nixpkgs/nixos/doc/manual/configuration/declarative-packages.section.md
pennae 1229e735ac nixos-render-docs: add structural includes, use for manual
this adds support for structural includes to nixos-render-docs.
structural includes provide a way to denote the (sub)structure of the
nixos manual in the markdown source files, very similar to how we used
literal docbook blocks before, and are processed by nixos-render-docs
without involvement of xml tooling. this will ultimately allow us to
emit the nixos manual in other formats as well, e.g. html, without going
through docbook at all.

alternatives to this source layout were also considered:

a parallel structure using e.g. toml files that describe the document
tree and links to each part is possible, but much more complicated to
implement than the solution chosen here and makes it harder to follow
which files have what substructure. it also makes it much harder to
include a substructure in the middle of a file.

much the same goes for command-line arguments to the converter, only
that command-lined arguments are even harder to specify correctly and
cannot be reasonably pulled together from many places without involving
another layer of tooling. cli arguments would also mean that the manual
structure would be fixed in default.nix, which is also not ideal.
2023-02-12 13:02:42 +01:00

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Markdown

# Declarative Package Management {#sec-declarative-package-mgmt}
With declarative package management, you specify which packages you want
on your system by setting the option
[](#opt-environment.systemPackages). For instance, adding the
following line to `configuration.nix` enables the Mozilla Thunderbird
email application:
```nix
environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.thunderbird ];
```
The effect of this specification is that the Thunderbird package from
Nixpkgs will be built or downloaded as part of the system when you run
`nixos-rebuild switch`.
::: {.note}
Some packages require additional global configuration such as D-Bus or
systemd service registration so adding them to
[](#opt-environment.systemPackages) might not be sufficient. You are
advised to check the [list of options](#ch-options) whether a NixOS
module for the package does not exist.
:::
You can get a list of the available packages as follows:
```ShellSession
$ nix-env -qaP '*' --description
nixos.firefox firefox-23.0 Mozilla Firefox - the browser, reloaded
...
```
The first column in the output is the *attribute name*, such as
`nixos.thunderbird`.
Note: the `nixos` prefix tells us that we want to get the package from
the `nixos` channel and works only in CLI tools. In declarative
configuration use `pkgs` prefix (variable).
To "uninstall" a package, simply remove it from
[](#opt-environment.systemPackages) and run `nixos-rebuild switch`.
```{=include=} sections
customizing-packages.section.md
adding-custom-packages.section.md
```