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+nix-prefetch-url
+
+1
+
+Nix
+
+nix-prefetch-url
+
+copy a file from a URL into the store and print its hash
+
+nix-prefetch-url
+
+\--version
+
+\--type
+
+hashAlgo
+
+\--print-path
+
+\--unpack
+
+\--name
+
+name
+
+url
+
+hash
+
+# Description
+
+The command `nix-prefetch-url` downloads the file referenced by the URL
+url, prints its cryptographic hash, and copies it into the Nix store.
+The file name in the store is `hash-baseName`, where baseName is
+everything following the final slash in url.
+
+This command is just a convenience for Nix expression writers. Often a
+Nix expression fetches some source distribution from the network using
+the `fetchurl` expression contained in Nixpkgs. However, `fetchurl`
+requires a cryptographic hash. If you don't know the hash, you would
+have to download the file first, and then `fetchurl` would download it
+again when you build your Nix expression. Since `fetchurl` uses the same
+name for the downloaded file as `nix-prefetch-url`, the redundant
+download can be avoided.
+
+If hash is specified, then a download is not performed if the Nix store
+already contains a file with the same hash and base name. Otherwise, the
+file is downloaded, and an error is signaled if the actual hash of the
+file does not match the specified hash.
+
+This command prints the hash on standard output. Additionally, if the
+option `--print-path` is used, the path of the downloaded file in the
+Nix store is also printed.
+
+# Options
+
+  - `--type` hashAlgo  
+    Use the specified cryptographic hash algorithm, which can be one of
+    `md5`, `sha1`, and `sha256`.
+
+  - `--print-path`  
+    Print the store path of the downloaded file on standard output.
+
+  - `--unpack`  
+    Unpack the archive (which must be a tarball or zip file) and add the
+    result to the Nix store. The resulting hash can be used with
+    functions such as Nixpkgs’s `fetchzip` or `fetchFromGitHub`.
+
+  - `--name` name  
+    Override the name of the file in the Nix store. By default, this is
+    `hash-basename`, where basename is the last component of url.
+    Overriding the name is necessary when basename contains characters
+    that are not allowed in Nix store paths.
+
+# Examples
+
+    $ nix-prefetch-url ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/hello/hello-2.10.tar.gz
+    0ssi1wpaf7plaswqqjwigppsg5fyh99vdlb9kzl7c9lng89ndq1i
+    
+    $ nix-prefetch-url --print-path mirror://gnu/hello/hello-2.10.tar.gz
+    0ssi1wpaf7plaswqqjwigppsg5fyh99vdlb9kzl7c9lng89ndq1i
+    /nix/store/3x7dwzq014bblazs7kq20p9hyzz0qh8g-hello-2.10.tar.gz
+    
+    $ nix-prefetch-url --unpack --print-path https://github.com/NixOS/patchelf/archive/0.8.tar.gz
+    079agjlv0hrv7fxnx9ngipx14gyncbkllxrp9cccnh3a50fxcmy7
+    /nix/store/19zrmhm3m40xxaw81c8cqm6aljgrnwj2-0.8.tar.gz