-vcsh - manage config files in $HOME via fake bare git repositories
+vcsh - Version Control System for $HOME (based on git)
+
# Index #
-1. Contact
-2. Introduction
-3. Overview
-4. Getting Started
-5. Usage
+1. [30 second howto](#30-second-howto)
+2. [Introduction](#introduction)
+3. [Overview](#overview)
+4. [Getting Started](#getting-started)
+5. [Usage](#usage)
+6. [Contact](#contact)
-# 1 Contact #
-There are several ways to get in touch with the author and a small but committed
-community around the general idea of version controlling your (digital) life.
+# 30 second howto #
-* IRC: #vcs-home on irc.oftc.net
+While it may appear that there's an overwhelming amount of documentation and
+while the explanation of the concepts behind `vcsh` needs to touch a few gory
+details of `git` internals, getting started with `vcsh` is extremely simple.
-* Mailing list: [http://lists.madduck.net/listinfo/vcs-home][vcs-home-list]
+Let's say you want to version control your `vim` configuration:
-* Pull requests or issues on [https://github.com/RichiH/vcsh][vcsh]
+ vcsh init vim
+ vcsh vim add ~/.vimrc ~/.vim
+ vcsh vim commit -m 'Initial commit of my Vim configuration'
+ # optionally push your files to a remote
+ vcsh vim remote add origin REMOTE
+ vcsh vim push origin master:master
-# 2 Introduction #
+If all that looks a _lot_ like standard `git`, that's no coincidence; it's
+a design feature.
+
+Once you get familiar with `vcsh`, it's strongly suggested that you look
+into more advanced usage scenarios, especially on how to manage your
+`vcsh` and other repositories with [mr][mr].
+
+
+# Introduction #
[vcsh][vcsh] allows you to maintain several git repositories in one single
directory. They all maintain their working trees without clobbering each other
or interfering otherwise. By default, all git repositories maintained via
`vcsh` are stored in `$HOME` but you can override this setting if you want to.
-All that means that you can have one repository per application or application
+All this means that you can have one repository per application or application
family, i.e. `zsh`, `vim`, `ssh`, etc. This, in turn, allows you to clone
custom sets of configurations onto different machines or even for different
users; picking and mixing which configurations you want to use where.
`vcsh` was designed with [mr][mr] in mind so you might want to install that, as
well.
-Read `INSTALL.md` and `PACKAGING` for instructions specific to your operating
+Read `INSTALL.md` and `PACKAGING.md` for instructions specific to your operating
system.
-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.
-## 2.1 Talks ##
+## Talks ##
Some people found it useful to look at slides and videos explaining how `vcsh`
-works.
+works instead of working through the docs, first.
They can all be found [on the author's talk page][talks].
-# 3 Overview
-## 3.1 Comparison to Other Solutions ##
+# Overview
+
+## Comparison to Other Solutions ##
Most people who decide to put their dotfiles under version control start with a
-single repository in $HOME, adding all their dotfiles (and possibly more)
+single repository in `$HOME`, adding all their dotfiles (and possibly more)
to it. This works, of course, but can become a nuisance as soon as you try to
manage more than one host.
The next logical step is to create single-purpose repositories in, for example,
-~/.dotfiles and to create symbolic links in $HOME. This gives you the
+`~/.dotfiles` and to create symbolic links into `$HOME`. This gives you the
flexibility to check out only certain repositories on different hosts. The
downsides of this approach are the necessary manual steps of cloning and
-symlinking the individual repositories. It will probably become a nuisance when
-you try to manage more than two hosts.
+symlinking the individual repositories.
-vcsh takes this second approach one step further. It expects
+`vcsh` takes this second approach one step further. It expects
single-purpose repositories and stores them in a hidden directory (similar
-to ~/.dotfiles). However, it does not create symbolic links in $HOME; it puts
-the actual files right into $HOME.
+to `~/.dotfiles`). However, it does not create symbolic links in `$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
-(see 4.3), but it will be an integral part of the proposed system that follows.
+Furthermore, by making use of [mr][mr], it makes it very easy to enable/disable
+and clone a large number of repositories. The use of `mr` is technically
+optional (see section 4.3), but it will be an integral part of the proposed
+system that follows.
-## 3.2 Default Directory Layout ##
+## Default Directory Layout ##
To illustrate, this is what a possible directory structure looks like.
Optionally, merge your local and your global configs afterwards and push with
`vcsh run foo git push`.
-## 3.3 Moving into a New Host ##
+## Moving into a New Host ##
To illustrate further, the following steps could move your desired
configuration to a new host.
If you want to give vcsh a try, follow the instructions below.
-# 4 Getting Started #
+
+# Getting Started #
Below, you will find a few different methods for setting up vcsh:
2. The Steal-from-Template Way
3. The Manual Way
-### 4.1 The Template Way ###
+### The Template Way ###
-#### 4.1.1 Prerequisites ####
+#### Prerequisites ####
Make sure none of the following files and directories exist for your test
(user). If they do, move them away for now:
apt-get install mr
-#### 4.1.2 Install vcsh ####
+#### Install vcsh ####
-#### 4.1.2.1 Debian ####
+#### Debian ####
If you are using Debian Squeeze, you will need to enable backports
apt-get install vcsh
-#### 4.1.2.2 Arch Linux ####
+#### Arch Linux ####
vcsh is availabe via [AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=54164)
and further documentation about the use of AUR is available
makepkg -s
pacman -U vcsh*.pkg.tar.xz
-#### 4.1.2.3 From source ####
+#### From source ####
If your version of mr is older than version 1.07, make sure to put
ln -s vcsh /usr/local/bin # or add it to your PATH
cd
-#### 4.1.3 Clone the Template ####
+#### Clone the Template ####
vcsh clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh_mr_template.git mr
-#### 4.1.4 Enable Your Test Repository ####
+#### Enable Your Test Repository ####
mv ~/.zsh ~/zsh.bak
mv ~/.zshrc ~/zshrc.bak
cd
mr up
-#### 4.1.5 Set Up Your Own Repositories ####
+#### Set Up Your Own Repositories ####
Now, it's time to edit the template config and fill it with your own remotes:
Done!
-### 4.2 The Steal-from-Template Way ###
+### The Steal-from-Template Way ###
You're welcome to clone the example repository:
poke me, RichiH, on Freenode (query) or OFTC (#vcs-home).
-### 4.3 The Manual Way ###
+### 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.
~ % cd
~ % mr -j 5 up
-# 5 Usage #
-### 5.1 Keeping repositories Up-to-Date ###
+# Usage #
+
+### Keeping repositories Up-to-Date ###
This is the beauty of it all. Once you are set up, just run:
Neat.
-### 5.1 Making Changes ###
+### 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):
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.
-### 5.3 Using vcsh without mr ###
+### 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
done
+# Contact #
+
+There are several ways to get in touch with the author and a small but committed
+community around the general idea of version controlling your (digital) life.
+
+* IRC: #vcs-home on irc.oftc.net
+
+* Mailing list: [http://lists.madduck.net/listinfo/vcs-home][vcs-home-list]
+
+* Pull requests or issues on [https://github.com/RichiH/vcsh][vcsh]
+
+
[mr]: http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/mr/
[talks]: http://richardhartmann.de/talks/
[vcsh]: https://github.com/RichiH/vcsh
projects / code / vcsh.git / blobdiff