A powerful shell configuration backup and restore tool that helps you forge your perfect shell environment across multiple machines.
- Cross-platform: Works on macOS and Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, etc.)
- Smart backups: Automatically detects and backs up common shell configurations
- Machine-specific: Organize backups by machine name (hostname by default)
- Flexible restore: Restore your macOS config to a fresh Debian machine
- Secure: Only backs up .pem files from .ssh, avoiding private keys
- Incremental: Each save creates a timestamped backup with a "latest" symlink
- Beautiful TUI: Enhanced list command with color-coded age indicators and rich information (v1.5.0+)
- Smart Filtering: Only shows genuine ShellForge backups, filtering out other directories
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Build and install ShellForge:
make install # Builds and installs to ~/binOr use the setup script for full configuration:
chmod +x setup.sh ./setup.sh # Builds, installs, and configures shell files -
The setup script will:
- Install shellforge to
$HOME/bin/ - Add configuration to your
.zshrcand/or.bashrc - Set up helpful aliases (
sfs,sfr,sfl,sfsn) - Configure an auto-backup reminder
- Install shellforge to
-
Edit your shell config file to set your backup destination:
# Open your shell config vim ~/.zshrc # or ~/.bashrc # Find and update this line: export BACKUP_DEST="${HOME}/Backups/shellforge"
-
Reload your shell:
source ~/.zshrc # or source ~/.bashrc
# Using current hostname
shellforge save
# Using custom machine name
shellforge save macbook-pro# Restore from current hostname's latest backup
shellforge restore
# Restore from a specific machine's backup
shellforge restore macbook-proshellforge list # Beautiful TUI display of all backups
shellforge list --verbose # Show more details including file previews- Zsh:
.zshrc,.zshenv,.zprofile,.zlogin,.zlogout,.zsh_history - Bash:
.bashrc,.bash_profile,.bash_history,.bash_aliases,.bash_logout - General:
.profile,.aliases,.exports,.functions,.path,.extra - Editors:
.vimrc,.gvimrc,.emacs,.nanorc - Tools:
.tmux.conf,.screenrc,.gitconfig,.gitignore_global - Others:
.curlrc,.wgetrc,.editorconfig,.npmrc,.yarnrc, etc.
.config/- General application configs.vim/,.emacs.d/- Editor configurations.oh-my-zsh/,.zsh/,.zprezto/,.zplug/,.zinit/- Zsh frameworks.tmux/- Tmux plugins and configs.local/share/zsh/- Zsh local data
.ssh/*.pem- Only PEM files (for infrastructure access).ssl/- Entire directory if it exists
- Git repositories (
.git/) - Package managers (
.npm/,.cargo/,.pyenv/, etc.) - Cache directories (
.cache/) - Downloads directory
- Node modules
- Virtual environments
$BACKUP_DEST/
├── macbook/
│ ├── 20240115_143022/
│ │ ├── home/ # Your backed up files
│ │ └── metadata/ # Backup information
│ │ └── backup_info.txt
│ └── latest -> 20240115_143022/
└── debian-server/
├── 20240115_150000/
└── latest -> 20240115_150000/
You can easily transfer your shell environment between machines:
# On your MacBook
shellforge save macbook-work
# On your Debian machine
shellforge restore macbook-workIf you have backups from versions before 1.5.0, they won't appear in the new enhanced list command. Run the migration script to add the necessary metadata:
# Make the script executable
chmod +x scripts/migrate-backups.sh
# Run the migration
./scripts/migrate-backups.shThis will scan your existing backups and add marker files so they appear in the enhanced list display.
ShellForge automatically detects and uses the following tools if installed:
- figlet: For stylish ASCII art banners
- lolcat: For rainbow colored output
- cowsay: For fun success messages
Install them for a more delightful experience:
# macOS
brew install figlet lolcat cowsay
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install figlet lolcat cowsay-
The setup script automatically configures aliases:
sfs- Quick savesfr- Quick restoresfl- Quick listsfsn "message"- Save with a note
-
Auto-backup reminder: If you haven't backed up in 7+ days, you'll see a reminder when you open a new shell
-
Run
shellforge saveafter making significant shell configuration changes -
The tool uses
rsyncwhen available for better restore performance -
Your backups are organized by machine name and timestamp, making it easy to manage multiple systems
ShellForge now uses a modular build system. The source code is organized into modules that are combined during build time to create a single, portable shell script.
# Build release version
make
# Build debug version (with source markers)
make debug
# Build minimal version (stripped comments)
make minimal
# Clean build artifacts
make cleansrc/
├── core/ # Core functionality (constants, variables, utils)
├── lib/ # Shared libraries
├── modules/ # Feature modules (backup, restore, list)
├── header.sh # Script header
└── main.sh # Entry point
See ARCHITECTURE.md for detailed information about the modular structure.
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.