1 files changed, 175 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/configuration/config-file.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/configuration/config-file.section.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f21ba113bf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/configuration/config-file.section.md
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+# NixOS Configuration File {#sec-configuration-file}
+
+The NixOS configuration file generally looks like this:
+
+```nix
+{ config, pkgs, ... }:
+
+{ option definitions
+}
+```
+
+The first line (`{ config, pkgs, ... }:`) denotes that this is actually
+a function that takes at least the two arguments `config` and `pkgs`.
+(These are explained later, in chapter [](#sec-writing-modules)) The
+function returns a *set* of option definitions (`{ ... }`).
+These definitions have the form `name = value`, where `name` is the
+name of an option and `value` is its value. For example,
+
+```nix
+{ config, pkgs, ... }:
+
+{ services.httpd.enable = true;
+  services.httpd.adminAddr = "alice@example.org";
+  services.httpd.virtualHosts.localhost.documentRoot = "/webroot";
+}
+```
+
+defines a configuration with three option definitions that together
+enable the Apache HTTP Server with `/webroot` as the document root.
+
+Sets can be nested, and in fact dots in option names are shorthand for
+defining a set containing another set. For instance,
+[](#opt-services.httpd.enable) defines a set named
+`services` that contains a set named `httpd`, which in turn contains an
+option definition named `enable` with value `true`. This means that the
+example above can also be written as:
+
+```nix
+{ config, pkgs, ... }:
+
+{ services = {
+    httpd = {
+      enable = true;
+      adminAddr = "alice@example.org";
+      virtualHosts = {
+        localhost = {
+          documentRoot = "/webroot";
+        };
+      };
+    };
+  };
+}
+```
+
+which may be more convenient if you have lots of option definitions that
+share the same prefix (such as `services.httpd`).
+
+NixOS checks your option definitions for correctness. For instance, if
+you try to define an option that doesn't exist (that is, doesn't have a
+corresponding *option declaration*), `nixos-rebuild` will give an error
+like:
+
+```plain
+The option `services.httpd.enable' defined in `/etc/nixos/configuration.nix' does not exist.
+```
+
+Likewise, values in option definitions must have a correct type. For
+instance, `services.httpd.enable` must be a Boolean (`true` or `false`).
+Trying to give it a value of another type, such as a string, will cause
+an error:
+
+```plain
+The option value `services.httpd.enable' in `/etc/nixos/configuration.nix' is not a boolean.
+```
+
+Options have various types of values. The most important are:
+
+Strings
+
+:   Strings are enclosed in double quotes, e.g.
+
+    ```nix
+    networking.hostName = "dexter";
+    ```
+
+    Special characters can be escaped by prefixing them with a backslash
+    (e.g. `\"`).
+
+    Multi-line strings can be enclosed in *double single quotes*, e.g.
+
+    ```nix
+    networking.extraHosts =
+      ''
+        127.0.0.2 other-localhost
+        10.0.0.1 server
+      '';
+    ```
+
+    The main difference is that it strips from each line a number of
+    spaces equal to the minimal indentation of the string as a whole
+    (disregarding the indentation of empty lines), and that characters
+    like `"` and `\` are not special (making it more convenient for
+    including things like shell code). See more info about this in the
+    Nix manual [here](https://nixos.org/nix/manual/#ssec-values).
+
+Booleans
+
+:   These can be `true` or `false`, e.g.
+
+    ```nix
+    networking.firewall.enable = true;
+    networking.firewall.allowPing = false;
+    ```
+
+Integers
+
+:   For example,
+
+    ```nix
+    boot.kernel.sysctl."net.ipv4.tcp_keepalive_time" = 60;
+    ```
+
+    (Note that here the attribute name `net.ipv4.tcp_keepalive_time` is
+    enclosed in quotes to prevent it from being interpreted as a set
+    named `net` containing a set named `ipv4`, and so on. This is
+    because it's not a NixOS option but the literal name of a Linux
+    kernel setting.)
+
+Sets
+
+:   Sets were introduced above. They are name/value pairs enclosed in
+    braces, as in the option definition
+
+    ```nix
+    fileSystems."/boot" =
+      { device = "/dev/sda1";
+        fsType = "ext4";
+        options = [ "rw" "data=ordered" "relatime" ];
+      };
+    ```
+
+Lists
+
+:   The important thing to note about lists is that list elements are
+    separated by whitespace, like this:
+
+    ```nix
+    boot.kernelModules = [ "fuse" "kvm-intel" "coretemp" ];
+    ```
+
+    List elements can be any other type, e.g. sets:
+
+    ```nix
+    swapDevices = [ { device = "/dev/disk/by-label/swap"; } ];
+    ```
+
+Packages
+
+:   Usually, the packages you need are already part of the Nix Packages
+    collection, which is a set that can be accessed through the function
+    argument `pkgs`. Typical uses:
+
+    ```nix
+    environment.systemPackages =
+      [ pkgs.thunderbird
+        pkgs.emacs
+      ];
+
+    services.postgresql.package = pkgs.postgresql_10;
+    ```
+
+    The latter option definition changes the default PostgreSQL package
+    used by NixOS's PostgreSQL service to 10.x. For more information on
+    packages, including how to add new ones, see
+    [](#sec-custom-packages).