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1<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
2 xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
3 xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
4 version="5.0"
5 xml:id="sec-declarative-package-mgmt">
6 <title>Declarative Package Management</title>
7
8 <para>
9 With declarative package management, you specify which packages you want on
10 your system by setting the option
11 <xref linkend="opt-environment.systemPackages"/>. For instance, adding the
12 following line to <filename>configuration.nix</filename> enables the Mozilla
13 Thunderbird email application:
14<programlisting>
15<xref linkend="opt-environment.systemPackages"/> = [ pkgs.thunderbird ];
16</programlisting>
17 The effect of this specification is that the Thunderbird package from Nixpkgs
18 will be built or downloaded as part of the system when you run
19 <command>nixos-rebuild switch</command>.
20 </para>
21
22 <para>
23 You can get a list of the available packages as follows:
24<screen>
25$ nix-env -qaP '*' --description
26nixos.firefox firefox-23.0 Mozilla Firefox - the browser, reloaded
27<replaceable>...</replaceable>
28</screen>
29 The first column in the output is the <emphasis>attribute name</emphasis>,
30 such as <literal>nixos.thunderbird</literal>. (The <literal>nixos</literal>
31 prefix allows distinguishing between different channels that you might have.)
32 </para>
33
34 <para>
35 To “uninstall” a package, simply remove it from
36 <xref linkend="opt-environment.systemPackages"/> and run
37 <command>nixos-rebuild switch</command>.
38 </para>
39
40 <xi:include href="customizing-packages.xml" />
41
42 <xi:include href="adding-custom-packages.xml" />
43</section>