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CONTRIBUTING.md

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Add and build a package

Packagers are encouraged to contribute NGI projects to nixpkgs, instead of to this repository. However, reasons to contribute to this repository include:

  • Package is not a good candidate for nixpkgs. Read here.
    • Place this package in the pkgs directory.
  • Expediting the public availability of a package prior to its acceptance into nixpkgs and landing in a channel.
    • Place this package in the nixpkgs-candidates directory with a comment linking to the PR to nixpkgs.
  • Package is a good candidate for nixpkgs, but no one is willing to be a maintainer 😢.
    • Place this packge in the nixpkgs-candidates directory.

For each package there is a directory in pkgs or nixpkgs-candidates that contains a core default.nix file and possibly other files required to build the package. Each package directory must also be imported into NGIpkgs by adding a line to the file all-packages.nix. For example, this is the import line for building the libgnunetchat package:

libgnunetchat = callPackage ./pkgs/libgnunetchat { };

This package can then be built using the following command:

nix build .#libgnunetchat

Add and test a service

For each service there is a module file in the modules directory which is where most of the work is done to define the configuration for a service. Whereas the default.nix for a package usually somewhat corresponds to the upstream instructions for building and installing from source, the module for a service will correspond to the instructions for configuring and running the software persistently, including integration with other system components such as a systemd service or a web server config. Each module must also be imported into NGIpkgs by adding a line to the file modules/all-modules.nix.

A service has its NixOS configuration options defined in its module. To actually be used, this module file must be imported into a NixOS system configuration so that the options can be used and the service deployed or tested. There is a directory in configs for each service that contains NixOS configuration template files for practical use of the service to different contexts. Each configuration must also be imported into NGIpkgs by adding a line to the file configs/all-configurations.nix. For example, these are the import lines for deployment of pretalx with postgresql:

    pretalx-postgresql = {
    imports = [
      ./pretalx/pretalx.nix
      ./pretalx/postgresql.nix
    ];

This service can then be deployed on NixOS to a local VM running integration tests using the following comamands:

nix build -L .#nixosTests.x86_64-linux.pretalx.driverInteractive
./result/bin/nixos-test-driver # Start a shell

Once in the spawned shell, you can start a VM that will execute the tests using the following command:

start_all() # Run the VM

More details on running pretalx in a test VM are available in the README for this service.