How to find out which (not installed) package a file belongs to on NixOS

nixnixospackage-management

I am using a Nix package manager on NixOS. Suppose I want to install a package that provides a file libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0. How do I find a package that provides this file, similar to other GNU/Linux distributions?

Currently I have to google the file and figure out which package it might belong and find the corresponding package on Nix repository, but I would like a more idiomatic method.

Best Answer

nix-index is what you need.

Install and build the index:

nix-env -iA nixos.nix-index
nix-index

Locate libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0:

nix-locate -w libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0

Output:

(zed.out)                                             0 s /nix/store/bc4mngklj2j7hmm21jra4641x4pm9r8z-node-webkit-env/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0
(thrust.out)                                          0 s /nix/store/wzg0k4i2cy0qsm3hwxlywxxbga019hbq-env-thrust/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0
(nwjs_0_12.out)                                       0 s /nix/store/js6klvzjfi5q4djmwb0bqzfb4x0vzm6g-nwjs-env/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0
(node_webkit_0_11.out)                                0 s /nix/store/30vm6a7bmc56ckl575rqassw60ccxjpg-node-webkit-env/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0
(mumble_overlay.out)                                  0 s /nix/store/wayx023w1nslqg2z0c5v4n0b4jxn5n06-gtk+-2.24.31/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0
gnome2.gtk.out                                        0 s /nix/store/3iqchhncghm5s458lzy99c3prfymrnp2-gtk+-2.24.31/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0

The last line says that package gtk+-2.24.31 with attribute path gnome2.gtk contains this file.

Related Solutions

Package-Management – How to Find Which Package a File Belongs To

apt-file

apt-file provides the feature of searching for a package providing a binary (like Debian or Ubuntu), it is not installed by default but in the repositories.

apt-file search <path-to-file>

You may want to update once before searching...

apt-file update

For example, let's search for the not installed binary mysqldump:

$ apt-file search /usr/bin/mysqldump

mysql-client-5.1: /usr/bin/mysqldump
mysql-client-5.1: /usr/bin/mysqldumpslow
mysql-cluster-client-5.1: /usr/bin/mysqldump
mysql-cluster-client-5.1: /usr/bin/mysqldumpslow

It's also possible to list the contents of a (not-installed) package:

$ apt-file list mysql-client-5.1

mysql-client-5.1: /usr/bin/innochecksum
mysql-client-5.1: /usr/bin/innotop
mysql-client-5.1: /usr/bin/myisam_ftdump
mysql-client-5.1: /usr/bin/mysql_client_test
...

yum

yum accepts the command whatprovides (or provides) to search for installed or not installed binaries:

yum whatprovides <path-to-file>

Again, the not installed mysqldump:

$ yum whatprovides /usr/bin/mysqldump

mysql-5.1.51-2.fc14.i686 : MySQL client programs and shared libraries
Repo        : fedora
Matched from: 
Filename    : /usr/bin/mysqldump

mysql-5.1.51-1.fc14.i686 : MySQL client programs and shared libraries
Repo        : fedora
Matched from: 
Filename    : /usr/bin/mysqldump

zypper

zypper's search command can check file lists when used with the -f option.

zypper se -f /bin/mksh
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...

S | Name | Summary           | Type   
--+------+-------------------+--------
  | mksh | MirBSD Korn Shell | package

Webpin provides a webbased solution, there is even a script for the command-line.

pkgfile

Available as pkgtools for pacman based systems. Provides a similar search feature like the others above:

$ pkgfile -si /usr/bin/mysqldump

Name      : mysql-clients
Version   : 5.1.54-1
Url       : http://www.mysql.com/
License   : GPL
Depends   : libmysqlclient
...

Are there websites that allow one to search for which package contains a particular file

In Arch Linux the German site lets you search for the package that contains a file (Datei).

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Package-Management – How to Find Which Package a File Belongs To

Are there websites that allow one to search for which package contains a particular file

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