vcsh - manage and sync config files via git
-# Introduction #
+# Index #
+
+1. Introduction
+2. Overview
+3. Getting Started
+4. Usage
+
+# 1 Introduction #
vcsh allows you to have several git repositories, all maintaining their working
trees in $HOME without clobbering each other. That, in turn, means you can have
one repository per config set (zsh, vim, ssh, etc), picking and choosing which
configs you want to use on which machine.
-vcsh was designed with mr [1] in mind so you might want to install that, as
+vcsh was designed with [mr] [1] in mind so you might want to install that, as
well.
Read INSTALL.md for detailed setup instructions.
-Questions? RichiH@{Freenode,OFTC,IRCnet}
+The following overview will try to give you an idea of the use cases and
+advantages of vcsh. See sections 3 and 4 for detailed instructions and
+examples.
+
+# 2 Overview
-## Comparison to Other Solutions ##
+## 2.1 Comparison to Other Solutions ##
Most people who decide to put their dotfiles under version control start with a
**single repository in $HOME**, adding all their dotfiles (and possibly more)
to ~/.dotfiles). However, it does not create symbolic links in $HOME; it puts
the **actual files right into $HOME**.
-Furthermore, by making use of mr [1], it makes it very easy to enable/disable
-and clone a large number of repositories. The use of mr is technically
-optional, but it will be an integral part of the proposed system that follows.
+Furthermore, by making use of [mr] [1], it makes it very easy to enable/disable
+and clone a large number of repositories. The use of mr is technically optional
+(see 4.3), but it will be an integral part of the proposed system that follows.
-## Default Directory Layout ##
+## 2.2 Default Directory Layout ##
To illustrate, this is what a possible directory structure looks like.
$HOME
- |-- .config
+ |-- $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (defaults to $HOME/.config)
| |-- mr
| | |-- available.d
| | | |-- zsh.vcsh
| | | |-- vimperator.vcsh
| | | `-- snippets.git
| | `-- config.d
- | | |-- zsh.mrconfig -> ../available.d/zsh.mrconfig
- | | |-- gitconfigs.mrconfig -> ../available.d/gitconfigs.mrconfig
- | | |-- tmux.mrconfig -> ../available.d/tmux.mrconfig
- | | `-- vim.mrconfig -> ../available.d/vim.mrconfig
+ | | |-- zsh.vcsh -> ../available.d/zsh.vcsh
+ | | |-- gitconfigs.vcsh -> ../available.d/gitconfigs.vcsh
+ | | |-- tmux.vcsh -> ../available.d/tmux.vcsh
+ | | `-- vim.vcsh -> ../available.d/vim.vcsh
| `-- vcsh
| `-- repo.d
| |-- zsh.git -----------+
|-- .mrconfig
`-- .mrtrust
-In this setup, ~/.mrconfig looks like:
+### available.d ###
- [DEFAULT]
- jobs = 5
- include = cat ~/.config/mr/config.d/*
-
-The files you see in ~/.config/mr/available.d are mr configuration files that
-contain the commands to manage (checkout, update etc.) a single repository.
-vcsh repo configs end in .vcsh, git configs end in .git, etc. This is optional
-and your preference. For example, this is what a zsh.mrconfig with read-only
-access to my zshrc repo looks likes. I.e. in this specific example, push can
-not work.
-
- [$HOME/.config/vcsh/repo.d/zsh.git]
- checkout = vcsh clone 'git://github.com/RichiH/zshrc.git'
- update = vcsh run bash git pull
- push = vcsh run bash git push
- status = vcsh run bash git status
-
-~/.config/mr/available.d contains *all available* repositories. Only
+The files you see in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d are mr configuration files
+that contain the commands to manage (checkout, update etc.) a single
+repository. vcsh repo configs end in .vcsh, git configs end in .git, etc. This
+is optional and your preference. For example, this is what a zsh.vcsh
+with read-only access to my zshrc repo looks likes. I.e. in this specific
+example, push can not work as you will be using the author's repository. This
+is for demonstration, only. Of course, you are more than welcome to clone from
+this repository and fork your own.
+
+ [$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vcsh/repo.d/zsh.git]
+ checkout = vcsh clone 'git://github.com/RichiH/zshrc.git' zsh
+ update = vcsh run zsh git pull
+ push = vcsh run zsh git push
+ status = vcsh run zsh git status
+ gc = vcsh run zsh git gc
+
+### config.d ###
+
+$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d contains *all available* repositories. Only
files/links present in mr/config.d, however, will be used by mr. That means
that in this example, only the zsh, gitconfigs, tmux and vim repositories will
be checked out. A simple `mr update` run in $HOME will clone or update those
four repositories listed in config.d.
-~/.config/vcsh/repo.d is the directory into which vcsh clones the git
-repositories. Since their working trees are configured to be in $HOME, the
-files contained in those repositories will be put in $HOME directly (see .zshrc
-above).
+### ~/.mrconfig ###
+
+Finally, ~/.mrconfig will tie together all those single files which will allow
+you to conveniently run `mr up` etc. to manage all repositories. It looks like
+this:
+
+ [DEFAULT]
+ jobs = 5
+ include = cat $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/config.d/*
+
+### repo.d ###
+
+$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vcsh/repo.d is the directory where all git repositories which
+are under vcsh's control are located. Since their working trees are configured
+to be in $HOME, the files contained in those repositories will be put in $HOME
+directly.
+Of course, [mr] [1] will work with this layout if configured according to this
+document (see above).
vcsh will check if any file it would want to create exists. If it exists, vcsh
will throw a warning and exit. Move away your old config and try again.
Optionally, merge your local and your global configs afterwards and push with
`vcsh run foo git push`.
-## Moving into a New Host ##
+## 2.3 Moving into a New Host ##
To illustrate further, the following steps could move your desired
configuration to a new host.
(thanks to mr) and
2. making it unnecessary to create symbolic links in $HOME (thanks to vcsh).
+If you want to give vcsh a try, follow the instructions below.
+
+# 3 Getting Started #
+
+Below, you will find a few different methods for setting up vcsh:
+
+1. The Template Way
+2. The Steal-from-Template Way
+3. The Manual Way
+
+### 3.1 The Template Way ###
+
+#### 3.1.1 Prerequisites ####
+
+Make sure none of the following files and directories exist for your test
+(user). If they do, move them away for now:
+
+* ~/.gitignore
+* ~/.mrconfig
+* $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/mr.vcsh
+* $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/zsh.vcsh
+* $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/config.d/mr.vcsh
+* $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vcsh/repo.d/mr.git/
+
+All of the files are part of the template repository, the directory is where
+the template will be stored.
+
+ apt-get install mr
+
+#### 3.1.2 Clone the Template ####
+
+ mkdir -p ~/work/git
+ cd !$
+ git clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh.git vcsh
+ cd vcsh
+ ln -s vcsh /usr/local/bin # or add it to your PATH
+ cd
+ vcsh clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh_mr_template.git mr.vcsh
+
+#### 3.1.3 Enable Your Test Repository ####
+
+ mv ~/.zsh ~/zsh.bak
+ mv ~/.zshrc ~/zshrc.bak
+ cd $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/config.d/
+ ln -s ../available.d/zsh.vcsh . # link, and thereby enable, the zsh repository
+ cd
+ mr up
+
+#### 3.1.4 Set Up Your Own Repositories ####
+
+Now, it's time to edit the template config and fill it with your own remotes:
+
+ vim $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/mr.vcsh
+ vim $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/zsh.vcsh
+
+And then create your own stuff:
+
+ vcsh init foo
+ vcsh run foo git add -f bar baz quux
+ vcsh run foo git remote add origin git://quuux
+ vcsh run foo git commit
+ vcsh run foo git push
+
+ cp $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/mr.vcsh $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/foo.vcsh
+ vim $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/foo.vcsh # add your own repo
+
+Done!
+
+### 3.2 The Steal-from-Template Way ###
+
+You're welcome to clone the example repository:
+
+ git clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh_mr_template.git
+
+Look around in the clone. It should be reasonably simple to understand. If not,
+poke me, RichiH, on Freenode (query) or OFTC (#vcs-home).
+
+
+### 3.3 The Manual Way ###
+
+This is how my old setup procedure looked like. Adapt it to your own style or
+copy mine verbatim, either is fine.
+
+ # Create workspace
+ mkdir -p ~/work/git
+ cd !$
+
+ # Clone vcsh and make it available
+ git clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh.git vcsh
+ sudo ln -s ~/work/git/vcsh/vcsh /usr/bin/local
+ hash -r
+
+Grab my mr config. see below for details on how I set this up
+
+ vcsh clone ssh://<remote>/mr.git
+ cd $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/config.d/
+ ln -s ../available.d/* .
+
+
+mr is used to actually retrieve configs, etc
+
+ ~ % cat ~/.mrconfig
+ [DEFAULT]
+ include = cat $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/config.d/*
+ ~ % echo $XDG_CONFIG_HOME
+ /home/richih/.config
+ ~ % ls $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d # random selection of my repos
+ git-annex gitk.vcsh git.vcsh ikiwiki mr.vcsh reportbug.vcsh snippets.git wget.vcsh zsh.vcsh
+ ~ %
+ # then simply ln -s whatever you want on your local machine from
+ # $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/config.d
+ ~ % cd
+ ~ % mr -j 5 up
+
+# 4 Usage #
+
+### 4.1 Keeping repositories Up-to-Date ###
+
+This is the beauty of it all. Once you are set up, just run:
+
+ mr up
+ mr push
+
+Neat.
+
+### 4.1 Making Changes ###
+
+After you have made some changes, for which you would normally use `git add`
+and `git commit`, use the vcsh wrapper (like above):
+
+ vcsh run foo git add -f bar baz quux
+ vcsh run foo git commit
+ vcsh run foo git push
+
+By the way, you'll have to use -f/--force flag with git-add because all files
+will be ignored by default. This is to show you only useful output when running
+git-status. A fix for this problem is being worked on.
+
+### 4.3 Using vcsh without mr ###
+
+vcsh encourages you to use [mr] [1]. It helps you manage a large number of
+repositories by running the necessary vcsh commands for you. You may choose not
+to use mr, in which case you will have to run those commands manually or by
+other means.
+
+#### A Few Examples ####
+
+To initialize a new repository: `vcsh init zsh`
+
+To clone a repository: `vcsh clone ssh://<remote>/zsh.git`
+
+To interact with a repository, use the regular Git commands, but prepend them
+with `vcsh run $repository_name`. For example:
+
+ vcsh run zsh git status
+ vcsh run zsh git add -f .zshrc
+ vcsh run zsh git commit
+
+Obviously, without mr keeping repositories up-to-date, it will have to be done
+manually. Alternatively, you could try something like this:
+
+ for repo in `vcsh list`; do
+ vcsh run $repo git pull;
+ done
+
----------
-[1] http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/mr/
+mr can be found at: [http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/mr/][1]
+
+[1]: http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/mr/ (http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/mr/)
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