Nix to Debian phrasebook

Note: Merge with Cheatsheet

Task	Ubuntu	NixOS (system-wide and root)	NixOS (user) and Nix in general
Install a package	sudo apt-get install emacs	In /etc/nixos/configuration.nix: systemPackages = with pkgs; [ <other packages...> emacs ];	nix-env -iA nixpkgs.emacs
Uninstall a package	sudo apt-get remove emacs	remove from /etc/nixos/configuration.nix: sudo nixos-rebuild switch	nix-env -e emacs
Uninstall a package removing its configuration	apt-get purge emacs	All configuration is in configuration.nix
Update the list of packages	sudo apt-get update	sudo nix-channel --update	nix-channel --update
Upgrade packages	sudo apt-get upgrade	sudo nixos-rebuild switch	nix-env -u
Check for broken dependencies	sudo apt-get check	nix-store --verify --check-contents	unneeded!
List package dependencies	apt-cache depends emacs	nix-store --query --requisites $(readlink -f /run/current-system) && nix-store -q --tree /nix/var/nix/profiles/system	nix-store --query --references $(nix-instantiate '<nixpkgs>' -A emacs)
List which packages depend on this one (reverse dependencies)	apt-cache rdepends emacs	For installed packages (only print reverse dependencies which are already installed): nix-store --query --referrers $(which emacs)
Verify all installed packages	debsums	sudo nix-store --verify --check-contents	nix-store --verify --check-contents
Fix packages with failed checksums	Reinstall broken packages	sudo nix-store --verify --check-contents --repair	nix-store --verify --check-contents --repair
Select major version and stable/unstable	Change sources.list and apt-get dist-upgrade. A an extremely infrequent and destructive operation. The nix variants are safe and easy to use.	Add the unstable channel. At that address you will find names for other versions and variants. Name can be any string. nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable <name>Remove a channel. nix-channel --remove <name> Show all installed channel. nix-channel --list	When run by a user channels work locally, when run by root they're used as the system-wide channels.
Private package repository	PPA	Define your package tree as in the general column, and include it in configuration.nix, then list your packages in systemPackages to make them available system wide.
Configure a package	sudo dpkg-reconfigure <package>	edit /etc/nixos/configuration.nix	edit ~/.nixpkgs/config.nix
Find packages	apt-cache search emacs or apt search	nix-env -qaP '.*emacs.*'	nix-env -qaP '.*emacs.*'
Find a package which provides a file	with apt-file installed: apt-file search bin/emacs	with nix-index installed: nix-locate bin/emacs	nix-locate bin/emacs
Show package description	apt-cache show emacs	nix-env -qa --description '.*emacs.*'	nix-env -qa --description '.*emacs.*'
Show files installed by package	dpkg -L emacs	du -a $(readlink -f $(which emacs))
Show package for file	dpkg -S /usr/bin/emacs	follow the symlink	follow the symlink
Adding a user	sudo adduser alice	Add users.extraUsers.alice = { isNormalUser = true; home = "/home/alice"; description = "Alice Foobar"; extraGroups = [ "wheel" "networkmanager" ]; openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [ "ssh-dss AAAAB3Nza... alice@foobar" ]; }; to /etc/nixos/configuration.nix. Then run nixos-rebuild switch
List binaries	ls /usr/bin/	ls /run/current-system/sw/bin && ls /nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin/	ls ~/.nix-profile/bin
Get the current version number	cat /etc/debian_version	nixos-version	nix-instantiate --eval '<nixpkgs>' -A lib.nixpkgsVersion
Get sources for a package	apt-get source emacs	In Debian, apt-get source gets both the patched upstream source and the recipe for the package. Those need two steps in Nix. To find the package recipe: grep -r emacs $(nix-instantiate --eval --expr '<nixpkgs>') To download the source as specified by the package recipe: nix-build '<nixpkgs>' -A emacs.src The patched source is usually not a derivation itself, but can be produced for most packages with the following command: nix-shell '<nixpkgs>' -A emacs --command 'unpackPhase; patchPhase' Compile & install a package from source git clone foobar && echo "with import <nixpkgs> { }; stdenv.lib.overrideDerivation foobar (oldAttrs: { src = ./foobar })" > default.nix && nix-build
Install a .deb	dpkg -i package.deb	Install dpkg with Nix, then dpkg -i package.deb