guix.texi

definitions to Guix proper (@pxref{Contributing}).  Guix as a project is open
to free software of all sorts, and packages in Guix proper are readily
available to all Guix users and benefit from the project's quality assurance
process.

@item
When you maintain package definitions outside Guix, we, Guix developers,
consider that @emph{the compatibility burden is on you}.  Remember that
package modules and package definitions are just Scheme code that uses various
programming interfaces (APIs).  We want to remain free to change these APIs to
keep improving Guix, possibly in ways that break your channel.  We never
change APIs gratuitously, but we will @emph{not} commit to freezing APIs
either.

@item
Corollary: if you're using an external channel and that channel breaks, please
@emph{report the issue to the channel authors}, not to the Guix project.
@end itemize

You've been warned!  Having said this, we believe external channels are a
practical way to exert your freedom to augment Guix' package collection and to
share your improvements, which are basic tenets of
@uref{https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html, free software}.  Please
email us at @email{guix-devel@@gnu.org} if you'd like to discuss this.
@end quotation

To use a channel, write @code{~/.config/guix/channels.scm} to instruct
@command{guix pull} to pull from it @emph{in addition} to the default Guix
channel(s):

@vindex %default-channels
@lisp
;; Add my personal packages to those Guix provides.
(cons (channel
        (name 'my-personal-packages)
        (url "https://example.org/personal-packages.git"))
      %default-channels)
@end lisp

@noindent
Note that the snippet above is (as always!)@: Scheme code; we use @code{cons} to
add a channel the list of channels that the variable @code{%default-channels}
is bound to (@pxref{Pairs, @code{cons} and lists,, guile, GNU Guile Reference
Manual}).  With this file in place, @command{guix pull} builds not only Guix
but also the package modules from your own repository.  The result in
@file{~/.config/guix/current} is the union of Guix with your own package
modules:

@example
$ guix pull --list-generations
@dots{}
Generation 19	Aug 27 2018 16:20:48
  guix d894ab8
    repository URL: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix.git
    branch: master
    commit: d894ab8e9bfabcefa6c49d9ba2e834dd5a73a300
  my-personal-packages dd3df5e
    repository URL: https://example.org/personal-packages.git
    branch: master
    commit: dd3df5e2c8818760a8fc0bd699e55d3b69fef2bb
  11 new packages: my-gimp, my-emacs-with-cool-features, @dots{}
  4 packages upgraded: emacs-racket-mode@@0.0.2-2.1b78827, @dots{}
@end example

@noindent
The output of @command{guix pull} above shows that Generation@tie{}19 includes
both Guix and packages from the @code{my-personal-packages} channel.  Among
the new and upgraded packages that are listed, some like @code{my-gimp} and
@code{my-emacs-with-cool-features} might come from
@code{my-personal-packages}, while others come from the Guix default channel.

To create a channel, create a Git repository containing your own package
modules and make it available.  The repository can contain anything, but a
useful channel will contain Guile modules that export packages.  Once you
start using a channel, Guix will behave as if the root directory of that
channel's Git repository has been added to the Guile load path (@pxref{Load
Paths,,, guile, GNU Guile Reference Manual}).  For example, if your channel
contains a file at @file{my-packages/my-tools.scm} that defines a Guile
module, then the module will be available under the name @code{(my-packages
my-tools)}, and you will be able to use it like any other module
(@pxref{Modules,,, guile, GNU Guile Reference Manual}).

@cindex dependencies, channels
@cindex meta-data, channels
@subsection Declaring Channel Dependencies

Channel authors may decide to augment a package collection provided by other
channels.  They can declare their channel to be dependent on other channels in
a meta-data file @file{.guix-channel}, which is to be placed in the root of
the channel repository.

The meta-data file should contain a simple S-expression like this:

@lisp
(channel
 (version 0)
 (dependencies
  (channel
   (name some-collection)
   (url "https://example.org/first-collection.git"))
  (channel
   (name some-other-collection)
   (url "https://example.org/second-collection.git")
   (branch "testing"))))
@end lisp

In the above example this channel is declared to depend on two other channels,
which will both be fetched automatically.  The modules provided by the channel
will be compiled in an environment where the modules of all these declared
channels are available.

For the sake of reliability and maintainability, you should avoid dependencies
on channels that you don't control, and you should aim to keep the number of
dependencies to a minimum.

@cindex subdirectory, channels
@subsection Package Modules in a Sub-directory

As a channel author, you may want to keep your channel modules in a
sub-directory.  If your modules are in the sub-directory @file{guix}, you must
add a meta-data file @file{.guix-channel} that contains:

@lisp
(channel
  (version 0)
  (directory "guix"))
@end lisp

@cindex news, for channels
@subsection Writing Channel News

Channel authors may occasionally want to communicate to their users
information about important changes in the channel.  You'd send them all
an email, but that's not convenient.

Instead, channels can provide a @dfn{news file}; when the channel users
run @command{guix pull}, that news file is automatically read and
@command{guix pull --news} can display the announcements that correspond
to the new commits that have been pulled, if any.

To do that, channel authors must first declare the name of the news file
in their @file{.guix-channel} file:

@lisp
(channel
  (version 0)
  (news-file "etc/news.txt"))
@end lisp

The news file itself, @file{etc/news.txt} in this example, must look
something like this:

@lisp
(channel-news
  (version 0)
  (entry (tag "the-bug-fix")
         (title (en "Fixed terrible bug")
                (fr "Oh la la"))
         (body (en "@@emph@{Good news@}!  It's fixed!")
               (eo "Certe ĝi pli bone funkcias nun!")))
  (entry (commit "bdcabe815cd28144a2d2b4bc3c5057b051fa9906")
         (title (en "Added a great package")
                (ca "Què vol dir guix?"))
         (body (en "Don't miss the @@code@{hello@} package!"))))
@end lisp

The file consists of a list of @dfn{news entries}.  Each entry is
associated with a commit or tag: it describes changes made in this
commit, possibly in preceding commits as well.  Users see entries only
the first time they obtain the commit the entry refers to.

The @code{title} field should be a one-line summary while @code{body}
can be arbitrarily long, and both can contain Texinfo markup
(@pxref{Overview,,, texinfo, GNU Texinfo}).  Both the title and body are
a list of language tag/message tuples, which allows @command{guix pull}
to display news in the language that corresponds to the user's locale.

If you want to translate news using a gettext-based workflow, you can
extract translatable strings with @command{xgettext} (@pxref{xgettext
Invocation,,, gettext, GNU Gettext Utilities}).  For example, assuming
you write news entries in English first, the command below creates a PO
file containing the strings to translate:

@example
xgettext -o news.po -l scheme -ken etc/news.scm
@end example

To sum up, yes, you could use your channel as a blog.  But beware, this
is @emph{not quite} what your users might expect.

@subsection Replicating Guix

@cindex pinning, channels
@cindex replicating Guix
@cindex reproducibility, of Guix
The @command{guix pull --list-generations} output above shows precisely which
commits were used to build this instance of Guix.  We can thus replicate it,
say, on another machine, by providing a channel specification in
@file{~/.config/guix/channels.scm} that is ``pinned'' to these commits:

@lisp
;; Deploy specific commits of my channels of interest.
(list (channel
       (name 'guix)
       (url "https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix.git")
       (commit "d894ab8e9bfabcefa6c49d9ba2e834dd5a73a300"))
      (channel
       (name 'my-personal-packages)
       (url "https://example.org/personal-packages.git")
       (commit "dd3df5e2c8818760a8fc0bd699e55d3b69fef2bb")))
@end lisp

The @command{guix describe --format=channels} command can even generate this
list of channels directly (@pxref{Invoking guix describe}).  The resulting
file can be used with the -C options of @command{guix pull}
(@pxref{Invoking guix pull}) or @command{guix time-machine}
(@pxref{Invoking guix time-machine}).

At this point the two machines run the @emph{exact same Guix}, with access to
the @emph{exact same packages}.  The output of @command{guix build gimp} on
one machine will be exactly the same, bit for bit, as the output of the same
command on the other machine.  It also means both machines have access to all
the source code of Guix and, transitively, to all the source code of every
package it defines.

This gives you super powers, allowing you to track the provenance of binary
artifacts with very fine grain, and to reproduce software environments at
will---some sort of ``meta reproducibility'' capabilities, if you will.
@xref{Inferiors}, for another way to take advantage of these super powers.

@node Invoking guix time-machine
@section Invoking @command{guix time-machine}

@cindex @command{guix time-machine}
@cindex pinning, channels
@cindex replicating Guix
@cindex reproducibility, of Guix

The @command{guix time-machine} command provides access to other
revisions of Guix, for example to install older versions of packages,
or to reproduce a computation in an identical environment.  The revision
of Guix to be used is defined by a commit or by a channel
description file created by @command{guix describe}
(@pxref{Invoking guix describe}).

The general syntax is:

@example
guix time-machine @var{options}@dots{} -- @var{command} @var {arg}@dots{}
@end example

where @var{command} and @var{arg}@dots{} are passed unmodified to the
@command{guix} command of the specified revision.  The @var{options} that define
this revision are the same as for @command{guix pull} (@pxref{Invoking guix pull}):

@table @code
@item --url=@var{url}
@itemx --commit=@var{commit}
@itemx --branch=@var{branch}
Use the @code{guix} channel from the specified @var{url}, at the
given @var{commit} (a valid Git commit ID represented as a hexadecimal
string), or @var{branch}.

@item --channels=@var{file}
@itemx -C @var{file}
Read the list of channels from @var{file}.  @var{file} must contain
Scheme code that evaluates to a list of channel objects.
@xref{Channels} for more information.
@end table

As for @command{guix pull}, the absence of any options means that the
the latest commit on the master branch will be used. The command

@example
guix time-machine -- build hello
@end example

will thus build the package @code{hello} as defined in the master branch,
which is in general a newer revision of Guix than you have installed.
Time travel works in both directions!

Note that @command{guix time-machine} can trigger builds of channels and
their dependencies, and these are controlled by the standard build
options (@pxref{Common Build Options}).

@node Inferiors
@section Inferiors

@c TODO: Remove this once we're more confident about API stability.
@quotation Note
The functionality described here is a ``technology preview'' as of version
@value{VERSION}.  As such, the interface is subject to change.
@end quotation

@cindex inferiors
@cindex composition of Guix revisions
Sometimes you might need to mix packages from the revision of Guix you're
currently running with packages available in a different revision of Guix.
Guix @dfn{inferiors} allow you to achieve that by composing different Guix
revisions in arbitrary ways.

@cindex inferior packages
Technically, an ``inferior'' is essentially a separate Guix process connected
to your main Guix process through a REPL (@pxref{Invoking guix repl}).  The
@code{(guix inferior)} module allows you to create inferiors and to
communicate with them.  It also provides a high-level interface to browse and
manipulate the packages that an inferior provides---@dfn{inferior packages}.

When combined with channels (@pxref{Channels}), inferiors provide a simple way
to interact with a separate revision of Guix.  For example, let's assume you
want to install in your profile the current @code{guile} package, along with
the @code{guile-json} as it existed in an older revision of Guix---perhaps
because the newer @code{guile-json} has an incompatible API and you want to
run your code against the old API@.  To do that, you could write a manifest for
use by @code{guix package --manifest} (@pxref{Invoking guix package}); in that
manifest, you would create an inferior for that old Guix revision you care
about, and you would look up the @code{guile-json} package in the inferior:

@lisp
(use-modules (guix inferior) (guix channels)
             (srfi srfi-1))   ;for 'first'

(define channels
  ;; This is the old revision from which we want to
  ;; extract guile-json.
  (list (channel
         (name 'guix)
         (url "https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix.git")
         (commit
          "65956ad3526ba09e1f7a40722c96c6ef7c0936fe"))))

(define inferior
  ;; An inferior representing the above revision.
  (inferior-for-channels channels))

;; Now create a manifest with the current "guile" package
;; and the old "guile-json" package.
(packages->manifest
 (list (first (lookup-inferior-packages inferior "guile-json"))
       (specification->package "guile")))
@end lisp

On its first run, @command{guix package --manifest} might have to build the
channel you specified before it can create the inferior; subsequent runs will
be much faster because the Guix revision will be cached.

The @code{(guix inferior)} module provides the following procedures to open an
inferior:

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} inferior-for-channels @var{channels} @
   [#:cache-directory] [#:ttl]
Return an inferior for @var{channels}, a list of channels.  Use the cache at
@var{cache-directory}, where entries can be reclaimed after @var{ttl} seconds.
This procedure opens a new connection to the build daemon.

As a side effect, this procedure may build or substitute binaries for
@var{channels}, which can take time.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} open-inferior @var{directory} @
  [#:command "bin/guix"]
Open the inferior Guix in @var{directory}, running
@code{@var{directory}/@var{command} repl} or equivalent.  Return @code{#f} if
the inferior could not be launched.
@end deffn

@cindex inferior packages
The procedures listed below allow you to obtain and manipulate inferior
packages.

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} inferior-packages @var{inferior}
Return the list of packages known to @var{inferior}.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} lookup-inferior-packages @var{inferior} @var{name} @
   [@var{version}]
Return the sorted list of inferior packages matching @var{name} in
@var{inferior}, with highest version numbers first.  If @var{version} is true,
return only packages with a version number prefixed by @var{version}.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package? @var{obj}
Return true if @var{obj} is an inferior package.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-name @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-version @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-synopsis @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-description @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-home-page @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-location @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-inputs @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-native-inputs @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-propagated-inputs @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-transitive-propagated-inputs @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-native-search-paths @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-transitive-native-search-paths @var{package}
@deffnx {Scheme Procedure} inferior-package-search-paths @var{package}
These procedures are the counterpart of package record accessors
(@pxref{package Reference}).  Most of them work by querying the inferior
@var{package} comes from, so the inferior must still be live when you call
these procedures.
@end deffn

Inferior packages can be used transparently like any other package or
file-like object in G-expressions (@pxref{G-Expressions}).  They are also
transparently handled by the @code{packages->manifest} procedure, which is
commonly use in manifests (@pxref{Invoking guix package, the
@option{--manifest} option of @command{guix package}}).  Thus you can insert
an inferior package pretty much anywhere you would insert a regular package:
in manifests, in the @code{packages} field of your @code{operating-system}
declaration, and so on.

@node Invoking guix describe
@section Invoking @command{guix describe}

@cindex reproducibility
@cindex replicating Guix
Often you may want to answer questions like: ``Which revision of Guix am I
using?'' or ``Which channels am I using?''  This is useful information in many
situations: if you want to @emph{replicate} an environment on a different
machine or user account, if you want to report a bug or to determine what
change in the channels you are using caused it, or if you want to record your
system state for reproducibility purposes.  The @command{guix describe}
command answers these questions.

When run from a @command{guix pull}ed @command{guix}, @command{guix describe}
displays the channel(s) that it was built from, including their repository URL
and commit IDs (@pxref{Channels}):

@example
$ guix describe
Generation 10	Sep 03 2018 17:32:44	(current)
  guix e0fa68c
    repository URL: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix.git
    branch: master
    commit: e0fa68c7718fffd33d81af415279d6ddb518f727
@end example

If you're familiar with the Git version control system, this is similar in
spirit to @command{git describe}; the output is also similar to that of
@command{guix pull --list-generations}, but limited to the current generation
(@pxref{Invoking guix pull, the @option{--list-generations} option}).  Because
the Git commit ID shown above unambiguously refers to a snapshot of Guix, this
information is all it takes to describe the revision of Guix you're using, and
also to replicate it.

To make it easier to replicate Guix, @command{guix describe} can also be asked
to return a list of channels instead of the human-readable description above:

@example
$ guix describe -f channels
(list (channel
        (name 'guix)
        (url "https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix.git")
        (commit
          "e0fa68c7718fffd33d81af415279d6ddb518f727")))
@end example

@noindent
You can save this to a file and feed it to @command{guix pull -C} on some
other machine or at a later point in time, which will instantiate @emph{this
exact Guix revision} (@pxref{Invoking guix pull, the @option{-C} option}).
From there on, since you're able to deploy the same revision of Guix, you can
just as well @emph{replicate a complete software environment}.  We humbly
think that this is @emph{awesome}, and we hope you'll like it too!

The details of the options supported by @command{guix describe} are as
follows:

@table @code
@item --format=@var{format}
@itemx -f @var{format}
Produce output in the specified @var{format}, one of:

@table @code
@item human
produce human-readable output;
@item channels
produce a list of channel specifications that can be passed to @command{guix
pull -C} or installed as @file{~/.config/guix/channels.scm} (@pxref{Invoking
guix pull});
@item json
@cindex JSON
produce a list of channel specifications in JSON format;
@item recutils
produce a list of channel specifications in Recutils format.
@end table

@item --list-formats
Display available formats for @option{--format} option.

@item --profile=@var{profile}
@itemx -p @var{profile}
Display information about @var{profile}.
@end table

@node Invoking guix archive
@section Invoking @command{guix archive}

@cindex @command{guix archive}
@cindex archive
The @command{guix archive} command allows users to @dfn{export} files
from the store into a single archive, and to later @dfn{import} them on
a machine that runs Guix.
In particular, it allows store files to be transferred from one machine
to the store on another machine.

@quotation Note
If you're looking for a way to produce archives in a format suitable for
tools other than Guix, @pxref{Invoking guix pack}.
@end quotation

@cindex exporting store items
To export store files as an archive to standard output, run:

@example
guix archive --export @var{options} @var{specifications}...
@end example

@var{specifications} may be either store file names or package
specifications, as for @command{guix package} (@pxref{Invoking guix
package}).  For instance, the following command creates an archive
containing the @code{gui} output of the @code{git} package and the main
output of @code{emacs}:

@example
guix archive --export git:gui /gnu/store/...-emacs-24.3 > great.nar
@end example

If the specified packages are not built yet, @command{guix archive}
automatically builds them.  The build process may be controlled with the
common build options (@pxref{Common Build Options}).

To transfer the @code{emacs} package to a machine connected over SSH,
one would run:

@example
guix archive --export -r emacs | ssh the-machine guix archive --import
@end example

@noindent
Similarly, a complete user profile may be transferred from one machine
to another like this:

@example
guix archive --export -r $(readlink -f ~/.guix-profile) | \
  ssh the-machine guix archive --import
@end example

@noindent
However, note that, in both examples, all of @code{emacs} and the
profile as well as all of their dependencies are transferred (due to
@option{-r}), regardless of what is already available in the store on
the target machine.  The @option{--missing} option can help figure out
which items are missing from the target store.  The @command{guix copy}
command simplifies and optimizes this whole process, so this is probably
what you should use in this case (@pxref{Invoking guix copy}).

@cindex nar, archive format
@cindex normalized archive (nar)
Archives are stored in the ``normalized archive'' or ``nar'' format, which is
comparable in spirit to `tar', but with differences
that make it more appropriate for our purposes.  First, rather than
recording all Unix metadata for each file, the nar format only mentions
the file type (regular, directory, or symbolic link); Unix permissions
and owner/group are dismissed.  Second, the order in which directory
entries are stored always follows the order of file names according to
the C locale collation order.  This makes archive production fully
deterministic.

When exporting, the daemon digitally signs the contents of the archive,
and that digital signature is appended.  When importing, the daemon
verifies the signature and rejects the import in case of an invalid
signature or if the signing key is not authorized.
@c FIXME: Add xref to daemon doc about signatures.

The main options are:

@table @code
@item --export
Export the specified store files or packages (see below).  Write the
resulting archive to the standard output.

Dependencies are @emph{not} included in the output, unless
@option{--recursive} is passed.

@item -r
@itemx --recursive
When combined with @option{--export}, this instructs @command{guix archive}
to include dependencies of the given items in the archive.  Thus, the
resulting archive is self-contained: it contains the closure of the
exported store items.

@item --import
Read an archive from the standard input, and import the files listed
therein into the store.  Abort if the archive has an invalid digital
signature, or if it is signed by a public key not among the authorized
keys (see @option{--authorize} below).

@item --missing
Read a list of store file names from the standard input, one per line,
and write on the standard output the subset of these files missing from
the store.

@item --generate-key[=@var{parameters}]
@cindex signing, archives
Generate a new key pair for the daemon.  This is a prerequisite before
archives can be exported with @option{--export}.  Note that this
operation usually takes time, because it needs to gather enough entropy
to generate the key pair.

The generated key pair is typically stored under @file{/etc/guix}, in
@file{signing-key.pub} (public key) and @file{signing-key.sec} (private
key, which must be kept secret).  When @var{parameters} is omitted,
an ECDSA key using the Ed25519 curve is generated, or, for Libgcrypt
versions before 1.6.0, it is a 4096-bit RSA key.
Alternatively, @var{parameters} can specify
@code{genkey} parameters suitable for Libgcrypt (@pxref{General
public-key related Functions, @code{gcry_pk_genkey},, gcrypt, The
Libgcrypt Reference Manual}).

@item --authorize
@cindex authorizing, archives
Authorize imports signed by the public key passed on standard input.
The public key must be in ``s-expression advanced format''---i.e., the
same format as the @file{signing-key.pub} file.

The list of authorized keys is kept in the human-editable file
@file{/etc/guix/acl}.  The file contains
@url{https://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/Sexp.txt, ``advanced-format
s-expressions''} and is structured as an access-control list in the
@url{https://theworld.com/~cme/spki.txt, Simple Public-Key Infrastructure
(SPKI)}.

@item --extract=@var{directory}
@itemx -x @var{directory}
Read a single-item archive as served by substitute servers
(@pxref{Substitutes}) and extract it to @var{directory}.  This is a
low-level operation needed in only very narrow use cases; see below.

For example, the following command extracts the substitute for Emacs
served by @code{@value{SUBSTITUTE-SERVER}} to @file{/tmp/emacs}:

@example
$ wget -O - \
  https://@value{SUBSTITUTE-SERVER}/nar/gzip/@dots{}-emacs-24.5 \
  | gunzip | guix archive -x /tmp/emacs
@end example

Single-item archives are different from multiple-item archives produced
by @command{guix archive --export}; they contain a single store item,
and they do @emph{not} embed a signature.  Thus this operation does
@emph{no} signature verification and its output should be considered
unsafe.

The primary purpose of this operation is to facilitate inspection of
archive contents coming from possibly untrusted substitute servers
(@pxref{Invoking guix challenge}).

@item --list
@itemx -t
Read a single-item archive as served by substitute servers
(@pxref{Substitutes}) and print the list of files it contains, as in
this example:

@example
$ wget -O - \
  https://@value{SUBSTITUTE-SERVER}/nar/lzip/@dots{}-emacs-26.3 \
  | lzip -d | guix archive -t
@end example

@end table


@c *********************************************************************
@node Development
@chapter Development

@cindex software development
If you are a software developer, Guix provides tools that you should find
helpful---independently of the language you're developing in.  This is what
this chapter is about.

The @command{guix environment} command provides a convenient way to set up
@dfn{development environments} containing all the dependencies and tools
necessary to work on the software package of your choice.  The @command{guix
pack} command allows you to create @dfn{application bundles} that can be
easily distributed to users who do not run Guix.

@menu
* Invoking guix environment::  Setting up development environments.
* Invoking guix pack::         Creating software bundles.
* The GCC toolchain::          Working with languages supported by GCC.
@end menu

@node Invoking guix environment
@section Invoking @command{guix environment}

@cindex reproducible build environments
@cindex development environments
@cindex @command{guix environment}
@cindex environment, package build environment
The purpose of @command{guix environment} is to assist hackers in
creating reproducible development environments without polluting their
package profile.  The @command{guix environment} tool takes one or more
packages, builds all of their inputs, and creates a shell
environment to use them.

The general syntax is:

@example
guix environment @var{options} @var{package}@dots{}
@end example

The following example spawns a new shell set up for the development of
GNU@tie{}Guile:

@example
guix environment guile
@end example

If the needed dependencies are not built yet, @command{guix environment}
automatically builds them.  The environment of the new shell is an
augmented version of the environment that @command{guix environment} was
run in.  It contains the necessary search paths for building the given
package added to the existing environment variables.  To create
a ``pure'' environment, in which the original environment variables have
been unset, use the @option{--pure} option@footnote{Users sometimes
wrongfully augment environment variables such as @env{PATH} in their
@file{~/.bashrc} file.  As a consequence, when @command{guix
environment} launches it, Bash may read @file{~/.bashrc}, thereby
introducing ``impurities'' in these environment variables.  It is an
error to define such environment variables in @file{.bashrc}; instead,
they should be defined in @file{.bash_profile}, which is sourced only by
log-in shells.  @xref{Bash Startup Files,,, bash, The GNU Bash Reference
Manual}, for details on Bash start-up files.}.

@vindex GUIX_ENVIRONMENT
@command{guix environment} defines the @env{GUIX_ENVIRONMENT}
variable in the shell it spawns; its value is the file name of the
profile of this environment.  This allows users to, say, define a
specific prompt for development environments in their @file{.bashrc}
(@pxref{Bash Startup Files,,, bash, The GNU Bash Reference Manual}):

@example
if [ -n "$GUIX_ENVIRONMENT" ]
then
    export PS1="\u@@\h \w [dev]\$ "
fi
@end example

@noindent
...@: or to browse the profile:

@example
$ ls "$GUIX_ENVIRONMENT/bin"
@end example

Additionally, more than one package may be specified, in which case the
union of the inputs for the given packages are used.  For example, the
command below spawns a shell where all of the dependencies of both Guile
and Emacs are available:

@example
guix environment guile emacs
@end example

Sometimes an interactive shell session is not desired.  An arbitrary
command may be invoked by placing the @code{--} token to separate the
command from the rest of the arguments:

@example
guix environment guile -- make -j4
@end example

In other situations, it is more convenient to specify the list of
packages needed in the environment.  For example, the following command
runs @command{python} from an environment containing Python@tie{}2.7 and
NumPy:

@example
guix environment --ad-hoc python2-numpy python-2.7 -- python
@end example

Furthermore, one might want the dependencies of a package and also some
additional packages that are not build-time or runtime dependencies, but
are useful when developing nonetheless.  Because of this, the
@option{--ad-hoc} flag is positional.  Packages appearing before
@option{--ad-hoc} are interpreted as packages whose dependencies will be
added to the environment.  Packages appearing after are interpreted as
packages that will be added to the environment directly.  For example,
the following command creates a Guix development environment that
additionally includes Git and strace:

@example
guix environment --pure guix --ad-hoc git strace
@end example

@cindex container
Sometimes it is desirable to isolate the environment as much as
possible, for maximal purity and reproducibility.  In particular, when
using Guix on a host distro that is not Guix System, it is desirable to
prevent access to @file{/usr/bin} and other system-wide resources from
the development environment.  For example, the following command spawns
a Guile REPL in a ``container'' where only the store and the current
working directory are mounted:

@example
guix environment --ad-hoc --container guile -- guile
@end example

@quotation Note
The @option{--container} option requires Linux-libre 3.19 or newer.
@end quotation

@cindex certificates
Another typical use case for containers is to run security-sensitive
applications such as a web browser.  To run Eolie, we must expose and
share some files and directories; we include @code{nss-certs} and expose
@file{/etc/ssl/certs/} for HTTPS authentication; finally we preserve the
the @env{DISPLAY} environment variable since containerized graphical
applications won't display without it.

@example
guix environment --preserve='^DISPLAY$' --container --network \
  --expose=/etc/machine-id \
  --expose=/etc/ssl/certs/ \
  --share=$HOME/.local/share/eolie/=$HOME/.local/share/eolie/ \
  --ad-hoc eolie nss-certs dbus --  eolie
@end example

The available options are summarized below.

@table @code
@item --root=@var{file}
@itemx -r @var{file}
@cindex persistent environment
@cindex garbage collector root, for environments
Make @var{file} a symlink to the profile for this environment, and
register it as a garbage collector root.

This is useful if you want to protect your environment from garbage
collection, to make it ``persistent''.

When this option is omitted, the environment is protected from garbage
collection only for the duration of the @command{guix environment}
session.  This means that next time you recreate the same environment,
you could have to rebuild or re-download packages.  @xref{Invoking guix
gc}, for more on GC roots.

@item --expression=@var{expr}
@itemx -e @var{expr}
Create an environment for the package or list of packages that
@var{expr} evaluates to.

For example, running:

@example
guix environment -e '(@@ (gnu packages maths) petsc-openmpi)'
@end example

starts a shell with the environment for this specific variant of the
PETSc package.

Running:

@example
guix environment --ad-hoc -e '(@@ (gnu) %base-packages)'
@end example

starts a shell with all the base system packages available.

The above commands only use the default output of the given packages.
To select other outputs, two element tuples can be specified:

@example
guix environment --ad-hoc -e '(list (@@ (gnu packages bash) bash) "include")'
@end example

@item --load=@var{file}
@itemx -l @var{file}
Create an environment for the package or list of packages that the code
within @var{file} evaluates to.

As an example, @var{file} might contain a definition like this
(@pxref{Defining Packages}):

@lisp
@verbatiminclude environment-gdb.scm
@end lisp

@item --manifest=@var{file}
@itemx -m @var{file}
Create an environment for the packages contained in the manifest object
returned by the Scheme code in @var{file}.  This option can be repeated
several times, in which case the manifests are concatenated.

This is similar to the same-named option in @command{guix package}
(@pxref{profile-manifest, @option{--manifest}}) and uses the same
manifest files.

@item --ad-hoc
Include all specified packages in the resulting environment, as if an
@i{ad hoc} package were defined with them as inputs.  This option is
useful for quickly creating an environment without having to write a
package expression to contain the desired inputs.

For instance, the command:

@example
guix environment --ad-hoc guile guile-sdl -- guile
@end example

runs @command{guile} in an environment where Guile and Guile-SDL are
available.

Note that this example implicitly asks for the default output of
@code{guile} and @code{guile-sdl}, but it is possible to ask for a
specific output---e.g., @code{glib:bin} asks for the @code{bin} output
of @code{glib} (@pxref{Packages with Multiple Outputs}).

This option may be composed with the default behavior of @command{guix
environment}.  Packages appearing before @option{--ad-hoc} are
interpreted as packages whose dependencies will be added to the
environment, the default behavior.  Packages appearing after are
interpreted as packages that will be added to the environment directly.

@item --pure
Unset existing environment variables when building the new environment, except
those specified with @option{--preserve} (see below).  This has the effect of
creating an environment in which search paths only contain package inputs.

@item --preserve=@var{regexp}
@itemx -E @var{regexp}
When used alongside @option{--pure}, preserve the environment variables
matching @var{regexp}---in other words, put them on a ``white list'' of
environment variables that must be preserved.  This option can be repeated
several times.

@example
guix environment --pure --preserve=^SLURM --ad-hoc openmpi @dots{} \
  -- mpirun @dots{}
@end example

This example runs @command{mpirun} in a context where the only environment
variables defined are @env{PATH}, environment variables whose name starts
with @samp{SLURM}, as well as the usual ``precious'' variables (@env{HOME},
@env{USER}, etc.).

@item --search-paths
Display the environment variable definitions that make up the
environment.

@item --system=@var{system}
@itemx -s @var{system}
Attempt to build for @var{system}---e.g., @code{i686-linux}.

@item --container
@itemx -C
@cindex container
Run @var{command} within an isolated container.  The current working
directory outside the container is mapped inside the container.
Additionally, unless overridden with @option{--user}, a dummy home
directory is created that matches the current user's home directory, and
@file{/etc/passwd} is configured accordingly.

The spawned process runs as the current user outside the container.  Inside
the container, it has the same UID and GID as the current user, unless
@option{--user} is passed (see below).

@item --network
@itemx -N
For containers, share the network namespace with the host system.
Containers created without this flag only have access to the loopback
device.

@item --link-profile
@itemx -P
For containers, link the environment profile to @file{~/.guix-profile}
within the container.  This is equivalent to running the command
@samp{ln -s $GUIX_ENVIRONMENT ~/.guix-profile} within the container.
Linking will fail and abort the environment if the directory already
exists, which will certainly be the case if @command{guix environment}
was invoked in the user's home directory.

Certain packages are configured to look in @file{~/.guix-profile} for
configuration files and data;@footnote{For example, the
@code{fontconfig} package inspects @file{~/.guix-profile/share/fonts}
for additional fonts.}  @option{--link-profile} allows these programs to
behave as expected within the environment.

@item --user=@var{user}
@itemx -u @var{user}
For containers, use the username @var{user} in place of the current
user.  The generated @file{/etc/passwd} entry within the container will
contain the name @var{user}, the home directory will be
@file{/home/@var{user}}, and no user GECOS data will be copied.  Furthermore,
the UID and GID inside the container are 1000.  @var{user}
need not exist on the system.