change location of user's package directory

[Albert Y. C. Lai]

On 13-07-25 03:14 PM, harry wrote:
> How can I change the location that ghc and ghc-pkg use for the user's package
> directory? I'm running GHC in a very restricted environment where I don't
> have access to $HOME, but I can use specific subdirectories.

Cannot. But you have another option. GHC and cabal-install support 
further package databases than global and user.

To initialize:

     mkdir /joy (or other ways to make /joy exist and be empty)
     ghc-pkg --package-db=/joy recache

Note: two hyphens, -- not -


To cabal-install:

     cabal --package-db=/joy --prefix=/delight install acme-dont

Note: you must provide a custom --prefix. The default is $HOME/.cabal 
which is exactly what you can't use.


To ghc-pkg:

     ghc-pkg --global --package-db=/joy list
     ghc-pkg --package-db=/joy unregister acme-dont

However, beware of http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/5442


To ghc or ghci:

     ghc -package-db=/joy

Note: one hyphen: - not --
(Don't you love to memorize random conventions.)
(In older versions of GHC, it was even better:
     cabal --package-db=/joy
     ghc-pkg --package-conf=/joy
     ghc -package-conf=/joy
Don't you love to memorize random conventions.)

Read the full story in GHC User's Guide section 4.9 "Packages". It comes 
with GHC on your hard disk.