This is a collection of my config files, colloquially known as dotfiles.
These files are for my own use. I try to keep things as vanilla as possible except for the rare things I have strong opinions on. This works for me, but likely won't for you. Specific settings aside, these files might be suitable for you if you:
- want to be portable,
- respect the default config path of your apps,
- respect the default settings and only change them when necessary,
- use similar apps.
I've tried GNU Stow and chezmoi before but they were overly complicated for what they're trying to accomplish. They also both required installing additional software. I wanted to avoid this because my needs are not complex. So I opted in for a solution I serendipitously came across on Hacker News and Atlassian's documentation.
The only software this method requires is git. In short, you create a bare git repository in your $HOME, then add your dotfiles files for versioning.
Create a folder named .dotfiles in your $HOME:
git init --bare $HOME/.dotfilesCreate an alias for dotfiles which will allow you to interact with git to configure your .dotfiles repository.
alias dotfiles='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME'Set a flag to hide the files you're not tracking. This is to prevent files from showing up as untracked when you use dotfiles status and other commands.
dotfiles config --local status.showUntrackedFiles noAdd the alias to the config file of the shell of your choice. The command below installs the alias to your .zshrc file.
echo "alias dotfiles='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME'" >> $HOME/.zshrcNow you've successfully set things up. The only thing left is to add your dotfiles, which requires basic git knowledge. If you've followed the commands to a t, then you can use the examples below to stage, commit, and push your dotfiles.
dotfiles add .zshrc
dotfiles commit -m "Add .zshrc"
dotfiles pushRepeat these steps for the files you want to keep track on and you're done.
Before you start, make sure your alias is set on your new machine.
alias dotfiles='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME'{:.bash}Use the command below so that your source repository ignores the folder where you will clone it.
echo ".dotfiles" >> .gitignoreYou can now safely clone your dotfiles into a bare repository.
git clone --bare https://github.com/aloglu/dotfiles $HOME/.dotfilesDefine the alias for your .dotfiles folder.
alias dotfiles='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME'Checkout the content from the bare repository to your $HOME.
dotfiles checkoutAfter this step, you may encounter an error message. This is because your $HOME folder might already have stock config files. To fix the issue, either back these files up, or delete them. Alternatively, you can use the commands below to back these files up to a folder.
mkdir -p .dotfiles-backup && \
dotfiles checkout 2>&1 | egrep "\s+\." | awk {'print $1'} | \
xargs -I{} mv {} .dotfiles-backup/{}After you dealt with your stock config files run dotfiles checkout again. Then set showUntrackedFiles to no on your .dotfiles repository.
dotfiles config --local status.showUntrackedFiles noThat's it. No new software, no dependencies, no new commands to learn, no troubleshooting. Just git.
Beware that some config paths are impossible to replicate, as in the case of Firefox. In cases like this, just manually copy over the file.