Merge pull request #248701 from doronbehar/nixos/manpages

nixos/install-tools: Add manpages to packages instead of seperating them

13 files changed, 97 insertions, 613 deletions

diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/contributing-to-this-manual.chapter.md b/nixos/doc/manual/contributing-to-this-manual.chapter.md
index 0a4f5403fde..6245280e30f 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/contributing-to-this-manual.chapter.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/contributing-to-this-manual.chapter.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ You can quickly check your edits with the following:
 
 ```ShellSession
 $ cd /path/to/nixpkgs
+$ $EDITOR doc/nixos/manual/... # edit the manual
 $ nix-build nixos/release.nix -A manual.x86_64-linux
 ```
 
@@ -14,24 +15,96 @@ If the build succeeds, the manual will be in `./result/share/doc/nixos/index.htm
 
 There's also [a convenient development daemon](https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/#sec-contributing-devmode).
 
-**Contributing to the man pages**
+The above instructions don't deal with the appendix of available `configuration.nix` options, and the manual pages related to NixOS. These are built, and written in a different location and in a different format, as explained in the next sections.
 
-The man pages are written in [DocBook] which is XML.
+## Contributing to the `configuration.nix` options documentation {#sec-contributing-options}
 
-To see what your edits look like:
+The documentation for all the different `configuration.nix` options is automatically generated by reading the `description`s of all the NixOS options defined at `nixos/modules/`. If you want to improve such `description`, find it in the `nixos/modules/` directory, and edit it and open a pull request.
+
+To see how your changes render on the web, run again:
+
+```ShellSession
+$ nix-build nixos/release.nix -A manual.x86_64-linux
+```
+
+And you'll see the changes to the appendix in the path `result/share/doc/nixos/options.html`.
+
+You can also build only the `configuration.nix(5)` manual page, via:
 
 ```ShellSession
 $ cd /path/to/nixpkgs
-$ nix-build nixos/release.nix -A manpages.x86_64-linux
+$ nix-build nixos/release.nix -A nixos-configuration-reference-manpage.x86_64-linux
 ```
 
-You can then read the man page you edited by running
+And observe the result via:
 
 ```ShellSession
-$ man --manpath=result/share/man nixos-rebuild # Replace nixos-rebuild with the command whose manual you edited
+$ man --local-file result/share/man/man5/configuration.nix.5
+```
+
+If you're on a different architecture that's supported by NixOS (check file `nixos/release.nix` on Nixpkgs' repository) then replace `x86_64-linux` with the architecture. `nix-build` will complain otherwise, but should also tell you which architecture you have + the supported ones.
+
+## Contributing to `nixos-*` tools' manpages {#sec-contributing-nixos-tools}
+
+The manual pages for the tools available in the installation image can be found in Nixpkgs by running (e.g for `nixos-rebuild`):
+
+```ShellSession
+$ git ls | grep nixos-rebuild.8
+```
+
+Man pages are written in [`mdoc(7)` format](https://mandoc.bsd.lv/man/mdoc.7.html) and should be portable between mandoc and groff for rendering (except for minor differences, notably different spacing rules.)
+
+For a preview, run `man --local-file path/to/file.8`.
+
+Being written in `mdoc`, these manpages use semantic markup. This following subsections provides a guideline on where to apply which semantic elements.
+
+### Command lines and arguments {#ssec-contributing-nixos-tools-cli-and-args}
+
+In any manpage, commands, flags and arguments to the *current* executable should be marked according to their semantics. Commands, flags and arguments passed to *other* executables should not be marked like this and should instead be considered as code examples and marked with `Ql`.
+
+- Use `Fl` to mark flag arguments, `Ar` for their arguments.
+- Repeating arguments should be marked by adding an ellipsis (spelled with periods, `...`).
+- Use `Cm` to mark literal string arguments, e.g. the `boot` command argument passed to `nixos-rebuild`.
+- Optional flags or arguments should be marked with `Op`. This includes optional repeating arguments.
+- Required flags or arguments should not be marked.
+- Mutually exclusive groups of arguments should be enclosed in curly brackets, preferably created with `Bro`/`Brc` blocks.
+
+When an argument is used in an example it should be marked up with `Ar` again to differentiate it from a constant. For example, a command with a `--host name` option that calls ssh to retrieve the host's local time would signify this thusly:
+```
+This will run
+.Ic ssh Ar name Ic time
+to retrieve the remote time.
 ```
 
-If you're on a different architecture that's supported by NixOS (check nixos/release.nix) then replace `x86_64-linux` with the architecture.
-`nix-build` will complain otherwise, but should also tell you which architecture you have + the supported ones.
+### Paths, NixOS options, environment variables {#ssec-contributing-nixos-tools-options-and-environment}
+
+Constant paths should be marked with `Pa`, NixOS options with `Va`, and environment variables with `Ev`.
+
+Generated paths, e.g. `result/bin/run-hostname-vm` (where `hostname` is a variable or arguments) should be marked as `Ql` inline literals with their variable components marked appropriately.
+
+ - When `hostname` refers to an argument, it becomes `.Ql result/bin/run- Ns Ar hostname Ns -vm`
+ - When `hostname` refers to a variable, it becomes `.Ql result/bin/run- Ns Va hostname Ns -vm`
+
+### Code examples and other commands {#ssec-contributing-nixos-tools-code-examples}
 
-[DocBook]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook
+In free text names and complete invocations of other commands (e.g. `ssh` or `tar -xvf src.tar`) should be marked with `Ic`, fragments of command lines should be marked with `Ql`.
+
+Larger code blocks or those that cannot be shown inline should use indented literal display block markup for their contents, i.e.
+
+```
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+...
+.Ed
+```
+
+Contents of code blocks may be marked up further, e.g. if they refer to arguments that will be substituted into them:
+
+```
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+{
+  config.networking.hostname = "\c
+.Ar hostname Ns \c
+";
+}
+.Ed
+```
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/default.nix b/nixos/doc/manual/default.nix
index 902dee70180..a368b16201f 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/default.nix
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/default.nix
@@ -184,8 +184,8 @@ in rec {
     '';
 
 
-  # Generate the NixOS manpages.
-  manpages = runCommand "nixos-manpages"
+  # Generate the `man configuration.nix` package
+  nixos-configuration-reference-manpage = runCommand "nixos-configuration-reference-manpage"
     { nativeBuildInputs = [
         buildPackages.installShellFiles
         buildPackages.nixos-render-docs
@@ -194,8 +194,6 @@ in rec {
     }
     ''
       # Generate manpages.
-      mkdir -p $out/share/man/man8
-      installManPage ${./manpages}/*
       mkdir -p $out/share/man/man5
       nixos-render-docs -j $NIX_BUILD_CORES options manpage \
         --revision ${lib.escapeShellArg revision} \
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/README.md b/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 05cb83902c7..00000000000
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,57 +0,0 @@
-# NixOS manpages
-
-This is the collection of NixOS manpages, excluding `configuration.nix(5)`.
-
-Man pages are written in [`mdoc(7)` format](https://mandoc.bsd.lv/man/mdoc.7.html) and should be portable between mandoc and groff for rendering (though minor differences may occur, mandoc and groff seem to have slightly different spacing rules.)
-
-For previewing edited files, you can just run `man -l path/to/file.8` and you will see it rendered.
-
-Being written in `mdoc` these manpages use semantic markup. This file provides a guideline on where to apply which of the semantic elements of `mdoc`.
-
-### Command lines and arguments
-
-In any manpage, commands, flags and arguments to the *current* executable should be marked according to their semantics. Commands, flags and arguments passed to *other* executables should not be marked like this and should instead be considered as code examples and marked with `Ql`.
-
- - Use `Fl` to mark flag arguments, `Ar` for their arguments.
- - Repeating arguments should be marked by adding ellipses (`...`).
- - Use `Cm` to mark literal string arguments, e.g. the `boot` command argument passed to `nixos-rebuild`.
- - Optional flags or arguments should be marked with `Op`. This includes optional repeating arguments.
- - Required flags or arguments should not be marked.
- - Mutually exclusive groups of arguments should be enclosed in curly brackets, preferably created with `Bro`/`Brc` blocks.
-
-When an argument is used in an example it should be marked up with `Ar` again to differentiate it from a constant. For example, a command with a `--host name` flag that calls ssh to retrieve the host's local time would signify this thusly:
-```
-This will run
-.Ic ssh Ar name Ic time
-to retrieve the remote time.
-```
-
-### Paths, NixOS options, environment variables
-
-Constant paths should be marked with `Pa`, NixOS options with `Va`, and environment variables with `Ev`.
-
-Generated paths, e.g. `result/bin/run-hostname-vm` (where `hostname` is a variable or arguments) should be marked as `Ql` inline literals with their variable components marked appropriately.
-
- - Taking `hostname` from an argument become `.Ql result/bin/run- Ns Ar hostname Ns -vm`
- - Taking `hostname` from a variable otherwise defined becomes `.Ql result/bin/run- Ns Va hostname Ns -vm`
-
-### Code examples and other commands
-
-In free text names and complete invocations of other commands (e.g. `ssh` or `tar -xvf src.tar`) should be marked with `Ic`, fragments of command lines should be marked with `Ql`.
-
-Larger code blocks or those that cannot be shown inline should use indented literal display block markup for their contents, i.e.
-```
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-...
-.Ed
-```
-Contents of code blocks may be marked up further, e.g. if they refer to arguments that will be substituted into them:
-```
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-{
-  options.hostname = "\c
-.Ar hostname Ns \c
-";
-}
-.Ed
-```
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-option.8 b/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-option.8
deleted file mode 100644
index 28438b03580..00000000000
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-option.8
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,89 +0,0 @@
-.Dd January 1, 1980
-.Dt nixos-option 8
-.Os
-.Sh NAME
-.Nm nixos-option
-.Nd inspect a NixOS configuration
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh SYNOPSIS
-.Nm
-.Op Fl r | -recursive
-.Op Fl I Ar path
-.Ar option.name
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh DESCRIPTION
-This command evaluates the configuration specified in
-.Pa /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
-and returns the properties of the option name given as argument.
-.
-.Pp
-When the option name is not an option, the command prints the list of attributes
-contained in the attribute set.
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh OPTIONS
-.Bl -tag -width indent
-.It Fl r , -recursive
-Print all the values at or below the specified path recursively.
-.
-.It Fl I Ar path
-This option is passed to the underlying
-.Xr nix-instantiate 1
-invocation.
-.El
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh ENVIRONMENT
-.Bl -tag -width indent
-.It Ev NIXOS_CONFIG
-Path to the main NixOS configuration module. Defaults to
-.Pa /etc/nixos/configuration.nix Ns
-\&.
-.El
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh EXAMPLES
-Investigate option values:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-$ nixos-option boot.loader
-This attribute set contains:
-generationsDir
-grub
-initScript
-
-$ nixos-option boot.loader.grub.enable
-Value:
-true
-
-Default:
-true
-
-Description:
-Whether to enable the GNU GRUB boot loader.
-
-Declared by:
-  "/nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/nixpkgs/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/grub.nix"
-
-Defined by:
-  "/nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos/nixpkgs/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/grub.nix"
-.Ed
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh SEE ALSO
-.Xr configuration.nix 5
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh AUTHORS
-.An -nosplit
-.An Nicolas Pierron
-and
-.An the Nixpkgs/NixOS contributors
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-rebuild.8 b/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-rebuild.8
deleted file mode 100644
index 64bbbee411d..00000000000
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-rebuild.8
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,452 +0,0 @@
-.Dd January 1, 1980
-.Dt nixos-rebuild 8
-.Os
-.Sh NAME
-.Nm nixos-rebuild
-.Nd reconfigure a NixOS machine
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh SYNOPSIS
-.Nm
-.Bro
-.Cm switch | boot | test | build | dry-build | dry-activate | edit | build-vm | build-vm-with-bootloader
-.Brc
-.br
-.Op Fl -upgrade | -upgrade-all
-.Op Fl -install-bootloader
-.Op Fl -no-build-nix
-.Op Fl -fast
-.Op Fl -rollback
-.Op Fl -builders Ar builder-spec
-.br
-.Op Fl -flake Ar flake-uri
-.Op Fl -no-flake
-.Op Fl -override-input Ar input-name flake-uri
-.br
-.Op Fl -profile-name | p Ar name
-.Op Fl -specialisation | c Ar name
-.br
-.Op Fl -build-host Va host
-.Op Fl -target-host Va host
-.Op Fl -use-remote-sudo
-.br
-.Op Fl -show-trace
-.Op Fl I Va NIX_PATH
-.Op Fl -verbose | v
-.Op Fl -impure
-.Op Fl -max-jobs | j Va number
-.Op Fl -keep-failed | K
-.Op Fl -keep-going | k
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh DESCRIPTION
-This command updates the system so that it corresponds to the
-configuration specified in
-.Pa /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
-or
-.Pa /etc/nixos/flake.nix Ns
-\&. Thus, every time you modify the configuration or any other NixOS module, you
-must run
-.Nm
-to make the changes take effect. It builds the new system in
-.Pa /nix/store Ns
-, runs its activation script, and stop and (re)starts any system services if
-needed. Please note that user services need to be started manually as they
-aren't detected by the activation script at the moment.
-.
-.Pp
-This command has one required argument, which specifies the desired
-operation. It must be one of the following:
-.Bl -tag -width indent
-.It Cm switch
-Build and activate the new configuration, and make it the boot default. That
-is, the configuration is added to the GRUB boot menu as the default
-menu entry, so that subsequent reboots will boot the system into the new
-configuration. Previous configurations activated with
-.Ic nixos-rebuild switch
-or
-.Ic nixos-rebuild boot
-remain available in the GRUB menu.
-.Pp
-Note that if you are using specializations, running just
-.Ic nixos-rebuild switch
-will switch you back to the unspecialized, base system \(em in that case, you
-might want to use this instead:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-$ nixos-rebuild switch --specialisation your-specialisation-name
-.Ed
-.Pp
-This command will build all specialisations and make them bootable just
-like regular
-.Ic nixos-rebuild switch
-does \(em the only thing different is that it will switch to given
-specialisation instead of the base system; it can be also used to switch from
-the base system into a specialised one, or to switch between specialisations.
-.
-.It Cm boot
-Build the new configuration and make it the boot default (as with
-.Ic nixos-rebuild switch Ns
-), but do not activate it. That is, the system continues to run the previous
-configuration until the next reboot.
-.
-.It Cm test
-Build and activate the new configuration, but do not add it to the GRUB
-boot menu. Thus, if you reboot the system (or if it crashes), you will
-automatically revert to the default configuration (i.e. the
-configuration resulting from the last call to
-.Ic nixos-rebuild switch
-or
-.Ic nixos-rebuild boot Ns
-).
-.Pp
-Note that if you are using specialisations, running just
-.Ic nixos-rebuild test
-will activate the unspecialised, base system \(em in that case, you might want
-to use this instead:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-$ nixos-rebuild test --specialisation your-specialisation-name
-.Ed
-.Pp
-This command can be also used to switch from the base system into a
-specialised one, or to switch between specialisations.
-.
-.It Cm build
-Build the new configuration, but neither activate it nor add it to the
-GRUB boot menu. It leaves a symlink named
-.Pa result
-in the current directory, which points to the output of the top-level
-.Dq system
-derivation. This is essentially the same as doing
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-$ nix-build /path/to/nixpkgs/nixos -A system
-.Ed
-.Pp
-Note that you do not need to be root to run
-.Ic nixos-rebuild build Ns
-\&.
-.
-.It Cm dry-build
-Show what store paths would be built or downloaded by any of the
-operations above, but otherwise do nothing.
-.
-.It Cm dry-activate
-Build the new configuration, but instead of activating it, show what
-changes would be performed by the activation (i.e. by
-.Ic nixos-rebuild test Ns
-). For instance, this command will print which systemd units would be restarted.
-The list of changes is not guaranteed to be complete.
-.
-.It Cm edit
-Opens
-.Pa configuration.nix
-in the default editor.
-.
-.It Cm build-vm
-Build a script that starts a NixOS virtual machine with the desired
-configuration. It leaves a symlink
-.Pa result
-in the current directory that points (under
-.Ql result/bin/run\- Ns Va hostname Ns \-vm Ns
-)
-at the script that starts the VM. Thus, to test a NixOS configuration in
-a virtual machine, you should do the following:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-$ nixos-rebuild build-vm
-$ ./result/bin/run-*-vm
-.Ed
-.Pp
-The VM is implemented using the
-.Ql qemu
-package. For best performance, you should load the
-.Ql kvm-intel
-or
-.Ql kvm-amd
-kernel modules to get hardware virtualisation.
-.Pp
-The VM mounts the Nix store of the host through the 9P file system. The
-host Nix store is read-only, so Nix commands that modify the Nix store
-will not work in the VM. This includes commands such as
-.Nm Ns
-; to change the VM’s configuration, you must halt the VM and re-run the commands
-above.
-.Pp
-The VM has its own ext3 root file system, which is automatically created when
-the VM is first started, and is persistent across reboots of the VM. It is
-stored in
-.Ql ./ Ns Va hostname Ns .qcow2 Ns
-\&.
-.\" The entire file system hierarchy of the host is available in
-.\" the VM under
-.\" .Pa /hostfs Ns
-.\" .
-.
-.It Cm build-vm-with-bootloader
-Like
-.Cm build-vm Ns
-, but boots using the regular boot loader of your configuration (e.g. GRUB 1 or
-2), rather than booting directly into the kernel and initial ramdisk of the
-system. This allows you to test whether the boot loader works correctly. \
-However, it does not guarantee that your NixOS configuration will boot
-successfully on the host hardware (i.e., after running
-.Ic nixos-rebuild switch Ns
-), because the hardware and boot loader configuration in the VM are different.
-The boot loader is installed on an automatically generated virtual disk
-containing a
-.Pa /boot
-partition.
-.El
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh OPTIONS
-.Bl -tag -width indent
-.It Fl -upgrade , -upgrade-all
-Update the root user's channel named
-.Ql nixos
-before rebuilding the system.
-.Pp
-In addition to the
-.Ql nixos
-channel, the root user's channels which have a file named
-.Ql .update-on-nixos-rebuild
-in their base directory will also be updated.
-.Pp
-Passing
-.Fl -upgrade-all
-updates all of the root user's channels.
-.
-.It Fl -install-bootloader
-Causes the boot loader to be (re)installed on the device specified by the
-relevant configuration options.
-.
-.It Fl -no-build-nix
-Normally,
-.Nm
-first builds the
-.Ql nixUnstable
-attribute in Nixpkgs, and uses the resulting instance of the Nix package manager
-to build the new system configuration. This is necessary if the NixOS modules
-use features not provided by the currently installed version of Nix. This option
-disables building a new Nix.
-.
-.It Fl -fast
-Equivalent to
-.Fl -no-build-nix Ns
-\&. This option is useful if you call
-.Nm
-frequently (e.g. if you’re hacking on a NixOS module).
-.
-.It Fl -rollback
-Instead of building a new configuration as specified by
-.Pa /etc/nixos/configuration.nix Ns
-, roll back to the previous configuration. (The previous configuration is
-defined as the one before the “current” generation of the Nix profile
-.Pa /nix/var/nix/profiles/system Ns
-\&.)
-.
-.It Fl -builders Ar builder-spec
-Allow ad-hoc remote builders for building the new system. This requires
-the user executing
-.Nm
-(usually root) to be configured as a trusted user in the Nix daemon. This can be
-achieved by using the
-.Va nix.settings.trusted-users
-NixOS option. Examples values for that option are described in the
-.Dq Remote builds
-chapter in the Nix manual, (i.e.
-.Ql --builders \(dqssh://bigbrother x86_64-linux\(dq Ns
-). By specifying an empty string existing builders specified in
-.Pa /etc/nix/machines
-can be ignored:
-.Ql --builders \(dq\(dq
-for example when they are not reachable due to network connectivity.
-.
-.It Fl -profile-name Ar name , Fl p Ar name
-Instead of using the Nix profile
-.Pa /nix/var/nix/profiles/system
-to keep track of the current and previous system configurations, use
-.Pa /nix/var/nix/profiles/system-profiles/ Ns Va name Ns
-\&. When you use GRUB 2, for every system profile created with this flag, NixOS
-will create a submenu named
-.Dq NixOS - Profile Va name
-in GRUB’s boot menu, containing the current and previous configurations of this profile.
-.Pp
-For instance, if you want to test a configuration file named
-.Pa test.nix
-without affecting the default system profile, you would do:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-$ nixos-rebuild switch -p test -I nixos-config=./test.nix
-.Ed
-.Pp
-The new configuration will appear in the GRUB 2 submenu
-.Dq NixOS - Profile 'test' Ns
-\&.
-.
-.It Fl -specialisation Ar name , Fl c Ar name
-Activates given specialisation; when not specified, switching and testing
-will activate the base, unspecialised system.
-.
-.It Fl -build-host Ar host
-Instead of building the new configuration locally, use the specified host
-to perform the build. The host needs to be accessible with
-.Ic ssh Ns ,
-and must be able to perform Nix builds. If the option
-.Fl -target-host
-is not set, the build will be copied back to the local machine when done.
-.Pp
-Note that, if
-.Fl -no-build-nix
-is not specified, Nix will be built both locally and remotely. This is because
-the configuration will always be evaluated locally even though the building
-might be performed remotely.
-.Pp
-You can include a remote user name in the host name
-.Ns ( Va user@host Ns
-). You can also set ssh options by defining the
-.Ev NIX_SSHOPTS
-environment variable.
-.
-.It Fl -target-host Ar host
-Specifies the NixOS target host. By setting this to something other than an
-empty string, the system activation will happen on the remote host instead of
-the local machine. The remote host needs to be accessible over
-.Ic ssh Ns ,
-and for the commands
-.Cm switch Ns
-,
-.Cm boot
-and
-.Cm test
-you need root access.
-.Pp
-If
-.Fl -build-host
-is not explicitly specified or empty, building will take place locally.
-.Pp
-You can include a remote user name in the host name
-.Ns ( Va user@host Ns
-). You can also set ssh options by defining the
-.Ev NIX_SSHOPTS
-environment variable.
-.Pp
-Note that
-.Nm
-honors the
-.Va nixpkgs.crossSystem
-setting of the given configuration but disregards the true architecture of the
-target host. Hence the
-.Va nixpkgs.crossSystem
-setting has to match the target platform or else activation will fail.
-.
-.It Fl -use-substitutes
-When set, nixos-rebuild will add
-.Fl -use-substitutes
-to each invocation of nix-copy-closure. This will only affect the behavior of
-nixos-rebuild if
-.Fl -target-host
-or
-.Fl -build-host
-is also set. This is useful when the target-host connection to cache.nixos.org
-is faster than the connection between hosts.
-.
-.It Fl -use-remote-sudo
-When set, nixos-rebuild prefixes remote commands that run on the
-.Fl -build-host
-and
-.Fl -target-host
-systems with
-.Ic sudo Ns
-\&. Setting this option allows deploying as a non-root user.
-.
-.It Fl -flake Va flake-uri Ns Op Va #name
-Build the NixOS system from the specified flake. It defaults to the directory
-containing the target of the symlink
-.Pa /etc/nixos/flake.nix Ns
-, if it exists. The flake must contain an output named
-.Ql nixosConfigurations. Ns Va name Ns
-\&. If
-.Va name
-is omitted, it default to the current host name.
-.
-.It Fl -no-flake
-Do not imply
-.Fl -flake
-if
-.Pa /etc/nixos/flake.nix
-exists. With this option, it is possible to build non-flake NixOS configurations
-even if the current NixOS systems uses flakes.
-.El
-.Pp
-In addition,
-.Nm
-accepts various Nix-related flags, including
-.Fl -max-jobs Ns ,
-.Fl j Ns ,
-.Fl I Ns ,
-.Fl -show-trace Ns ,
-.Fl -keep-failed Ns ,
-.Fl -keep-going Ns ,
-.Fl -impure Ns ,
-.Fl -verbose Ns , and
-.Fl v Ns
-\&. See the Nix manual for details.
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh ENVIRONMENT
-.Bl -tag -width indent
-.It Ev NIXOS_CONFIG
-Path to the main NixOS configuration module. Defaults to
-.Pa /etc/nixos/configuration.nix Ns
-\&.
-.
-.It Ev NIX_PATH
-A colon-separated list of directories used to look up Nix expressions enclosed
-in angle brackets (e.g. <nixpkgs>). Example:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-nixpkgs=./my-nixpkgs
-.Ed
-.
-.It Ev NIX_SSHOPTS
-Additional options to be passed to
-.Ic ssh
-on the command line.
-.El
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh FILES
-.Bl -tag -width indent
-.It Pa /etc/nixos/flake.nix
-If this file exists, then
-.Nm
-will use it as if the
-.Fl -flake
-option was given. This file may be a symlink to a
-.Pa flake.nix
-in an actual flake; thus
-.Pa /etc/nixos
-need not be a flake.
-.
-.It Pa /run/current-system
-A symlink to the currently active system configuration in the Nix store.
-.
-.It Pa /nix/var/nix/profiles/system
-The Nix profile that contains the current and previous system
-configurations. Used to generate the GRUB boot menu.
-.El
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh BUGS
-This command should be renamed to something more descriptive.
-.
-.
-.
-.Sh AUTHORS
-.An -nosplit
-.An Eelco Dolstra
-and
-.An the Nixpkgs/NixOS contributors
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-build-vms.8 b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-build-vms.8
index 6a8f2c42edd..6a8f2c42edd 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-build-vms.8
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-build-vms.8
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-enter.8 b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-enter.8
index 646f92199d6..646f92199d6 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-enter.8
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-enter.8
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-generate-config.8 b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-generate-config.8
index 1b95599e156..1b95599e156 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-generate-config.8
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-generate-config.8
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-install.8 b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-install.8
index c6c8ed15224..c6c8ed15224 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-install.8
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-install.8
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-version.8 b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-version.8
index f661611599f..f661611599f 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/manpages/nixos-version.8
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/manpages/nixos-version.8
diff --git a/nixos/modules/installer/tools/tools.nix b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/tools.nix
index 4dce4f99805..6564b583464 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/installer/tools/tools.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/tools.nix
@@ -9,12 +9,19 @@ let
   makeProg = args: pkgs.substituteAll (args // {
     dir = "bin";
     isExecutable = true;
+    nativeBuildInputs = [
+      pkgs.installShellFiles
+    ];
+    postInstall = ''
+      installManPage ${args.manPage}
+    '';
   });
 
   nixos-build-vms = makeProg {
     name = "nixos-build-vms";
     src = ./nixos-build-vms/nixos-build-vms.sh;
     inherit (pkgs) runtimeShell;
+    manPage = ./manpages/nixos-build-vms.8;
   };
 
   nixos-install = makeProg {
@@ -27,6 +34,7 @@ let
       nixos-enter
       pkgs.util-linuxMinimal
     ];
+    manPage = ./manpages/nixos-install.8;
   };
 
   nixos-rebuild = pkgs.nixos-rebuild.override { nix = config.nix.package.out; };
@@ -40,6 +48,7 @@ let
     btrfs = "${pkgs.btrfs-progs}/bin/btrfs";
     inherit (config.system.nixos-generate-config) configuration desktopConfiguration;
     xserverEnabled = config.services.xserver.enable;
+    manPage = ./manpages/nixos-generate-config.8;
   };
 
   inherit (pkgs) nixos-option;
@@ -57,6 +66,7 @@ let
     } // optionalAttrs (config.system.configurationRevision != null) {
       configurationRevision = config.system.configurationRevision;
     });
+    manPage = ./manpages/nixos-version.8;
   };
 
   nixos-enter = makeProg {
@@ -66,6 +76,7 @@ let
     path = makeBinPath [
       pkgs.util-linuxMinimal
     ];
+    manPage = ./manpages/nixos-enter.8;
   };
 
 in
diff --git a/nixos/modules/misc/documentation.nix b/nixos/modules/misc/documentation.nix
index 820450e3ce2..46462c5abd4 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/misc/documentation.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/misc/documentation.nix
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ in
       system.build.manual = manual;
 
       environment.systemPackages = []
-        ++ optional cfg.man.enable manual.manpages
+        ++ optional cfg.man.enable manual.nixos-configuration-reference-manpage
         ++ optionals cfg.doc.enable [ manual.manualHTML nixos-help ];
     })
 
diff --git a/nixos/release.nix b/nixos/release.nix
index 93ebe000fc0..6da6faab73b 100644
--- a/nixos/release.nix
+++ b/nixos/release.nix
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ in rec {
   manualHTML = buildFromConfig ({ ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.manual.manualHTML);
   manual = manualHTML; # TODO(@oxij): remove eventually
   manualEpub = (buildFromConfig ({ ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.manual.manualEpub));
-  manpages = buildFromConfig ({ ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.manual.manpages);
+  nixos-configuration-reference-manpage = buildFromConfig ({ ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.manual.nixos-configuration-reference-manpage);
   options = (buildFromConfig ({ ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.manual.optionsJSON)).x86_64-linux;