path: root/doc/functions.xml

<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
         xml:id="chap-functions">
 <title>Functions reference</title>
 <para>
  The nixpkgs repository has several utility functions to manipulate Nix
  expressions.
 </para>

 <xi:include href="functions/overrides.xml" />
 <xi:include href="functions/generators.xml" />
 <section xml:id="sec-debug">
  <title>Debugging Nix Expressions</title>

  <para>
   Nix is a unityped, dynamic language, this means every value can potentially
   appear anywhere. Since it is also non-strict, evaluation order and what
   ultimately is evaluated might surprise you. Therefore it is important to be
   able to debug nix expressions.
  </para>

  <para>
   In the <literal>lib/debug.nix</literal> file you will find a number of
   functions that help (pretty-)printing values while evaluation is runnnig.
   You can even specify how deep these values should be printed recursively,
   and transform them on the fly. Please consult the docstrings in
   <literal>lib/debug.nix</literal> for usage information.
  </para>
 </section>
 <section xml:id="sec-fhs-environments">
  <title>buildFHSUserEnv</title>

  <para>
   <function>buildFHSUserEnv</function> provides a way to build and run
   FHS-compatible lightweight sandboxes. It creates an isolated root with bound
   <filename>/nix/store</filename>, so its footprint in terms of disk space
   needed is quite small. This allows one to run software which is hard or
   unfeasible to patch for NixOS -- 3rd-party source trees with FHS
   assumptions, games distributed as tarballs, software with integrity checking
   and/or external self-updated binaries. It uses Linux namespaces feature to
   create temporary lightweight environments which are destroyed after all
   child processes exit, without root user rights requirement. Accepted
   arguments are:
  </para>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term>
     <literal>name</literal>
    </term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Environment name.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
   <varlistentry>
    <term>
     <literal>targetPkgs</literal>
    </term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Packages to be installed for the main host's architecture (i.e. x86_64 on
      x86_64 installations). Along with libraries binaries are also installed.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
   <varlistentry>
    <term>
     <literal>multiPkgs</literal>
    </term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Packages to be installed for all architectures supported by a host (i.e.
      i686 and x86_64 on x86_64 installations). Only libraries are installed by
      default.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
   <varlistentry>
    <term>
     <literal>extraBuildCommands</literal>
    </term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Additional commands to be executed for finalizing the directory
      structure.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
   <varlistentry>
    <term>
     <literal>extraBuildCommandsMulti</literal>
    </term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Like <literal>extraBuildCommands</literal>, but executed only on multilib
      architectures.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
   <varlistentry>
    <term>
     <literal>extraOutputsToInstall</literal>
    </term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Additional derivation outputs to be linked for both target and
      multi-architecture packages.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
   <varlistentry>
    <term>
     <literal>extraInstallCommands</literal>
    </term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Additional commands to be executed for finalizing the derivation with
      runner script.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
   <varlistentry>
    <term>
     <literal>runScript</literal>
    </term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      A command that would be executed inside the sandbox and passed all the
      command line arguments. It defaults to <literal>bash</literal>.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>

  <para>
   One can create a simple environment using a <literal>shell.nix</literal>
   like that:
  </para>

<programlisting><![CDATA[
{ pkgs ? import <nixpkgs> {} }:

(pkgs.buildFHSUserEnv {
  name = "simple-x11-env";
  targetPkgs = pkgs: (with pkgs;
    [ udev
      alsaLib
    ]) ++ (with pkgs.xorg;
    [ libX11
      libXcursor
      libXrandr
    ]);
  multiPkgs = pkgs: (with pkgs;
    [ udev
      alsaLib
    ]);
  runScript = "bash";
}).env
]]></programlisting>

  <para>
   Running <literal>nix-shell</literal> would then drop you into a shell with
   these libraries and binaries available. You can use this to run
   closed-source applications which expect FHS structure without hassles:
   simply change <literal>runScript</literal> to the application path, e.g.
   <filename>./bin/start.sh</filename> -- relative paths are supported.
  </para>
 </section>
 <xi:include href="shell.section.xml" />
 <section xml:id="sec-pkgs-dockerTools">
  <title>pkgs.dockerTools</title>

  <para>
   <varname>pkgs.dockerTools</varname> is a set of functions for creating and
   manipulating Docker images according to the
   <link xlink:href="https://github.com/moby/moby/blob/master/image/spec/v1.2.md#docker-image-specification-v120">
   Docker Image Specification v1.2.0 </link>. Docker itself is not used to
   perform any of the operations done by these functions.
  </para>

  <warning>
   <para>
    The <varname>dockerTools</varname> API is unstable and may be subject to
    backwards-incompatible changes in the future.
   </para>
  </warning>

  <section xml:id="ssec-pkgs-dockerTools-buildImage">
   <title>buildImage</title>

   <para>
    This function is analogous to the <command>docker build</command> command,
    in that can used to build a Docker-compatible repository tarball containing
    a single image with one or multiple layers. As such, the result is suitable
    for being loaded in Docker with <command>docker load</command>.
   </para>

   <para>
    The parameters of <varname>buildImage</varname> with relative example
    values are described below:
   </para>

   <example xml:id='ex-dockerTools-buildImage'>
    <title>Docker build</title>
<programlisting>
buildImage {
  name = "redis"; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-1' />
  tag = "latest"; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-2' />

  fromImage = someBaseImage; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-3' />
  fromImageName = null; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-4' />
  fromImageTag = "latest"; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-5' />

  contents = pkgs.redis; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-6' />
  runAsRoot = '' <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-runAsRoot' />
    #!${stdenv.shell}
    mkdir -p /data
  '';

  config = { <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-8' />
    Cmd = [ "/bin/redis-server" ];
    WorkingDir = "/data";
    Volumes = {
      "/data" = {};
    };
  };
}
</programlisting>
   </example>

   <para>
    The above example will build a Docker image <literal>redis/latest</literal>
    from the given base image. Loading and running this image in Docker results
    in <literal>redis-server</literal> being started automatically.
   </para>

   <calloutlist>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-1'>
     <para>
      <varname>name</varname> specifies the name of the resulting image. This
      is the only required argument for <varname>buildImage</varname>.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-2'>
     <para>
      <varname>tag</varname> specifies the tag of the resulting image. By
      default it's <literal>null</literal>, which indicates that the nix output
      hash will be used as tag.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-3'>
     <para>
      <varname>fromImage</varname> is the repository tarball containing the
      base image. It must be a valid Docker image, such as exported by
      <command>docker save</command>. By default it's <literal>null</literal>,
      which can be seen as equivalent to <literal>FROM scratch</literal> of a
      <filename>Dockerfile</filename>.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-4'>
     <para>
      <varname>fromImageName</varname> can be used to further specify the base
      image within the repository, in case it contains multiple images. By
      default it's <literal>null</literal>, in which case
      <varname>buildImage</varname> will peek the first image available in the
      repository.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-5'>
     <para>
      <varname>fromImageTag</varname> can be used to further specify the tag of
      the base image within the repository, in case an image contains multiple
      tags. By default it's <literal>null</literal>, in which case
      <varname>buildImage</varname> will peek the first tag available for the
      base image.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-6'>
     <para>
      <varname>contents</varname> is a derivation that will be copied in the
      new layer of the resulting image. This can be similarly seen as
      <command>ADD contents/ /</command> in a <filename>Dockerfile</filename>.
      By default it's <literal>null</literal>.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-runAsRoot'>
     <para>
      <varname>runAsRoot</varname> is a bash script that will run as root in an
      environment that overlays the existing layers of the base image with the
      new resulting layer, including the previously copied
      <varname>contents</varname> derivation. This can be similarly seen as
      <command>RUN ...</command> in a <filename>Dockerfile</filename>.
      <note>
       <para>
        Using this parameter requires the <literal>kvm</literal> device to be
        available.
       </para>
      </note>
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-8'>
     <para>
      <varname>config</varname> is used to specify the configuration of the
      containers that will be started off the built image in Docker. The
      available options are listed in the
      <link xlink:href="https://github.com/moby/moby/blob/master/image/spec/v1.2.md#image-json-field-descriptions">
      Docker Image Specification v1.2.0 </link>.
     </para>
    </callout>
   </calloutlist>

   <para>
    After the new layer has been created, its closure (to which
    <varname>contents</varname>, <varname>config</varname> and
    <varname>runAsRoot</varname> contribute) will be copied in the layer
    itself. Only new dependencies that are not already in the existing layers
    will be copied.
   </para>

   <para>
    At the end of the process, only one new single layer will be produced and
    added to the resulting image.
   </para>

   <para>
    The resulting repository will only list the single image
    <varname>image/tag</varname>. In the case of
    <xref linkend='ex-dockerTools-buildImage'/> it would be
    <varname>redis/latest</varname>.
   </para>

   <para>
    It is possible to inspect the arguments with which an image was built using
    its <varname>buildArgs</varname> attribute.
   </para>

   <note>
    <para>
     If you see errors similar to <literal>getProtocolByName: does not exist
     (no such protocol name: tcp)</literal> you may need to add
     <literal>pkgs.iana-etc</literal> to <varname>contents</varname>.
    </para>
   </note>

   <note>
    <para>
     If you see errors similar to <literal>Error_Protocol ("certificate has
     unknown CA",True,UnknownCa)</literal> you may need to add
     <literal>pkgs.cacert</literal> to <varname>contents</varname>.
    </para>
   </note>

   <example xml:id="example-pkgs-dockerTools-buildImage-creation-date">
     <title>Impurely Defining a Docker Layer's Creation Date</title>
     <para>
       By default <function>buildImage</function> will use a static
       date of one second past the UNIX Epoch. This allows
       <function>buildImage</function> to produce binary reproducible
       images. When listing images with <command>docker list
       images</command>, the newly created images will be listed like
       this:
     </para>
     <screen><![CDATA[
$ docker image list
REPOSITORY   TAG      IMAGE ID       CREATED        SIZE
hello        latest   08c791c7846e   48 years ago   25.2MB
]]></screen>
     <para>
       You can break binary reproducibility but have a sorted,
       meaningful <literal>CREATED</literal> column by setting
       <literal>created</literal> to <literal>now</literal>.
     </para>
     <programlisting><![CDATA[
pkgs.dockerTools.buildImage {
  name = "hello";
  tag = "latest";
  created = "now";
  contents = pkgs.hello;

  config.Cmd = [ "/bin/hello" ];
}
]]></programlisting>
     <para>
       and now the Docker CLI will display a reasonable date and
       sort the images as expected:
       <screen><![CDATA[
$ docker image list
REPOSITORY   TAG      IMAGE ID       CREATED              SIZE
hello        latest   de2bf4786de6   About a minute ago   25.2MB
]]></screen>
       however, the produced images will not be binary reproducible.
     </para>
   </example>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="ssec-pkgs-dockerTools-buildLayeredImage">
   <title>buildLayeredImage</title>

   <para>
    Create a Docker image with many of the store paths being on their own layer
    to improve sharing between images.
   </para>

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term>
      <varname>name</varname>
     </term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The name of the resulting image.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term>
      <varname>tag</varname> <emphasis>optional</emphasis>
     </term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Tag of the generated image.
      </para>
      <para>
       <emphasis>Default:</emphasis> the output path's hash
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term>
      <varname>contents</varname> <emphasis>optional</emphasis>
     </term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Top level paths in the container. Either a single derivation, or a list
       of derivations.
      </para>
      <para>
       <emphasis>Default:</emphasis> <literal>[]</literal>
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term>
      <varname>config</varname> <emphasis>optional</emphasis>
     </term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Run-time configuration of the container. A full list of the options are
       available at in the
       <link xlink:href="https://github.com/moby/moby/blob/master/image/spec/v1.2.md#image-json-field-descriptions">
       Docker Image Specification v1.2.0 </link>.
      </para>
      <para>
       <emphasis>Default:</emphasis> <literal>{}</literal>
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term>
      <varname>created</varname> <emphasis>optional</emphasis>
     </term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Date and time the layers were created. Follows the same
       <literal>now</literal> exception supported by
       <literal>buildImage</literal>.
      </para>
      <para>
       <emphasis>Default:</emphasis> <literal>1970-01-01T00:00:01Z</literal>
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term>
      <varname>maxLayers</varname> <emphasis>optional</emphasis>
     </term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Maximum number of layers to create.
      </para>
      <para>
       <emphasis>Default:</emphasis> <literal>24</literal>
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>

   <section xml:id="dockerTools-buildLayeredImage-arg-contents">
    <title>Behavior of <varname>contents</varname> in the final image</title>

    <para>
     Each path directly listed in <varname>contents</varname> will have a
     symlink in the root of the image.
    </para>

    <para>
     For example:
<programlisting><![CDATA[
pkgs.dockerTools.buildLayeredImage {
  name = "hello";
  contents = [ pkgs.hello ];
}
]]></programlisting>
     will create symlinks for all the paths in the <literal>hello</literal>
     package:
<screen><![CDATA[
/bin/hello -> /nix/store/h1zb1padqbbb7jicsvkmrym3r6snphxg-hello-2.10/bin/hello
/share/info/hello.info -> /nix/store/h1zb1padqbbb7jicsvkmrym3r6snphxg-hello-2.10/share/info/hello.info
/share/locale/bg/LC_MESSAGES/hello.mo -> /nix/store/h1zb1padqbbb7jicsvkmrym3r6snphxg-hello-2.10/share/locale/bg/LC_MESSAGES/hello.mo
]]></screen>
    </para>
   </section>

   <section xml:id="dockerTools-buildLayeredImage-arg-config">
    <title>Automatic inclusion of <varname>config</varname> references</title>

    <para>
     The closure of <varname>config</varname> is automatically included in the
     closure of the final image.
    </para>

    <para>
     This allows you to make very simple Docker images with very little code.
     This container will start up and run <command>hello</command>:
<programlisting><![CDATA[
pkgs.dockerTools.buildLayeredImage {
  name = "hello";
  config.Cmd = [ "${pkgs.hello}/bin/hello" ];
}
]]></programlisting>
    </para>
   </section>

   <section xml:id="dockerTools-buildLayeredImage-arg-maxLayers">
    <title>Adjusting <varname>maxLayers</varname></title>

    <para>
     Increasing the <varname>maxLayers</varname> increases the number of layers
     which have a chance to be shared between different images.
    </para>

    <para>
     Modern Docker installations support up to 128 layers, however older
     versions support as few as 42.
    </para>

    <para>
     If the produced image will not be extended by other Docker builds, it is
     safe to set <varname>maxLayers</varname> to <literal>128</literal>.
     However it will be impossible to extend the image further.
    </para>

    <para>
     The first (<literal>maxLayers-2</literal>) most "popular" paths will have
     their own individual layers, then layer #<literal>maxLayers-1</literal>
     will contain all the remaining "unpopular" paths, and finally layer
     #<literal>maxLayers</literal> will contain the Image configuration.
    </para>

    <para>
     Docker's Layers are not inherently ordered, they are content-addressable
     and are not explicitly layered until they are composed in to an Image.
    </para>
   </section>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="ssec-pkgs-dockerTools-fetchFromRegistry">
   <title>pullImage</title>

   <para>
    This function is analogous to the <command>docker pull</command> command,
    in that can be used to pull a Docker image from a Docker registry. By
    default <link xlink:href="https://hub.docker.com/">Docker Hub</link> is
    used to pull images.
   </para>

   <para>
    Its parameters are described in the example below:
   </para>

   <example xml:id='ex-dockerTools-pullImage'>
    <title>Docker pull</title>
<programlisting>
pullImage {
  imageName = "nixos/nix"; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-1' />
  imageDigest = "sha256:20d9485b25ecfd89204e843a962c1bd70e9cc6858d65d7f5fadc340246e2116b"; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-2' />
  finalImageTag = "1.11";  <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-3' />
  sha256 = "0mqjy3zq2v6rrhizgb9nvhczl87lcfphq9601wcprdika2jz7qh8"; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-4' />
  os = "linux"; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-5' />
  arch = "x86_64"; <co xml:id='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-6' />
}
</programlisting>
   </example>

   <calloutlist>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-1'>
     <para>
      <varname>imageName</varname> specifies the name of the image to be
      downloaded, which can also include the registry namespace (e.g.
      <literal>nixos</literal>). This argument is required.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-2'>
     <para>
      <varname>imageDigest</varname> specifies the digest of the image to be
      downloaded. Skopeo can be used to get the digest of an image, with its
      <varname>inspect</varname> subcommand. Since a given
      <varname>imageName</varname> may transparently refer to a manifest list
      of images which support multiple architectures and/or operating systems,
      supply the `--override-os` and `--override-arch` arguments to specify
      exactly which image you want. By default it will match the OS and
      architecture of the host the command is run on.
<programlisting>
$ nix-shell --packages skopeo jq --command "skopeo --override-os linux --override-arch x86_64 inspect docker://docker.io/nixos/nix:1.11 | jq -r '.Digest'"
sha256:20d9485b25ecfd89204e843a962c1bd70e9cc6858d65d7f5fadc340246e2116b
</programlisting>
      This argument is required.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-3'>
     <para>
      <varname>finalImageTag</varname>, if specified, this is the tag of the
      image to be created. Note it is never used to fetch the image since we
      prefer to rely on the immutable digest ID. By default it's
      <literal>latest</literal>.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-4'>
     <para>
      <varname>sha256</varname> is the checksum of the whole fetched image.
      This argument is required.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-5'>
     <para>
      <varname>os</varname>, if specified, is the operating system of the
      fetched image. By default it's <literal>linux</literal>.
     </para>
    </callout>
    <callout arearefs='ex-dockerTools-pullImage-6'>
     <para>
      <varname>arch</varname>, if specified, is the cpu architecture of the
      fetched image. By default it's <literal>x86_64</literal>.
     </para>
    </callout>
   </calloutlist>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="ssec-pkgs-dockerTools-exportImage">
   <title>exportImage</title>

   <para>
    This function is analogous to the <command>docker export</command> command,
    in that can used to flatten a Docker image that contains multiple layers.
    It is in fact the result of the merge of all the layers of the image. As
    such, the result is suitable for being imported in Docker with
    <command>docker import</command>.
   </para>

   <note>
    <para>
     Using this function requires the <literal>kvm</literal> device to be
     available.
    </para>
   </note>

   <para>
    The parameters of <varname>exportImage</varname> are the following:
   </para>

   <example xml:id='ex-dockerTools-exportImage'>
    <title>Docker export</title>
<programlisting>
exportImage {
  fromImage = someLayeredImage;
  fromImageName = null;
  fromImageTag = null;

  name = someLayeredImage.name;
}
  </programlisting>
   </example>

   <para>
    The parameters relative to the base image have the same synopsis as
    described in <xref linkend='ssec-pkgs-dockerTools-buildImage'/>, except
    that <varname>fromImage</varname> is the only required argument in this
    case.
   </para>

   <para>
    The <varname>name</varname> argument is the name of the derivation output,
    which defaults to <varname>fromImage.name</varname>.
   </para>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="ssec-pkgs-dockerTools-shadowSetup">
   <title>shadowSetup</title>

   <para>
    This constant string is a helper for setting up the base files for managing
    users and groups, only if such files don't exist already. It is suitable
    for being used in a <varname>runAsRoot</varname>
    <xref linkend='ex-dockerTools-buildImage-runAsRoot'/> script for cases like
    in the example below:
   </para>

   <example xml:id='ex-dockerTools-shadowSetup'>
    <title>Shadow base files</title>
<programlisting>
buildImage {
  name = "shadow-basic";

  runAsRoot = ''
    #!${stdenv.shell}
    ${shadowSetup}
    groupadd -r redis
    useradd -r -g redis redis
    mkdir /data
    chown redis:redis /data
  '';
}
</programlisting>
   </example>

   <para>
    Creating base files like <literal>/etc/passwd</literal> or
    <literal>/etc/login.defs</literal> are necessary for shadow-utils to
    manipulate users and groups.
   </para>
  </section>
 </section>
</chapter>