wrs2
1180 ; ...
1181 (license gpl3)))
1182
1183(define-public r-walrus
1184 (package
1185 (name "r-walrus")
1186 (version "1.0.3")
1187 (source
1188 (origin
1189 (method url-fetch)
1190 (uri (cran-uri "walrus" version))
1191 (sha256
1192 (base32
1193 "1nk2glcvy4hyksl5ipq2mz8jy4fss90hx6cq98m3w96kzjni6jjj"))))
1194 (build-system r-build-system)
1195 (propagated-inputs
1196 `(("r-ggplot2" ,r-ggplot2)
1197 ("r-jmvcore" ,r-jmvcore)
1198 ("r-r6" ,r-r6)
1199 ("r-wrs2" ,r-wrs2)))
1200 (home-page "https://github.com/jamovi/walrus")
1201 (synopsis "Robust Statistical Methods")
1202 (description
1203 "This package provides a toolbox of common robust statistical
1204tests, including robust descriptives, robust t-tests, and robust ANOVA.
1205It is also available as a module for 'jamovi' (see
1206<https://www.jamovi.org> for more information). Walrus is based on the
1207WRS2 package by Patrick Mair, which is in turn based on the scripts and
1208work of Rand Wilcox. These analyses are described in depth in the book
1209'Introduction to Robust Estimation & Hypothesis Testing'.")
1210 (license gpl3)))
1211@end example
1212
1213The recursive importer won't import packages for which Guix already has package
1214definitions, except for the very first.
1215
1216Not all applications can be packaged this way, only those relying on a select
1217number of supported systems. Read about the full list of importers in
1218the guix import section of the manual
1219(@pxref{Invoking guix import,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual}).
1220
1221@node Automatic update
1222@subsubsection Automatic update
1223
1224Guix can be smart enough to check for updates on systems it knows. It can
1225report outdated package definitions with
1226
1227@example
1228$ guix refresh hello
1229@end example
1230
1231In most cases, updating a package to a newer version requires little more than
1232changing the version number and the checksum. Guix can do that automatically as
1233well:
1234
1235@example
1236$ guix refresh hello --update
1237@end example
1238
1239@node Inheritance
1240@subsubsection Inheritance
1241
1242If you've started browsing the existing package definitions, you might have
1243noticed that a significant number of them have a @code{inherit} field:
1244
d482e13f 1245@lisp
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1246(define-public adwaita-icon-theme
1247 (package (inherit gnome-icon-theme)
1248 (name "adwaita-icon-theme")
1249 (version "3.26.1")
1250 (source (origin
1251 (method url-fetch)
1252 (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/" name "/"
1253 (version-major+minor version) "/"
1254 name "-" version ".tar.xz"))
1255 (sha256
1256 (base32
1257 "17fpahgh5dyckgz7rwqvzgnhx53cx9kr2xw0szprc6bnqy977fi8"))))
1258 (native-inputs
1259 `(("gtk-encode-symbolic-svg" ,gtk+ "bin")))))
d482e13f 1260@end lisp
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1261
1262All unspecified fields are inherited from the parent package. This is very
1263convenient to create alternative packages, for instance with different source,
1264version or compilation options.
1265
1266@node Getting help
1267@subsection Getting help
1268
1269Sadly, some applications can be tough to package. Sometimes they need a patch to
1270work with the non-standard filesystem hierarchy enforced by the store.
1271Sometimes the tests won't run properly. (They can be skipped but this is not
1272recommended.) Other times the resulting package won't be reproducible.
1273
1274Should you be stuck, unable to figure out how to fix any sort of packaging
1275issue, don't hesitate to ask the community for help.
1276
1277See the @uref{https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/contact/, Guix homepage} for information on the mailing lists, IRC, etc.
1278
1279@node Conclusion
1280@subsection Conclusion
1281
1282This tutorial was a showcase of the sophisticated package management that Guix
1283boasts. At this point we have mostly restricted this introduction to the
1284@code{gnu-build-system} which is a core abstraction layer on which more advanced
1285abstractions are based.
1286
1287Where do we go from here? Next we ought to dissect the innards of the build
1288system by removing all abstractions, using the @code{trivial-build-system}: this
1289should give us a thorough understanding of the process before investigating some
1290more advanced packaging techniques and edge cases.
1291
1292Other features worth exploring are the interactive editing and debugging
1293capabilities of Guix provided by the Guile REPL@.
1294
1295Those fancy features are completely optional and can wait; now is a good time
1296to take a well-deserved break. With what we've introduced here you should be
1297well armed to package lots of programs. You can get started right away and
1298hopefully we will see your contributions soon!
1299
1300@node References
1301@subsection References
1302
1303@itemize
1304@item
1305The @uref{https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Defining-Packages.html, package reference in the manual}
1306
1307@item
1308@uref{https://gitlab.com/pjotrp/guix-notes/blob/master/HACKING.org, Pjotr’s hacking guide to GNU Guix}
1309
1310@item
0cbef07b 1311@uref{https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/guix-ghm-andreas-20130823.pdf, ``GNU Guix: Package without a scheme!''}, by Andreas Enge
ffe059af 1312@end itemize
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1313
1314@c *********************************************************************
1315@node System Configuration
1316@chapter System Configuration
1317
1318Guix offers a flexible language for declaratively configuring your Guix
1319System. This flexibility can at times be overwhelming. The purpose of this
1320chapter is to demonstrate some advanced configuration concepts.
1321
1322@pxref{System Configuration,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual} for a complete
1323reference.
1324
1325@menu
1326* Customizing the Kernel:: Creating and using a custom Linux kernel on Guix System.
1327@end menu
1328
1329@node Customizing the Kernel
1330@section Customizing the Kernel
1331
1332Guix is, at its core, a source based distribution with substitutes
1333(@pxref{Substitutes,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual}), and as such building
1334packages from their source code is an expected part of regular package
1335installations and upgrades. Given this starting point, it makes sense that
1336efforts are made to reduce the amount of time spent compiling packages, and
1337recent changes and upgrades to the building and distribution of substitutes
1338continues to be a topic of discussion within Guix.
1339
1340The kernel, while not requiring an overabundance of RAM to build, does take a
1341rather long time on an average machine. The official kernel configuration, as
1342is the case with many GNU/Linux distributions, errs on the side of
1343inclusiveness, and this is really what causes the build to take such a long
1344time when the kernel is built from source.
1345
1346The Linux kernel, however, can also just be described as a regular old
1347package, and as such can be customized just like any other package. The
1348procedure is a little bit different, although this is primarily due to the
1349nature of how the package definition is written.
1350
1351The @code{linux-libre} kernel package definition is actually a procedure which
1352creates a package.
1353
b1eecb5c 1354@lisp
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1355(define* (make-linux-libre version hash supported-systems
1356 #:key
1357 ;; A function that takes an arch and a variant.
1358 ;; See kernel-config for an example.
1359 (extra-version #f)
1360 (configuration-file #f)
1361 (defconfig "defconfig")
1362 (extra-options %default-extra-linux-options)
1363 (patches (list %boot-logo-patch)))
1364 ...)
b1eecb5c 1365@end lisp
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1366
1367The current @code{linux-libre} package is for the 5.1.x series, and is
1368declared like this:
1369
b1eecb5c 1370@lisp
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1371(define-public linux-libre
1372 (make-linux-libre %linux-libre-version
1373 %linux-libre-hash
1374 '("x86_64-linux" "i686-linux" "armhf-linux" "aarch64-linux")
1375 #:patches %linux-libre-5.1-patches
1376 #:configuration-file kernel-config))
b1eecb5c 1377@end lisp
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1378
1379Any keys which are not assigned values inherit their default value from the
1380@code{make-linux-libre} definition. When comparing the two snippets above,
1381you may notice that the code comment in the first doesn't actually refer to
1382the @code{#:extra-version} keyword; it is actually for
1383@code{#:configuration-file}. Because of this, it is not actually easy to
1384include a custom kernel configuration from the definition, but don't worry,
1385there are other ways to work with what we do have.
1386
1387There are two ways to create a kernel with a custom kernel configuration. The
1388first is to provide a standard @file{.config} file during the build process by
1389including an actual @file{.config} file as a native input to our custom
1390kernel. The following is a snippet from the custom @code{'configure} phase of
1391the @code{make-linux-libre} package definition:
1392
b1eecb5c 1393@lisp
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1394(let ((build (assoc-ref %standard-phases 'build))
1395 (config (assoc-ref (or native-inputs inputs) "kconfig")))
1396
1397 ;; Use a custom kernel configuration file or a default
1398 ;; configuration file.
1399 (if config
1400 (begin
1401 (copy-file config ".config")
1402 (chmod ".config" #o666))
1403 (invoke "make" ,defconfig))
b1eecb5c 1404@end lisp
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1405
1406Below is a sample kernel package. The @code{linux-libre} package is nothing
1407special and can be inherited from and have its fields overridden like any
1408other package:
1409
b1eecb5c 1410@lisp
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1411(define-public linux-libre/E2140
1412 (package
1413 (inherit linux-libre)
1414 (native-inputs
1415 `(("kconfig" ,(local-file "E2140.config"))
1416 ,@@(alist-delete "kconfig"
1417 (package-native-inputs linux-libre))))))
b1eecb5c 1418@end lisp
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1419
1420In the same directory as the file defining @code{linux-libre-E2140} is a file
1421named @file{E2140.config}, which is an actual kernel configuration file. The
1422@code{defconfig} keyword of @code{make-linux-libre} is left blank here, so the
1423only kernel configuration in the package is the one which was included in the
1424@code{native-inputs} field.
1425
1426The second way to create a custom kernel is to pass a new value to the
1427@code{extra-options} keyword of the @code{make-linux-libre} procedure. The
1428@code{extra-options} keyword works with another function defined right below
1429it:
1430
b1eecb5c 1431@lisp
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1432(define %default-extra-linux-options
1433 `(;; https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/2014-04/msg00039.html
1434 ("CONFIG_DEVPTS_MULTIPLE_INSTANCES" . #t)
1435 ;; Modules required for initrd:
1436 ("CONFIG_NET_9P" . m)
1437 ("CONFIG_NET_9P_VIRTIO" . m)
1438 ("CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK" . m)
1439 ("CONFIG_VIRTIO_NET" . m)
1440 ("CONFIG_VIRTIO_PCI" . m)
1441 ("CONFIG_VIRTIO_BALLOON" . m)
1442 ("CONFIG_VIRTIO_MMIO" . m)
1443 ("CONFIG_FUSE_FS" . m)
1444 ("CONFIG_CIFS" . m)
1445 ("CONFIG_9P_FS" . m)))
1446
1447(define (config->string options)
1448 (string-join (map (match-lambda
1449 ((option . 'm)
1450 (string-append option "=m"))
1451 ((option . #t)
1452 (string-append option "=y"))
1453 ((option . #f)
1454 (string-append option "=n")))
1455 options)
1456 "\n"))
b1eecb5c 1457@end lisp
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1458
1459And in the custom configure script from the `make-linux-libre` package:
1460
b1eecb5c 1461@lisp
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1462;; Appending works even when the option wasn't in the
1463;; file. The last one prevails if duplicated.
1464(let ((port (open-file ".config" "a"))
1465 (extra-configuration ,(config->string extra-options)))
1466 (display extra-configuration port)
1467 (close-port port))
1468
1469(invoke "make" "oldconfig"))))
b1eecb5c 1470@end lisp
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1471
1472So by not providing a configuration-file the @file{.config} starts blank, and
1473then we write into it the collection of flags that we want. Here's another
1474custom kernel:
1475
b1eecb5c 1476@lisp
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1477(define %macbook41-full-config
1478 (append %macbook41-config-options
1479 %filesystems
1480 %efi-support
1481 %emulation
1482 (@@@@ (gnu packages linux) %default-extra-linux-options)))
1483
1484(define-public linux-libre-macbook41
1485 ;; XXX: Access the internal 'make-linux-libre' procedure, which is
1486 ;; private and unexported, and is liable to change in the future.
1487 ((@@@@ (gnu packages linux) make-linux-libre) (@@@@ (gnu packages linux) %linux-libre-version)
1488 (@@@@ (gnu packages linux) %linux-libre-hash)
1489 '("x86_64-linux")
1490 #:extra-version "macbook41"
1491 #:patches (@@@@ (gnu packages linux) %linux-libre-5.1-patches)
1492 #:extra-options %macbook41-config-options))
b1eecb5c 1493@end lisp
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1494
1495In the above example @code{%filesystems} is a collection of flags enabling
1496different filesystem support, @code{%efi-support} enables EFI support and
1497@code{%emulation} enables a x86_64-linux machine to act in 32-bit mode also.
1498@code{%default-extra-linux-options} are the ones quoted above, which had to be
1499added in since they were replaced in the @code{extra-options} keyword.
1500
1501This all sounds like it should be doable, but how does one even know which
1502modules are required for a particular system? Two places that can be helpful
1503in trying to answer this question is the
1504@uref{https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Kernel, Gentoo
1505Handbook} and the
1506@uref{https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/admin-guide/README.html?highlight=localmodconfig,
1507documentation from the kernel itself}. From the kernel documentation, it
1508seems that @code{make localmodconfig} is the command we want.
1509
1510In order to actually run @code{make localmodconfig} we first need to get and
1511unpack the kernel source code:
1512
1513@example shell
1514tar xf $(guix build linux-libre --source)
1515@end example
1516
1517Once inside the directory containing the source code run @code{touch .config}
1518to create an initial, empty @file{.config} to start with. @code{make
1519localmodconfig} works by seeing what you already have in @file{.config} and
1520letting you know what you're missing. If the file is blank then you're
1521missing everything. The next step is to run:
1522
1523@example shell
1524guix environment linux-libre -- make localmodconfig
1525@end example
1526
1527and note the output. Do note that the @file{.config} file is still empty.
1528The output generally contains two types of warnings. The first start with
1529"WARNING" and can actually be ignored in our case. The second read:
1530
1531@example shell
1532module pcspkr did not have configs CONFIG_INPUT_PCSPKR
1533@end example
1534
1535For each of these lines, copy the @code{CONFIG_XXXX_XXXX} portion into the
1536@file{.config} in the directory, and append @code{=m}, so in the end it looks
1537like this:
1538
1539@example shell
1540CONFIG_INPUT_PCSPKR=m
1541CONFIG_VIRTIO=m
1542@end example
1543
1544After copying all the configuration options, run @code{make localmodconfig}
0cbef07b 1545again to make sure that you don't have any output starting with ``module''.
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1546After all of these machine specific modules there are a couple more left that
1547are also needed. @code{CONFIG_MODULES} is necessary so that you can build and
1548load modules separately and not have everything built into the kernel.
1549@code{CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SD} is required for reading from hard drives. It is
1550possible that there are other modules which you will need.
1551
1552This post does not aim to be a guide to configuring your own kernel however,
1553so if you do decide to build a custom kernel you'll have to seek out other
1554guides to create a kernel which is just right for your needs.
1555
1556The second way to setup the kernel configuration makes more use of Guix's
1557features and allows you to share configuration segments between different
1558kernels. For example, all machines using EFI to boot have a number of EFI
1559configuration flags that they need. It is likely that all the kernels will
1560share a list of filesystems to support. By using variables it is easier to
1561see at a glance what features are enabled and to make sure you don't have
1562features in one kernel but missing in another.
1563
1564Left undiscussed however, is Guix's initrd and its customization. It is
1565likely that you'll need to modify the initrd on a machine using a custom
1566kernel, since certain modules which are expected to be built may not be
1567available for inclusion into the initrd.
1568
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1569@c *********************************************************************
1570@node Advanced package management
1571@chapter Advanced package management
1572
1573Guix is a functional package manager that offers many features beyond
1574what more traditional package managers can do. To the uninitiated,
1575those features might not have obvious use cases at first. The purpose
1576of this chapter is to demonstrate some advanced package management
1577concepts.
1578
1579@pxref{Package Management,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual} for a complete
1580reference.
1581
1582@menu
1583* Guix Profiles in Practice:: Strategies for multiple profiles and manifests.
1584@end menu
1585
1586@node Guix Profiles in Practice
1587@section Guix Profiles in Practice
1588
1589Guix provides a very useful feature that may be quite foreign to newcomers:
1590@emph{profiles}. They are a way to group package installations together and all users
f6c27c55 1591on the same system are free to use as many profiles as they want.
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1592
1593Whether you're a developer or not, you may find that multiple profiles bring you
1594great power and flexibility. While they shift the paradigm somewhat compared to
1595@emph{traditional package managers}, they are very convenient to use once you've
1596understood how to set them up.
1597
1598If you are familiar with Python's @samp{virtualenv}, you can think of a profile as a
1599kind of universal @samp{virtualenv} that can hold any kind of software whatsoever, not
1600just Python software. Furthermore, profiles are self-sufficient: they capture
1601all the runtime dependencies which guarantees that all programs within a profile
1602will always work at any point in time.
1603
1604Multiple profiles have many benefits:
1605
1606@itemize
1607@item
1608Clean semantic separation of the various packages a user needs for different contexts.
1609
1610@item
1611Multiple profiles can be made available into the environment either on login
1612or within a dedicated shell.
1613
1614@item
1615Profiles can be loaded on demand. For instance, the user can use multiple
1616shells, each of them running different profiles.
1617
1618@item
1619Isolation: Programs from one profile will not use programs from the other, and
f6c27c55 1620the user can even install different versions of the same programs to the two
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1621profiles without conflict.
1622
1623@item
1624Deduplication: Profiles share dependencies that happens to be the exact same.
1625This makes multiple profiles storage-efficient.
1626
1627@item
1628Reproducible: when used with declarative manifests, a profile can be fully
1629specified by the Guix commit that was active when it was set up. This means
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1630that the exact same profile can be
1631@uref{https://guix.gnu.org/blog/2018/multi-dimensional-transactions-and-rollbacks-oh-my/,
1632set up anywhere and anytime}, with just the commit information. See the
1633section on @ref{Reproducible profiles}.
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1634
1635@item
1636Easier upgrades and maintenance: Multiple profiles make it easy to keep
1637package listings at hand and make upgrades completely friction-less.
1638@end itemize
1639
1640Concretely, here follows some typical profiles:
1641
1642@itemize
1643@item
1644The dependencies of a project you are working on.
1645
1646@item
1647Your favourite programming language libraries.
1648
1649@item
1650Laptop-specific programs (like @samp{powertop}) that you don't need on a desktop.
1651
1652@item
1653@TeX{}live (this one can be really useful when you need to install just one
1654package for this one document you've just received over email).
1655
1656@item
1657Games.
1658@end itemize
1659
1660Let's dive in the set up!
1661
1662@node Basic setup with manifests
1663@subsection Basic setup with manifests
1664
1665A Guix profile can be set up @emph{via} a so-called @emph{manifest specification} that looks like
1666this:
1667
b1eecb5c 1668@lisp
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1669(specifications->manifest
1670 '("package-1"
1671 ;; Version 1.3 of package-2.
1672 "package-2@@1.3"
1673 ;; The "lib" output of package-3.
1674 "package-3:lib"
1675 ; ...
1676 "package-N"))
b1eecb5c 1677@end lisp
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b1eecb5c 1679@pxref{Invoking guix package,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual}, for
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1680the syntax details.
1681
1682We can create a manifest specification per profile and install them this way:
1683
1684@example
1685GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES=$HOME/.guix-extra-profiles
1686mkdir -p "$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES"/my-project # if it does not exist yet
1687guix package --manifest=/path/to/guix-my-project-manifest.scm --profile="$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES"/my-project/my-project
1688@end example
1689
1690Here we set an arbitrary variable @samp{GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES} to point to the directory
1691where we will store our profiles in the rest of this article.
1692
1693Placing all your profiles in a single directory, with each profile getting its
1694own sub-directory, is somewhat cleaner. This way, each sub-directory will
1695contain all the symlinks for precisely one profile. Besides, "looping over
1696profiles" becomes obvious from any programming language (e.g. a shell script) by
1697simply looping over the sub-directories of @samp{$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES}.
1698
1699Note that it's also possible to loop over the output of
1700
1701@example
1702guix package --list-profiles
1703@end example
1704
1705although you'll probably have to filter out @samp{~/.config/guix/current}.
1706
1707To enable all profiles on login, add this to your @samp{~/.bash_profile} (or similar):
1708
1709@example
1710for i in $GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES/*; do
1711 profile=$i/$(basename "$i")
1712 if [ -f "$profile"/etc/profile ]; then
1713 GUIX_PROFILE="$profile"
1714 . "$GUIX_PROFILE"/etc/profile
1715 fi
1716 unset profile
1717done
1718@end example
1719
1720Note to Guix System users: the above reflects how your default profile
1721@samp{~/.guix-profile} is activated from @samp{/etc/profile}, that latter being loaded by
1722@samp{~/.bashrc} by default.
1723
1724You can obviously choose to only enable a subset of them:
1725
1726@example
1727for i in "$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES"/my-project-1 "$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES"/my-project-2; do
1728 profile=$i/$(basename "$i")
1729 if [ -f "$profile"/etc/profile ]; then
1730 GUIX_PROFILE="$profile"
1731 . "$GUIX_PROFILE"/etc/profile
1732 fi
1733 unset profile
1734done
1735@end example
1736
1737When a profile is off, it's straightforward to enable it for an individual shell
1738without "polluting" the rest of the user session:
1739
1740@example
1741GUIX_PROFILE="path/to/my-project" ; . "$GUIX_PROFILE"/etc/profile
1742@end example
1743
1744The key to enabling a profile is to @emph{source} its @samp{etc/profile} file. This file
1745contains shell code that exports the right environment variables necessary to
1746activate the software contained in the profile. It is built automatically by
1747Guix and meant to be sourced.
1748It contains the same variables you would get if you ran:
1749
1750@example
1751guix package --search-paths=prefix --profile=$my_profile"
1752@end example
1753
1754Once again, see (@pxref{Invoking guix package,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual})
1755for the command line options.
1756
1757To upgrade a profile, simply install the manifest again:
1758
1759@example
1760guix package -m /path/to/guix-my-project-manifest.scm -p "$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES"/my-project/my-project
1761@end example
1762
1763To upgrade all profiles, it's easy enough to loop over them. For instance,
1764assuming your manifest specifications are stored in
1765@samp{~/.guix-manifests/guix-$profile-manifest.scm}, with @samp{$profile} being the name
1766of the profile (e.g. "project1"), you could do the following in Bourne shell:
1767
1768@example
1769for profile in "$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES"/*; do
1770 guix package --profile="$profile" --manifest="$HOME/.guix-manifests/guix-$profile-manifest.scm"
1771done
1772@end example
1773
1774Each profile has its own generations:
1775
1776@example
1777guix package -p "$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES"/my-project/my-project --list-generations
1778@end example
1779
1780You can roll-back to any generation of a given profile:
1781
1782@example
1783guix package -p "$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES"/my-project/my-project --switch-generations=17
1784@end example
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1785
1786Finally, if you want to switch to a profile without inheriting from the
1787current environment, you can activate it from an empty shell:
1788
1789@example
1790env -i $(which bash) --login --noprofile --norc
1791. my-project/etc/profile
1792@end example
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1793
1794@node Required packages
1795@subsection Required packages
1796
1797Activating a profile essentially boils down to exporting a bunch of
1798environmental variables. This is the role of the @samp{etc/profile} within the
1799profile.
1800
1801@emph{Note: Only the environmental variables of the packages that consume them will
1802be set.}
1803
1804For instance, @samp{MANPATH} won't be set if there is no consumer application for man
1805pages within the profile. So if you need to transparently access man pages once
1806the profile is loaded, you've got two options:
1807
1808@itemize
1809@item
1810Either export the variable manually, e.g.
1811@example
f6c27c55 1812export MANPATH=/path/to/profile$@{MANPATH:+:@}$MANPATH
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1813@end example
1814
1815@item
1816Or include @samp{man-db} to the profile manifest.
1817@end itemize
1818
1819The same is true for @samp{INFOPATH} (you can install @samp{info-reader}),
1820@samp{PKG_CONFIG_PATH} (install @samp{pkg-config}), etc.
1821
1822@node Default profile
1823@subsection Default profile
1824
1825What about the default profile that Guix keeps in @samp{~/.guix-profile}?
1826
1827You can assign it the role you want. Typically you would install the manifest
1828of the packages you want to use all the time.
1829
1830Alternatively, you could keep it "manifest-less" for throw-away packages
1831that you would just use for a couple of days.
1832This way makes it convenient to run
1833
1834@example
1835guix install package-foo
1836guix upgrade package-bar
1837@end example
1838
1839without having to specify the path to a profile.
1840
1841@node The benefits of manifests
1842@subsection The benefits of manifests
1843
1844Manifests are a convenient way to keep your package lists around and, say,
1845to synchronize them across multiple machines using a version control system.
1846
1847A common complaint about manifests is that they can be slow to install when they
1848contain large number of packages. This is especially cumbersome when you just
1849want get an upgrade for one package within a big manifest.
1850
1851This is one more reason to use multiple profiles, which happen to be just
1852perfect to break down manifests into multiple sets of semantically connected
1853packages. Using multiple, small profiles provides more flexibility and
1854usability.
1855
1856Manifests come with multiple benefits. In particular, they ease maintenance:
1857
1858@itemize
1859@item
1860When a profile is set up from a manifest, the manifest itself is
1861self-sufficient to keep a "package listing" around and reinstall the profile
1862later or on a different system. For ad-hoc profiles, we would need to
1863generate a manifest specification manually and maintain the package versions
1864for the packages that don't use the default version.
1865
1866@item
1867@code{guix package --upgrade} always tries to update the packages that have
1868propagated inputs, even if there is nothing to do. Guix manifests remove this
1869problem.
1870
1871@item
1872When partially upgrading a profile, conflicts may arise (due to diverging
1873dependencies between the updated and the non-updated packages) and they can be
1874annoying to resolve manually. Manifests remove this problem altogether since
1875all packages are always upgraded at once.
1876
1877@item
1878As mentioned above, manifests allow for reproducible profiles, while the
1879imperative @code{guix install}, @code{guix upgrade}, etc. do not, since they produce
1880different profiles every time even when they hold the same packages. See
1881@uref{https://issues.guix.gnu.org/issue/33285, the related discussion on the matter}.
1882
1883@item
1884Manifest specifications are usable by other @samp{guix} commands. For example, you
1885can run @code{guix weather -m manifest.scm} to see how many substitutes are
1886available, which can help you decide whether you want to try upgrading today
1887or wait a while. Another example: you can run @code{guix pack -m manifest.scm} to
1888create a pack containing all the packages in the manifest (and their
1889transitive references).
1890
1891@item
1892Finally, manifests have a Scheme representation, the @samp{<manifest>} record type.
1893They can be manipulated in Scheme and passed to the various Guix @uref{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Api, APIs}.
1894@end itemize
1895
1896It's important to understand that while manifests can be used to declare
1897profiles, they are not strictly equivalent: profiles have the side effect that
1898they "pin" packages in the store, which prevents them from being
1899garbage-collected (@pxref{Invoking guix gc,,, guix, GNU Guix Reference Manual})
1900and ensures that they will still be available at any point in
1901the future.
1902
1903Let's take an example:
1904
1905@enumerate
1906@item
1907We have an environment for hacking on a project for which there isn't a Guix
1908package yet. We build the environment using a manifest, and then run @code{guix
1909 environment -m manifest.scm}. So far so good.
1910
1911@item
1912Many weeks pass and we have run a couple of @code{guix pull} in the mean time.
1913Maybe a dependency from our manifest has been updated; or we may have run
1914@code{guix gc} and some packages needed by our manifest have been
1915garbage-collected.
1916
1917@item
1918Eventually, we set to work on that project again, so we run @code{guix environment
1919 -m manifest.scm}. But now we have to wait for Guix to build and install
1920stuff!
1921@end enumerate
1922
1923Ideally, we could spare the rebuild time. And indeed we can, all we need is to
1924install the manifest to a profile and use @code{GUIX_PROFILE=/the/profile;
1925. "$GUIX_PROFILE"/etc/profile} as explained above: this guarantees that our
1926hacking environment will be available at all times.
1927
1928@emph{Security warning:} While keeping old profiles around can be convenient, keep in
1929mind that outdated packages may not have received the latest security fixes.
1930
1931@node Reproducible profiles
1932@subsection Reproducible profiles
1933
1934To reproduce a profile bit-for-bit, we need two pieces of information:
1935
1936@itemize
1937@item
1938a manifest,
1939@item
1940a Guix channel specification.
1941@end itemize
1942
1943Indeed, manifests alone might not be enough: different Guix versions (or
1944different channels) can produce different outputs for a given manifest.
1945
1946You can output the Guix channel specification with @samp{guix describe
1947--format=channels}.
1948Save this to a file, say @samp{channel-specs.scm}.
1949
1950On another computer, you can use the channel specification file and the manifest
1951to reproduce the exact same profile:
1952
1953@example
1954GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES=$HOME/.guix-extra-profiles
1955GUIX_EXTRA=$HOME/.guix-extra
1956
1957mkdir "$GUIX_EXTRA"/my-project
1958guix pull --channels=channel-specs.scm --profile "$GUIX_EXTRA/my-project/guix"
1959
1960mkdir -p "$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES/my-project"
1961"$GUIX_EXTRA"/my-project/guix/bin/guix package --manifest=/path/to/guix-my-project-manifest.scm --profile="$GUIX_EXTRA_PROFILES"/my-project/my-project
1962@end example
1963
1964It's safe to delete the Guix channel profile you've just installed with the
1965channel specification, the project profile does not depend on it.
1966
7bc46ecc
RW
1967@c *********************************************************************
1968@node Acknowledgments
1969@chapter Acknowledgments
1970
1971Guix is based on the @uref{https://nixos.org/nix/, Nix package manager},
1972which was designed and
1973implemented by Eelco Dolstra, with contributions from other people (see
1974the @file{nix/AUTHORS} file in Guix.) Nix pioneered functional package
1975management, and promoted unprecedented features, such as transactional
1976package upgrades and rollbacks, per-user profiles, and referentially
1977transparent build processes. Without this work, Guix would not exist.
1978
1979The Nix-based software distributions, Nixpkgs and NixOS, have also been
1980an inspiration for Guix.
1981
1982GNU@tie{}Guix itself is a collective work with contributions from a
1983number of people. See the @file{AUTHORS} file in Guix for more
1984information on these fine people. The @file{THANKS} file lists people
1985who have helped by reporting bugs, taking care of the infrastructure,
1986providing artwork and themes, making suggestions, and more---thank you!
1987
1988This document includes adapted sections from articles that have previously
1989been published on the Guix blog at @uref{https://guix.gnu.org/blog}.
1990
1991
1992@c *********************************************************************
1993@node GNU Free Documentation License
1994@appendix GNU Free Documentation License
1995@cindex license, GNU Free Documentation License
1996@include fdl-1.3.texi
1997
1998@c *********************************************************************
1999@node Concept Index
2000@unnumbered Concept Index
2001@printindex cp
2002
2003@bye
2004
2005@c Local Variables:
2006@c ispell-local-dictionary: "american";
2007@c End: