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mkDerivation

function

mkDerivation is the main function used to build packages with the standard environment.

Inputs

Output

derivation

Reference

Inputs

Core Attributes

name

string, required

The derivation name.

Can be omitted if pname and version are set, in which case it is automatically set to ${pname}-${version}.

Examples

stdenv.mkDerivation {
  name = "libfoo-1.2.3";
  src = ./src;
}

stdenv.mkDerivation {
  pname = "libfoo";
  version = "1.2.3";
  src = ./src;
}

pname

string, optional

The package name.

version

string, optional

The package version.

src

path, required

The package source directory.

Examples

stdenv.mkDerivation {
  name = "libfoo-1.2.3";
  src = ./src;
}

stdenv.mkDerivation {
  name = "libfoo-1.2.3";
  src = fetchurl {
    url = http://example.org/libfoo-1.2.3.tar.bz2;
    sha256 = "0x2g1jqygyr5wiwg4ma1nd7w4ydpy82z9gkcv8vh2v8dn3y58v5m";
  };
}

Building

buildInputs

list[derivation], optional

The package's build-time dependencies.

This attribute ensures that the outputs of the dependencies (e.g. bin, includes) are in scope during the package build.

Example

stdenv.mkDerivation {
  name = "libfoo";
  src = ./src;
  buildInputs = [libbar perl ncurses];
}

buildPhase

string, optional

A shell script to run during the build phase.

If omitted, the build phase will run make.

Example

stdenv.mkDerivation {
  name = "libfoo";
  src = ./src;
  buildPhase = ''
    gcc foo.c -o foo
  '';
}

installPhase

string, optional

A shell script to run during the install phase.

If omitted, the install phase will run make install.

Example

stdenv.mkDerivation {
  name = "libfoo";
  src = ./src;
  buildPhase = ''
    gcc foo.c -o foo
  '';
  installPhase = ''
    mkdir -p $out/bin
    cp foo $out/bin
  '';
}

builder

path, optional

A path to a shell script that describes how to build the package.

If omitted, the build runs using stdenv's generic builder.

Example

# builder.sh
source $stdenv/setup

buildPhase() {
  echo "... this is my custom build phase ..."
  gcc foo.c -o foo
}

installPhase() {
  mkdir -p $out/bin
  cp foo $out/bin
}

genericBuild

stdenv.mkDerivation {
  name = "libfoo";
  src = ./src;
  builder = ./builder.sh;
}

Nix shell

shellHook

string, optional

A script to run after entering a Nix shell.

If shellHook is defined, it will be run in the nix-shell after $stdenv/setup has been sourced by the package's builder.

Example

stdenv.mkDerivation {
  name = "my-package";
  src = ./src;
  shellHook = ''
    echo "Hello shell!"
  '';
}