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    Appendix D. Tools

    home-manager — reconfigure a user environment

    Name

    home-manager — reconfigure a user environment

    Synopsis

    home-manager { build | init [--switch] [dir] | instantiate | edit | expire-generations timestamp | generations | help | news | option option.name | packages | remove-generations ID … | switch | uninstall }
    [ -A attrPath ] [ -I path ] [ --flake flake-uri ] [ -b ext ] [ { -f | --file } path ] [ { -h | --help } ] [ --version ] [ { -n | --dry-run } ] [ --option name value ] [ --cores number ] [ { -j | --max-jobs } number ] [ --debug ] [ --impure ] [ --keep-failed ] [ --keep-going ] [ { -L | --print-build-logs } ] [ --show-trace ] [ --(no-)substitute ] [ --no-out-link ] [ --refresh ] [ { -v | --verbose } ]

    Description

    This command updates the user environment so that it corresponds to the configuration specified in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/home-manager/home.nix or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/home-manager/flake.nix.

    All operations using this tool expects a sub-command that indicates the operation to perform. It must be one of

    build

    Build configuration into a result directory.

    init [--switch] [dir]

    Generates an initial home.nix file for the current user. If Nix flakes are enabled, then this command also generates a flake.nix file.

    If a path dir is given then the configuration will be generated in that directory. Otherwise, the configuration will be generated in ~/.config/home-manager. The output directory will be created if it does not exist.

    If the --switch option is given, then the generated configuration is activated.

    Note, this command will not overwrite any existing files. It is therefore safe to initialize a configuration, edit it, and then re-run the init command with --switch enabled to activate the configuration.

    instantiate

    Instantiate the configuration and print the resulting derivation.

    edit

    Open the home configuration using the editor indicated by EDITOR.

    expire-generations _`timestamp`_

    Remove generations older than timestamp where timestamp is interpreted as in the -d argument of the date(1) tool. For example -30 days or 2018-01-01.

    generations

    List all home environment generations.

    help

    Print tool help.

    news

    Show news entries in a pager.

    option _`option.name`_

    Inspect the given option name in the home configuration, like nixos-option(8).

    packages

    List all packages installed in home-manager-path.

    remove-generations _`ID …`_

    Remove indicated generations. Use the generations sub-command to find suitable generation numbers.

    switch

    Build and activate the configuration.

    uninstall

    Remove Home Manager from the user environment. This will

    • remove all managed files from the home directory,

    • remove packages installed through Home Manager from the user profile, and

    • remove all Home Manager generations and make them available for immediate garbage collection.

    Options

    The tool accepts the options

    -A _`attrPath`_

    Optional attribute that selects a configuration expression in the configuration file. That is, if home.nix contains

    {
    joe-at-work = {pkgs, ...}: { home.packages = [ pkgs.fortune ]; };
    joe-at-home = {pkgs, ...}: { home.packages = [ pkgs.cowsay ]; };
    }

    then the command home-manager switch -A joe-at-work will activate the profile containing the fortune program.

    -I _`path`_

    Add a path to the Nix expression search path. For example, to build a Home Manager profile using a specific Nixpkgs run home-manager -I nixpkgs=/absolute/path/to/nixpkgs build. By default <nixpkgs> is used.

    --flake _`flake-uri[#name]`_

    Build Home Manager configuration from the flake, which must contain the output homeConfigurations.name. If no name is specified it will first try username@hostname and then username.

    -b _`extension`_

    Enable automatic resolution of collisions between unmanaged and managed files. The name of the original file will be suffixed by the given extension. For example,

    $

    will cause a colliding file ~/.config/foo.conf to be moved to ~/.config/foo.conf.bck.

    -f _`path`_ , --file _`path`_

    Indicates the path to the Home Manager configuration file. If not given, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/home-manager/home.nix is used.

    -h , --help

    Prints usage information for the home-manager tool.

    --version

    Prints the version number of the home-manager tool.

    -n , --dry-run

    Perform a dry-run of the given operation, only prints what actions would be taken.

    --option _`name`_ _`value`_

    Passed on to nix-build(1).

    --cores _`number`_

    Passed on to nix-build(1).

    -j _`number`_ , --max-jobs _`number`_

    Passed on to nix-build(1).

    --debug

    Passed on to nix-build(1).

    --impure

    Passed on to nix-build(1).

    --keep-failed

    Passed on to nix-build(1).

    --keep-going

    Passed on to nix-build(1).

    -L , --print-build-logs

    Passed on to nix build when building from a flake.

    --show-trace

    Passed on to nix-build(1).

    --(no-)substitute

    Passed on to nix-build(1).

    --no-out-link

    Passed on to nix-build(1) when running home-manager build.

    --refresh

    Passed on to nix-build(1)

    -v , --verbose

    Activates verbose output.

    Files

    $XDG_DATA_HOME/home-manager/news-read-ids

    Identifiers of news items that have been shown. Can be deleted to reset the read news indicator.

    Bugs

    Please report any bugs on the project issue tracker.

    See also

    home-configuration.nix(5)

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