nixpkgs/doc/package-notes.xml

<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
         xml:id="chap-introduction">

<title>Package Notes</title>

<para>This chapter contains information about how to use and maintain
the Nix expressions for a number of specific packages, such as the
Linux kernel or X.org.</para>


<!--============================================================-->

<section>

<title>Linux kernel</title>

<para>The Nix expressions to build the Linux kernel are in <link
xlink:href="https://svn.nixos.org/repos/nix/nixpkgs/trunk/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel"><filename>pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel</filename></link>.</para>

<para>The function that builds the kernel has an argument
<varname>kernelPatches</varname> which should be a list of
<literal>{name, patch, extraConfig}</literal> attribute sets, where
<varname>name</varname> is the name of the patch (which is included in
the kernel’s <varname>meta.description</varname> attribute),
<varname>patch</varname> is the patch itself (possibly compressed),
and <varname>extraConfig</varname> (optional) is a string specifying
extra options to be concatenated to the kernel configuration file
(<filename>.config</filename>).</para>

<para>The kernel derivation exports an attribute
<varname>features</varname> specifying whether optional functionality
is or isn’t enabled.  This is used in NixOS to implement
kernel-specific behaviour.  For instance, if the kernel has the
<varname>iwlwifi</varname> feature (i.e. has built-in support for
Intel wireless chipsets), then NixOS doesn’t have to build the
external <varname>iwlwifi</varname> package:

<programlisting>
modulesTree = [kernel]
  ++ pkgs.lib.optional (!kernel.features ? iwlwifi) kernelPackages.iwlwifi
  ++ ...;
</programlisting>

</para>

<para>How to add a new (major) version of the Linux kernel to Nixpkgs:

<orderedlist>

  <listitem>
    <para>Copy (<command>svn cp</command>) the old Nix expression
    (e.g. <filename>linux-2.6.21.nix</filename>) to the new one
    (e.g. <filename>linux-2.6.22.nix</filename>) and update it.</para>
  </listitem>

  <listitem>
    <para>Add the new kernel to <filename>all-packages.nix</filename>
    (e.g., create an attribute
    <varname>kernel_2_6_22</varname>).</para>
  </listitem>

  <listitem>
    <para>Now we’re going to update the kernel configuration.  First
    unpack the kernel.  Then for each supported platform
    (<literal>i686</literal>, <literal>x86_64</literal>,
    <literal>uml</literal>) do the following:

      <orderedlist>

        <listitem>
          <para>Make an <command>svn copy</command> from the old
          config (e.g. <filename>config-2.6.21-i686-smp</filename>) to
          the new one
          (e.g. <filename>config-2.6.22-i686-smp</filename>).</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>Copy the config file for this platform
          (e.g. <filename>config-2.6.22-i686-smp</filename>) to
          <filename>.config</filename> in the kernel source tree.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>Run <literal>make oldconfig
          ARCH=<replaceable>{i386,x86_64,um}</replaceable></literal>
          and answer all questions.  (For the uml configuration, also
          add <literal>SHELL=bash</literal>.)  Make sure to keep the
          configuration consistent between platforms (i.e. don’t
          enable some feature on <literal>i686</literal> and disable
          it on <literal>x86_64</literal>).
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>If needed you can also run <literal>make
          menuconfig</literal>:

            <screen>
$ nix-env -i ncurses
$ export NIX_CFLAGS_LINK=-lncurses
$ make menuconfig ARCH=<replaceable>arch</replaceable></screen>
          
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>Make sure that
          <literal>CONFIG_FB_TILEBLITTING</literal> is <emphasis>not
          set</emphasis> (otherwise <command>fbsplash</command> won't
          work).  This option has a tendency to be enabled as a
          side-effect of other options.  If it is, investigate why
          (there's probably another option that forces it to be on)
          and fix it.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>Copy <filename>.config</filename> over the new config
          file (e.g. <filename>config-2.6.22-i686-smp</filename>).</para>
        </listitem>

      </orderedlist>
    
    </para>
    
  </listitem>

  <listitem>
    <para>Test building the kernel: <literal>nix-build -A
    kernel_2_6_22</literal>.  If it compiles, ship it!  For extra
    credit, try booting NixOS with it.</para>
  </listitem>

  <listitem>
    <para>It may be that the new kernel requires updating the external
    kernel modules and kernel-dependent packages listed in the
    <varname>kernelPackagesFor</varname> function in
    <filename>all-packages.nix</filename> (such as the NVIDIA drivers,
    AUFS, splashutils, etc.).  If the updated packages aren’t
    backwards compatible with older kernels, you need to keep the
    older versions and use some conditionals.  For example, new
    kernels require splashutils 1.5 while old kernel require 1.3, so
    <varname>kernelPackagesFor</varname> says:

      <programlisting>
splashutils =
  if kernel.features ? fbSplash then splashutils_13 else
  if kernel.features ? fbConDecor then splashutils_15 else
  null;

splashutils_13 = ...;
splashutils_15 = ...;</programlisting>

    </para>
  </listitem>

</orderedlist>

</para>

</section>


<!--============================================================-->

<section>
  <title>X.org</title>
  <para>* Expression is auto-generated</para>
  <para>* How to update</para>
</section>


<!--============================================================-->

<section>
  <title>Gnome</title>
  <para>* Expression is auto-generated</para>
  <para>* How to update</para>
</section>


<!--============================================================-->

<section>
  <title>GCC</title>
  <para>…</para>
</section>


</chapter>