# 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_14;
    ```

    The latter option definition changes the default PostgreSQL package
    used by NixOS's PostgreSQL service to 14.x. For more information on
    packages, including how to add new ones, see
    [](#sec-custom-packages).