vcsh - Version Control System for $HOME - multiple Git repositories in $HOME
+[](https://travis-ci.org/RichiH/vcsh)
+
# Index
-1. [30 second howto](#30-second-howto)
+1. [30 Second How-to](#30-second-how-to)
2. [Introduction](#introduction)
-3. [Usage Exmaples](#usage-examples)
-4. [Overview](#overview)
-5. [Getting Started](#getting-started)
-6. [Contact](#contact)
+3. [Contact](#contact)
-# 30 second howto
+# 30 Second How-to
While it may appear that there's an overwhelming amount of documentation and
while the explanation of the concepts behind `vcsh` needs to touch a few gory
or interfering otherwise. By default, all Git repositories maintained via
`vcsh` store the actual files in `$HOME` but you can override this setting if
you want to.
+
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
`ssh` on your personal and your work machines.
A lot of modern UNIX-based systems offer packages for `vcsh`. In case yours
-does not read `INSTALL.md` for install instructions or `PACKAGING.md` to create
-a package, yourself. If you do end up packaging `vcsh` please let us know so we
-can give you your own packaging branch in the upstream repository.
+does not, read [INSTALL.md](doc/INSTALL.md) for install instructions or
+[PACKAGING.md](doc/PACKAGING.md) to create a package yourself. If you do end
+up packaging `vcsh` please let us know so we can give you your own packaging
+branch in the upstream repository.
## Talks
[on the author's talk page][talks].
-# Usage Examples
-
-There are three different ways to interact with `vcsh` repositories; this
-section will only show the simplest and easiest way.
-Certain more advanced use cases require the other two ways, but don't worry
-about this for now. If you never even bother playing with the other two
-modes you will still be fine.
-`vcsh enter` and `vcsh run` will be covered in later sections.
-
-
-| Task | Command |
-| ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
-| _Initialize a new repository called "vim"_ | `vcsh init vim` |
-| _Clone an existing repository_ | `vcsh clone <remote> <repository_name>` |
-| _Add files to repository "vim"_ | `vcsh vim add ~/.vimrc ~/.vim` |
-| | `vcsh vim commit -m 'Update Vim configuration'` |
-| _Add a remote for repository "vim"_ | `vcsh vim remote add origin <remote>` |
-| | `vcsh vim push origin master:master` |
-| | `vcsh vim branch --track master origin/master` |
-| _Push to remote of repository "vim"_ | `vcsh vim push` |
-| _Pull from remote of repository "vim"_ | `vcsh vim pull` |
-| _Show status of changed files in all repositories_ | `vcsh status` |
-| _Pull from all repositories_ | `vcsh pull` |
-| _Push to all repositories_ | `vcsh push` |
-
-
-# Overview
-
-## From zero to vcsh
-
-You put a lot of effort into your configuration and want to both protect and
-distribute this configuration.
-
-Most people who decide to put their dotfiles under version control start with a
-single repository in `$HOME`, adding all their dotfiles (and possibly more)
-to it. This works, of course, but can become a nuisance as soon as you try to
-manage more than one host.
-
-The next logical step is to create single-purpose repositories in, for example,
-`~/.dotfiles` and to create symbolic links into `$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.
-
-`vcsh` takes this approach one step further. It enables single-purpose
-repositories and stores them in a hidden directory. However, it does not create
-symbolic links in `$HOME`; it puts the actual files right into `$HOME`.
-
-As `vcsh` allows you to put an arbitrary number of distinct repositories into
-your `$HOME`, you will end up with a lot of repositories very quickly.
-
-To manage both `vcsh` and other repositories, we suggest using [mr](mr). `mr`
-takes care of pulling in and pushing out new data for a variety of version
-control systems.
-
-`vcsh` was designed with [mr][mr], a tool to manage Multiple Repositories, in
-mind and the two integrate very nicely. `mr` has native support for `vcsh`
-repositories and to `vcsh`, `mr` is just another configuration to track.
-This make setting up any new machine a breeze. It takes literally less than
-five minutes to go from standard installation to fully set up system
-
-This is where `mr` comes in. While the use of `mr` is technically
-optional, but it will be an integral part of the proposed system that follows.
-
-## Default Directory Layout
-
-To illustrate, this is what a possible directory structure looks like.
-
- $HOME
- |-- $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (defaults to $HOME/.config)
- | |-- mr
- | | |-- available.d
- | | | |-- zsh.vcsh
- | | | |-- gitconfigs.vcsh
- | | | |-- lftp.vcsh
- | | | |-- offlineimap.vcsh
- | | | |-- s3cmd.vcsh
- | | | |-- tmux.vcsh
- | | | |-- vim.vcsh
- | | | |-- vimperator.vcsh
- | | | `-- snippets.git
- | | `-- config.d
- | | |-- 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
- | |-- config
- | `-- repo.d
- | |-- zsh.git -----------+
- | |-- gitconfigs.git |
- | |-- tmux.git |
- | `-- vim.git |
- |-- [...] |
- |-- .zshrc <----------------------+
- |-- .gitignore.d
- | `-- zsh
- |-- .mrconfig
- `-- .mrtrust
-
-### available.d
-
-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 zsh pull
- push = vcsh zsh push
- status = vcsh zsh status
- gc = vcsh zsh 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.
-
-### ~/.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]
- include = cat ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/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] [mr] 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 foo push`.
-
-## Moving into a New Host
-
-To illustrate further, the following steps could move your desired
-configuration to a new host.
-
-1. Clone the mr repository (containing available.d, config.d etc.); for
- example: `vcsh clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh_mr_template.git mr`
-2. Choose your repositories by linking them in config.d (or go with the default
- you may have already configured by adding symlinks to git).
-3. Run mr to clone the repositories: `cd; mr update`.
-4. Done.
-
-Hopefully the above could help explain how this approach saves time by
-
-1. making it easy to manage, clone and update a large number of repositories
- (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.
-
-
-# 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
-
-### The Template Way
-
-#### Prerequisites
-
-Make sure none of the following files and directories exist for your test
-(user). If they do, move them away for now:
-
-* ~/.gitignore.d
-* ~/.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
-
-### Install vcsh
-
-#### Debian
-
-If you are using Debian Squeeze, you will need to enable backports
-
- apt-get install vcsh
-
-#### Gentoo
-
-To install vcsh in Gentoo Linux just give the following command as root:
-
- emerge dev-vcs/vcsh
-
-#### 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
-[on Arch's wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_User_Repository).
-
- cd /var/abs/local/
- wget https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/vc/vcsh-git/vcsh-git.tar.gz
- tar xfz vcsh-git.tar.gz
- cd vcsh-git
- makepkg -s
- pacman -U vcsh*.pkg.tar.xz
-
-#### From source
-
- # choose a location for your checkout
- mkdir -p ~/work/git
- cd ~/work/git
- git clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh.git
- cd vcsh
- sudo ln -s vcsh /usr/local/bin # or add it to your PATH
- cd
-
-#### Clone the Template
-
- vcsh clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh_mr_template.git mr
-
-#### 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
-
-#### 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 foo add bar baz quux
- vcsh foo remote add origin git://quuux
- vcsh foo commit
- vcsh foo push
-
- cp $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/mr.vcsh $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/foo.vcsh
- vim $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/foo.vcsh # add your own repo
-
-Done!
-
-### The Steal-from-Template Way
-
-You're welcome to clone the example repository:
-
- vcsh clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh_mr_template.git mr
- # make sure 'include = cat /usr/share/mr/vcsh' points to an exiting file
- vim .mrconfig
-
-Look around in the clone. It should be reasonably simple to understand. If not,
-poke me, RichiH, on Freenode (query) or OFTC (#vcs-home).
-
-
-### The Manual Way
-
-This is how my old setup procedure looked like. Adapt it to your own style or
-copy mine verbatim, either is fine.
-
- # Create workspace
- mkdir -p ~/work/git
- cd !$
-
- # 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]
- # adapt /usr/share/mr/vcsh to your system if needed
- include = cat /usr/share/mr/vcsh
- 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
-
-
-# mr usage ; will be factored out & rewritten
-
-### Keeping repositories Up-to-Date
-
-This is the beauty of it all. Once you are set up, just run:
-
- mr up
- mr push
-
-Neat.
-
-### 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 foo add bar baz quux
- vcsh foo commit
- vcsh foo push
-
-### Using vcsh without mr
-
-vcsh encourages you to use [mr][mr]. 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.
-
-
-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 zsh status
- vcsh zsh add .zshrc
- vcsh zsh 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
-
-
# Contact
There are several ways to get in touch with the author and a small but committed
* Pull requests or issues on [https://github.com/RichiH/vcsh][vcsh]
-[mr]: http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/mr/
+[myrepos]: http://myrepos.branchable.com/
[talks]: http://richardhartmann.de/talks/
[vcsh]: https://github.com/RichiH/vcsh
[vcs-home-list]: http://lists.madduck.net/listinfo/vcs-home
projects / code / vcsh.git / blobdiff