X-Git-Url: https://git.madduck.net/code/vcsh.git/blobdiff_plain/0af8c82fed06f635e0a8dfa25b26c97a7932af51..1eae6a64aebc01623fef3c6abc6230ff728551a1:/README.md?ds=sidebyside

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-vcsh - manage and sync config files via git
+vcsh - Version Control System for $HOME (based on git)
+
+
+# Index #
+
+1. [30 second howto](#30-second-howto)
+2. [Contact](#contact)
+3. [Introduction](#introduction)
+4. [Overview](#overview)
+5. [Getting Started](#getting-started)
+6. [Usage](#usage)
+
+
+# 30 second howto #
+
+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.
+
+Let's say you want to version control your `vim` configuration:
+
+    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
+
+If all that looks a _lot_ like standard `git`, that's no coincidence, but
+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].
+
+
+# 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]
+
 
 # Introduction #
 
-vcsh allows you to have several git repositories, all maintaining their working trees in $HOME without clobbering each other.
-That, in turn, means you can have one repository per config set (zsh, vim, ssh, etc), picking and choosing which configs you want to use on which machine.
+[vcsh][vcsh] allows you to maintain several git repositories in one single
+directory. They all maintain their working trees without clobbering each other
+or interfering otherwise. By default, all git repositories maintained via
+`vcsh` are stored in <$HOME> but you can override this setting if you want to.
+All that means that you can have one repository per application or application
+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.
+For example, you may not need to have your `mplayer` configuration on a server
+or available to root and you may want to maintain different configuration for
+`ssh` on your personal and your work machines.
+
+`vcsh` was designed with [mr][mr] in mind so you might want to install that, as
+well.
+
+Read <INSTALL.md> and <PACKAGING.md> for instructions specific to your operating
+system.
 
-vcsh was designed with mr [1] in mind so you might want to install that, as well.
+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.
 
-Read INSTALL.md for detailed setup instructions.
+## Talks ##
 
-Questions? RichiH@{Freenode,OFTC,IRCnet}
+Some people found it useful to look at slides and videos explaining how `vcsh`
+works.
+They can all be found [on the author's talk page][talks].
+
+
+# Overview
 
 ## Comparison to Other Solutions ##
 
-Most people who decide to put their dotfiles under version control start with a **single repository in $HOME**, adding all their dotfiles (and possibly more) to it.
-This works, of course, but can become a nuisance as soon as you try to manage more than one host.
+Most people who decide to put their dotfiles under version control start with a
+single repository in <$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 in $HOME**.
-This gives you the flexibility to check out only certain repositories on different hosts.
-The downsides of this approach are the necessary manual steps of cloning and symlinking the individual repositories.
-It will probably become a nuisance when you try to manage more than two hosts.
+The next logical step is to create single-purpose repositories in, for example,
+<~/.dotfiles> and to create symbolic links into <$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 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 $HOME.
+`vcsh` takes this second approach one step further. It expects
+single-purpose repositories and stores them in a hidden directory (similar
+to <~/.dotfiles>). However, it does not create symbolic links in <$HOME>; it
+puts the actual files right into <$HOME>.
 
-Furthermore, by making use of mr [1], it makes it very easy to enable/disable and clone a large number of repositories.
+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.
 
 ## Default Directory Layout ##
 
 To illustrate, this is what a possible directory structure looks like.
 
-        $HOME
-            |-- .config
-            |   |-- mr
-            |   |   |-- available.d
-            |   |   |   |-- zsh.vcsh
-            |   |   |   |-- gitconfigs.vcsh
-            |   |   |   |-- lftp.vcsh
-            |   |   |   |-- offlineimap.vcsh
-            |   |   |   |-- s3cmd.vcsh
-            |   |   |   |-- tmux.vcsh
-            |   |   |   |-- vim.vcsh
-            |   |   |   |-- vimperator.vcsh
-            |   |   |   |-- snippets.git
-            |   |   |-- config.d
-            |   |   |   |-- zsh.mrconfig       -> ../available.d/zsh.mrconfig
-            |   |   |   |-- gitconfigs.mrconfig -> ../available.d/gitconfigs.mrconfig
-            |   |   |   |-- tmux.mrconfig       -> ../available.d/tmux.mrconfig
-            |   |   |   `-- vim.mrconfig        -> ../available.d/vim.mrconfig
-            |   `-- vcsh
-            |       `-- repo.d
-            |           |-- zsh.git  -----------+
-            |           |-- gitconfigs.git      |
-            |           |-- tmux.git            |
-            |           `-- vim.git             |
-            |-- [...]                           |
-            |-- .zshrc   <----------------------+
-            |-- .gitignore
-            |-- .mrconfig
-            `-- .mrtrust
-
-In this setup, ~/.mrconfig looks like:
-
-        [DEFAULT]
-        jobs = 5
-        include = cat ~/.config/mr/config.d/*
-
-The files you see in ~/.config/mr/available.d are mr configuration files that contain the commands to manage (checkout, update etc.) a single repository.
-vcsh repo configs end in .vcsh, git configs end in .git, etc. This is optional and your preference.
-For example, this is what a zsh.mrconfig with read-only access to my zshrc repo looks likes. I.e. in this specific example, push can not work.
-
-        [$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 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 where vcsh clones the git repositories into.
-Since their working trees are configured to be in $HOME, the files contained in those repositories will be put in $HOME directly (see .bashrc 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`.
+    $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 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.
+
+### ~/.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
+    # Use if your mr does not have vcsh support in mainline, yet
+    include = cat /usr/share/mr/vcsh
+    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] [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 ##
 
-To illustrate further, the following steps could move your desired configuration to 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`
-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.
+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. Make sure the line 'include = cat /usr/share/mr/vcsh' in .mrconfig points
+   to an existing file
+4. Run mr to clone the repositories: `cd; mr update`.
+5. 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
+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
+
+#### 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 ####
+
+If your version of mr is older than version 1.07, make sure to put
+
+    include = cat /usr/share/mr/vcsh
+
+into your .mrconfig .
+
+    # choose a location for your checkout
+    cd $HOME
+    mkdir -p ~/work/git
+    git clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh.git
+    cd vcsh
+    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 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 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/available.d/foo.vcsh # add your own repo
+
+Done!
+
+### The Steal-from-Template Way ###
+
+You're welcome to clone the example repository:
+
+    vcsh clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh_mr_template.git mr
+    # make sure 'include = cat /usr/share/mr/vcsh' points to an exiting file
+    vim .mrconfig
+
+Look around in the clone. It should be reasonably simple to understand. If not,
+poke me, RichiH, on Freenode (query) or OFTC (#vcs-home).
+
+
+### The Manual Way ###
+
+This is how my old setup procedure looked like. Adapt it to your own style or
+copy mine verbatim, either is fine.
+
+    # Create workspace
+    mkdir -p ~/work/git
+    cd !$
+
+    # 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
+
+
+# Usage #
+
+### 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 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.
+
+### 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]: http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/mr/
+[talks]: http://richardhartmann.de/talks/
+[vcsh]: https://github.com/RichiH/vcsh
+[vcs-home-list]: http://lists.madduck.net/listinfo/vcs-home