Nix (command)
This article is about all nix subcommands. Its written for nix 2.4 or newer. Older nix versions might have different commands.
Enabling the nix command
In nix 2.4 the nix command must be enabled explicitly set experimental-features = nix-command
in ~/.config/nix/nix.conf or system-wide in /etc/nix/nix.conf.
In NixOS the latter one can be also achieved by using:
{ pkgs, ... }: {
nix.extraOptions = ''
experimental-features = nix-command
'';
}
In the following we describe all sub commands of nix:
Main commands
Build a derivation or fetch a store path.
Run a bash shell that provides the build environment of a derivation.
Manage Nix flakes.
Manage Nix profiles.
Start an interactive environment for evaluating Nix expressions.
Run a Nix application.
Query available packages.
Run a shell in which the specified packages are available.
Infrequently used commands
copy paths between Nix stores
open the Nix expression of a Nix package in $EDITOR
evaluate a Nix expression
show the build log of the specified packages or paths, if available
query information about store paths
manage the flake registry
verify the integrity of store paths
show why a package has another package in its closure
Utility/scripting commands
add a path to the Nix store
print the contents of a file inside a NAR file on stdout
print the contents of a file in the Nix store on stdout
copy path signatures from substituters (like binary caches)
dump a store path to stdout (in NAR format)
print cryptographic hash of the NAR serialisation of a path
print cryptographic hash of the NAR serialisation of a path
show information about a path inside a NAR file
show information about a path in the Nix store
rewrite a path or closure to content-addressable form
replace identical files in the store by hard links
test whether a store can be opened
print shell code that can be sourced by bash to reproduce the build environment of a derivation
show the Nix configuration
show the contents of a store derivation
sign the specified paths
convert a hash to base-16 representation
convert a hash to base-32 representation
convert a hash to base-64 representation
convert a hash to SRI representation