--- title: Guix: creating a package from a binary | daily.dev description: A practical walkthrough of creating a Guix package from a pre-built binary, using Caddy web server as the example. Covers defining a `` record with... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/guix-creating-a-package-from-a-binary-onjxnycnk twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Guix: creating a package from a binary | daily.dev og:description: A practical walkthrough of creating a Guix package from a pre-built binary, using Caddy web server as the example. Covers defining a `` record with... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/guix-creating-a-package-from-a-binary-onjxnycnk og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/ONjxNycnk.png og:image:alt: Guix: creating a package from a binary og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Guix: creating a package from a binary **[Lobsters](https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A practical walkthrough of creating a Guix package from a pre-built binary, using Caddy web server as the example. Covers defining a `` record with metadata, fetching the binary via `url-fetch` with SHA256 integrity verification using `guix download`, and using the `copy-build-system` with an `install-plan` to place the binary in the package's bin directory. Useful when source packaging is not yet available or too complex. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I package a pre-built binary in Guix instead of building from source? Use the copy-build-system, which only exposes an install-plan argument telling Guix where to copy files, such as copying a binary into the package's bin/ directory. Combine this with a source origin using url-fetch to download the binary and a sha256 hash for integrity verification, avoiding the need to package build dependencies. _Developers packaging tools for Guix can compare approaches and edge cases surfaced on daily.dev._ ### How do I get the sha256 hash for a Guix package source when the binary isn't packaged yet? Run guix download followed by the URL of the file, such as a GitHub release tarball. The command downloads the resource, stores it in the Guix store, and prints a base32-encoded sha256 hash as the last line of output, which is then used in the origin record's sha256 field to verify content integrity on future builds. _Anyone building reproducible Guix packages can find similar practical walkthroughs on daily.dev._ ### Is Caddy web server available as a package in Guix? Caddy is not yet packaged from source in Guix because doing so requires first packaging a dozen Go sub-dependencies, though volunteers were working on it. As a workaround, Caddy 2.11.4 can be packaged directly from its official GitHub release binary using the copy-build-system rather than compiling from source. _Homelab builders tracking Guix packaging gaps for tools like Caddy can follow updates on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Writing a Guix service from scratch, as a beginner](https://daily.dev/posts/writing-a-guix-service-from-scratch-as-a-beginner-r9hybuqmw) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Guix by Nix](https://daily.dev/posts/guix-by-nix-rn05lpuy8) · Farid Zakaria’s Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Guix for development — dthompson](https://daily.dev/posts/guix-for-development-dthompson-avn20t8eg) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [GuixPkgs: every Guix package, as a Nix flake](https://daily.dev/posts/guixpkgs-every-guix-package-as-a-nix-flake-6f8qmpfhb) · Farid Zakaria’s Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Switching to GNU Guix: A Beginner's Perspective](https://daily.dev/posts/switching-to-gnu-guix-a-beginner-s-perspective-t5jipcwp2) · Lobsters · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/guix-creating-a-package-from-a-binary-onjxnycnk) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Guix: creating a package from a binary","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/guix-creating-a-package-from-a-binary-onjxnycnk","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/guix-creating-a-package-from-a-binary-onjxnycnk"},"datePublished":"2026-07-16T21:18:49.876Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T09:28:04.085Z","description":"A practical walkthrough of creating a Guix package from a pre-built binary, using Caddy web server as the example. 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Combine this with a source origin using url-fetch to download the binary and a sha256 hash for integrity verification, avoiding the need to package build dependencies. Developers packaging tools for Guix can compare approaches and edge cases surfaced on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I get the sha256 hash for a Guix package source when the binary isn't packaged yet?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Run guix download followed by the URL of the file, such as a GitHub release tarball. The command downloads the resource, stores it in the Guix store, and prints a base32-encoded sha256 hash as the last line of output, which is then used in the origin record's sha256 field to verify content integrity on future builds. 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