nixpkgs/nixos/doc/manual/contributing-to-this-manual.chapter.md

# Contributing to this manual {#chap-contributing}

The [DocBook] and CommonMark sources of the NixOS manual are in the [nixos/doc/manual](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tree/master/nixos/doc/manual) subdirectory of the [Nixpkgs](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs) repository.

You can quickly check your edits with the following:

```ShellSession
$ cd /path/to/nixpkgs
$ nix-build nixos/release.nix -A manual.x86_64-linux
```

If the build succeeds, the manual will be in `./result/share/doc/nixos/index.html`.

**Contributing to the man pages**

The man pages are written in [DocBook] which is XML.

To see what your edits look like:

```ShellSession
$ cd /path/to/nixpkgs
$ nix-build nixos/release.nix -A manpages.x86_64-linux
```

You can then read the man page you edited by running

```ShellSession
$ man --manpath=result/share/man nixos-rebuild # Replace nixos-rebuild with the command whose manual you edited
```

If you're on a different architecture that's supported by NixOS (check nixos/release.nix) then replace `x86_64-linux` with the architecture.
`nix-build` will complain otherwise, but should also tell you which architecture you have + the supported ones.

[DocBook]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook
nixos/doc: convert "Contributing to this manual" to CommonMark Also updates it to mention running md-to-db.sh. 2021-05-09 03:21:05 +00:00			`# Contributing to this manual {#chap-contributing}`

nixos/manpages: Explain -I option and how to build manpages When running nixos-rebuild -I, the man page just said "-I path" which could be interpreted as "just a path to nixpkgs", which in fact it actually has the same meaning as NIX_PATH. This is now made clear in the manual, so that when grepping "-I" and "NIX_PATH" one quickly finds the format of the option. I don't know how to link to the "nix manual" as stated in the docbook, so I left that as it is. Additionally, it wasn't clear to me how to actually build the man pages and view the changes I made. That's now in the contributing-to-this-manual.chapter.md. 2022-12-09 14:05:04 +00:00			`The [DocBook] and CommonMark sources of the NixOS manual are in the [nixos/doc/manual](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tree/master/nixos/doc/manual) subdirectory of the [Nixpkgs](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs) repository.`
nixos/doc: convert "Contributing to this manual" to CommonMark Also updates it to mention running md-to-db.sh. 2021-05-09 03:21:05 +00:00
			`You can quickly check your edits with the following:`

			```ShellSession
			`$ cd /path/to/nixpkgs`
			`$ nix-build nixos/release.nix -A manual.x86_64-linux`
			```

			If the build succeeds, the manual will be in `./result/share/doc/nixos/index.html`.
nixos/manpages: Explain -I option and how to build manpages When running nixos-rebuild -I, the man page just said "-I path" which could be interpreted as "just a path to nixpkgs", which in fact it actually has the same meaning as NIX_PATH. This is now made clear in the manual, so that when grepping "-I" and "NIX_PATH" one quickly finds the format of the option. I don't know how to link to the "nix manual" as stated in the docbook, so I left that as it is. Additionally, it wasn't clear to me how to actually build the man pages and view the changes I made. That's now in the contributing-to-this-manual.chapter.md. 2022-12-09 14:05:04 +00:00
			`Contributing to the man pages`

			`The man pages are written in [DocBook] which is XML.`

			`To see what your edits look like:`

			```ShellSession
			`$ cd /path/to/nixpkgs`
			`$ nix-build nixos/release.nix -A manpages.x86_64-linux`
			```

			`You can then read the man page you edited by running`

			```ShellSession
			`$ man --manpath=result/share/man nixos-rebuild # Replace nixos-rebuild with the command whose manual you edited`
			```

			If you're on a different architecture that's supported by NixOS (check nixos/release.nix) then replace `x86_64-linux` with the architecture.
			`nix-build` will complain otherwise, but should also tell you which architecture you have + the supported ones.

			`[DocBook]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook`