nix-env --query - display information
about packages
nix-env {--query |
-q} names…
[--installed | --available |
-a] [{--status |
-s}] [{--attr-path |
-P}] [--no-name]
[{--compare-versions | -c}]
[--system] [--drv-path]
[--out-path] [--description]
[--meta] [--xml]
[--json] [{--prebuilt-only |
-b}] [{--attr |
-A} attribute-path]
The query operation displays information about either the store
paths that are installed in the current generation of the active profile
(--installed), or the derivations that are available
for installation in the active Nix expression
(--available). It only prints information about
derivations whose symbolic name matches one of names.
The derivations are sorted by their name
attributes.
The following flags specify the set of things on which the query
operates.
- •
- --installed
- The query operates on the store paths that are installed in the current
generation of the active profile. This is the default.
- •
- --available / -a
- The query operates on the derivations that are available in the active Nix
expression.
The following flags specify what information to display about the
selected derivations. Multiple flags may be specified, in which case the
information is shown in the order given here. Note that the name of the
derivation is shown unless --no-name is
specified.
- •
- --xml
- Print the result in an XML representation suitable for automatic
processing by other tools. The root element is called
items, which contains a
item element for each available or installed
derivation. The fields discussed below are all stored in attributes of the
item elements.
- •
- --json
- Print the result in a JSON representation suitable for automatic
processing by other tools.
- •
- --prebuilt-only / -b
- Show only derivations for which a substitute is registered, i.e., there is
a pre-built binary available that can be downloaded in lieu of building
the derivation. Thus, this shows all packages that probably can be
installed quickly.
- •
- --status / -s
- Print the status of the derivation. The status consists of three
characters. The first is I or
-, indicating whether the derivation is currently
installed in the current generation of the active profile. This is by
definition the case for --installed, but not for
--available. The second is
P or -, indicating whether
the derivation is present on the system. This indicates whether
installation of an available derivation will require the derivation to be
built. The third is S or
-, indicating whether a substitute is available
for the derivation.
- •
- --attr-path / -P
- Print the attribute path of the derivation, which can be used to
unambiguously select it using the --attr option
available in commands that install derivations like
nix-env --install. This option only works together
with --available
- •
- --no-name
- Suppress printing of the name attribute of each
derivation.
- •
- --compare-versions /
-c
- Compare installed versions to available versions, or vice versa (if
--available is given). This is useful for quickly
seeing whether upgrades for installed packages are available in a Nix
expression. A column is added with the following meaning:
- •
- < version
- A newer version of the package is available or installed.
- •
- = version
- At most the same version of the package is available or installed.
- •
- > version
- Only older versions of the package are available or installed.
- •
- - ?
- No version of the package is available or installed.
- •
- --system
- Print the system attribute of the derivation.
- •
- --drv-path
- Print the path of the
store
derivation.
- •
- --out-path
- Print the output path of the derivation.
- •
- --description
- Print a short (one-line) description of the derivation, if available. The
description is taken from the meta.description
attribute of the derivation.
- •
- --meta
- Print all of the meta-attributes of the derivation. This option is only
available with --xml or
--json.
{{#include ./opt-common.md}}
{{#include ../opt-common.md}}
{{#include ./env-common.md}}
{{#include ../env-common.md}}
To show installed packages:
$ nix-env --query
bison-1.875c
docbook-xml-4.2
firefox-1.0.4
MPlayer-1.0pre7
ORBit2-2.8.3
…
To show available packages:
$ nix-env --query --available
firefox-1.0.7
GConf-2.4.0.1
MPlayer-1.0pre7
ORBit2-2.8.3
…
To show the status of available packages:
$ nix-env --query --available --status
-P- firefox-1.0.7 (not installed but present)
--S GConf-2.4.0.1 (not present, but there is a substitute for fast installation)
--S MPlayer-1.0pre3 (i.e., this is not the installed MPlayer, even though the version is the same!)
IP- ORBit2-2.8.3 (installed and by definition present)
…
To show available packages in the Nix expression
foo.nix:
$ nix-env --file ./foo.nix --query --available
foo-1.2.3
To compare installed versions to what’s available:
$ nix-env --query --compare-versions
...
acrobat-reader-7.0 - ? (package is not available at all)
autoconf-2.59 = 2.59 (same version)
firefox-1.0.4 < 1.0.7 (a more recent version is available)
...
To show all packages with
“zip” in the name:
$ nix-env --query --available '.*zip.*'
bzip2-1.0.6
gzip-1.6
zip-3.0
…
To show all packages with
“firefox” or
“chromium” in the name:
$ nix-env --query --available '.*(firefox|chromium).*'
chromium-37.0.2062.94
chromium-beta-38.0.2125.24
firefox-32.0.3
firefox-with-plugins-13.0.1
…
To show all packages in the latest revision of the Nixpkgs
repository:
$ nix-env --file https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/master.tar.gz --query --available