doc: Document "guix download".

* doc/guix.texi (Defining Packages): Linke to "Invoking guix download".
  (Utilities): Add an overview paragraph.
  (Invoking guix download): New node.
This commit is contained in:
Ludovic Courtès 2013-05-11 16:18:15 +02:00
parent 2c71cf66a5
commit 210cc92038

View file

@ -835,8 +835,8 @@ The @code{sha256} field specifies the expected SHA256 hash of the file
being downloaded. It is mandatory, and allows Guix to check the
integrity of the file. The @code{(base32 @dots{})} form introduces the
base32 representation of the hash. You can obtain this information with
the @code{guix hash} (@pxref{Invoking guix hash}) and @code{guix
download} tools.
@code{guix download} (@pxref{Invoking guix download}) and @code{guix
hash} (@pxref{Invoking guix hash}).
@item
@cindex GNU Build System
@ -1115,8 +1115,13 @@ space.
@node Utilities
@chapter Utilities
This section describes tools primarily targeted at developers and users
who write new package definitions. They complement the Scheme
programming interface of Guix in a convenient way.
@menu
* Invoking guix build:: Building packages from the command line.
* Invoking guix download:: Downloading a file and printing its hash.
* Invoking guix hash:: Computing the cryptographic hash of a file.
* Invoking guix refresh:: Updating package definitions.
@end menu
@ -1214,10 +1219,42 @@ the @code{package-derivation} procedure of the @code{(guix packages)}
module, and to the @code{build-derivations} procedure of the @code{(guix
store)} module.
@node Invoking guix download
@section Invoking @command{guix download}
When writing a package definition, developers typically need to download
the package's source tarball, compute its SHA256 hash, and write that
hash in the package definition (@pxref{Defining Packages}). The
@command{guix download} tool helps with this task: it downloads a file
from the given URI, adds it to the store, and prints both its file name
in the store and its SHA256 hash.
The fact that the downloaded file is added to the store saves bandwidth:
when the developer eventually tries to build the newly defined package
with @command{guix build}, the source tarball will not have to be
downloaded again because it is already in the store. It is also a
convenient way to temporarily stash files, which may be deleted
eventually (@pxref{Invoking guix gc}).
The @command{guix download} command supports the same URIs as used in
package definitions. In particular, it supports @code{mirror://} URIs.
@code{https} URIs (HTTP over TLS) are supported @emph{provided} the
Guile bindings for GnuTLS are available in the user's environment; when
they are not available, an error is raised.
The following option is available:
@table @code
@item --format=@var{fmt}
@itemx -f @var{fmt}
Write the hash in the format specified by @var{fmt}. For more
information on the valid values for @var{fmt}, @ref{Invoking guix hash}.
@end table
@node Invoking guix hash
@section Invoking @command{guix hash}
The @command{guix hash} command allows to check the integrity of a file.
The @command{guix hash} command computes the SHA256 hash of a file.
It is primarily a convenience tool for anyone contributing to the
distribution: it computes the cryptographic hash of a file, which can be
used in the definition of a package (@pxref{Defining Packages}).
@ -1234,7 +1271,7 @@ guix hash @var{option} @var{file}
@item --format=@var{fmt}
@itemx -f @var{fmt}
Write the hash in the given format.
Write the hash in the format specified by @var{fmt}.
Supported formats: @code{nix-base32}, @code{base32}, @code{base16}
(@code{hex} and @code{hexadecimal} can be used as well).