X-Git-Url: https://git.madduck.net/code/vcsh.git/blobdiff_plain/7f239a38aa406a2328a237f5af7dc03f45fc8751..67a1a55913e80ce2e97d4f7b389793f4afb33dc6:/README.md?ds=inline diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 6c59618..763b7c4 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,319 +1,77 @@ -vcsh - manage and sync config files via git +vcsh - Version Control System for $HOME - multiple Git repositories in $HOME -# Index # -1. Introduction -2. Overview -3. Getting Started -4. Usage +# Index -# 1 Introduction # +1. [30 Second How-to](#30-second-how-to) +2. [Introduction](#introduction) +3. [Contact](#contact) -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 -well. +# 30 Second How-to -Read INSTALL.md for detailed setup instructions. +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. -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. +Let's say you want to version control your `vim` configuration: -# 2 Overview + 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 + vcsh vim push -u origin master + # from now on you can push additional commits like this + vcsh vim push -## 2.1 Comparison to Other Solutions ## +If all that looks a _lot_ like standard `git`, that's no coincidence; it's +a design feature. -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. +# Introduction -**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 $HOME**. +[vcsh][vcsh] allows you to maintain several Git repositories in one single +directory. They all maintain their working trees without clobbering each other +or interfering otherwise. By default, all Git repositories maintained via +`vcsh` store the actual files in `$HOME` but you can override this setting if +you want to. -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 3.4), but it will be an integral part of the proposed system that follows. +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. +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. -## 2.2 Default Directory Layout ## +A lot of modern UNIX-based systems offer packages for `vcsh`. In case yours +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. -To illustrate, this is what a possible directory structure looks like. +## Talks - $HOME - |-- .config - | |-- mr - | | |-- available.d - | | | |-- zsh.vcsh - | | | |-- gitconfigs.vcsh - | | | |-- lftp.vcsh - | | | |-- offlineimap.vcsh - | | | |-- s3cmd.vcsh - | | | |-- tmux.vcsh - | | | |-- vim.vcsh - | | | |-- vimperator.vcsh - | | | `-- snippets.git - | | `-- config.d - | | |-- zsh.vcsh -> ../available.d/zsh.vcsh - | | |-- gitconfigs.vcsh -> ../available.d/gitconfigs.vcsh - | | |-- tmux.vcsh -> ../available.d/tmux.vcsh - | | `-- vim.vcsh -> ../available.d/vim.vcsh - | `-- vcsh - | `-- repo.d - | |-- zsh.git -----------+ - | |-- gitconfigs.git | - | |-- tmux.git | - | `-- vim.git | - |-- [...] | - |-- .zshrc <----------------------+ - |-- .gitignore - |-- .mrconfig - `-- .mrtrust +Some people found it useful to look at slides and videos explaining how `vcsh` +works instead of working through the docs. +All slides, videos, and further information can be found +[on the author's talk page][talks]. -### available.d ### -The files you see in ~/.config/mr/available.d are mr configuration files that -contain the commands to manage (checkout, update etc.) a single repository. -vcsh repo configs end in .vcsh, git configs end in .git, etc. This is optional -and your preference. For example, this is what a zsh.mrconfig with read-only -access to my zshrc repo looks likes. I.e. in this specific example, push can -not work. +# Contact - [$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 - gc = vcsh run bash git gc +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. -### config.d ### +* IRC: #vcs-home on irc.oftc.net -~/.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. +* Mailing list: [http://lists.madduck.net/listinfo/vcs-home][vcs-home-list] -### repo.d ### +* Pull requests or issues on [https://github.com/RichiH/vcsh][vcsh] -~/.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 ~/.config/mr/config.d/* - - -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`. - -## 2.3 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` -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 $HOME (thanks to vcsh). - -If you want to give vcsh a try, follow the instructions below. - -# 3 Getting Started # - -Below, you will find a few different methods for setting up vcsh: - -1. The Template Way -2. The Steal-from-Template Way -3. The Manual Way - -### 3.1 The Template Way ### - -#### 3.1.1 Prerequisites #### - -Make sure none of the following files and directories exist for your test -(user). If they do, move them away for now: - -* ~/.gitignore -* ~/.mrconfig -* ~/.config/mr/available.d/mr.vcsh -* ~/.config/mr/available.d/zsh.vcsh -* ~/.config/mr/config.d/mr.vcsh -* ~/.config/vcsh/repo.d/mr.git/ - -All of the files are part of the template repository, the directory is where -the template will be stored. - - apt-get install mr # this is optional, but highly recommended - -#### 3.1.2 Clone the Template #### - - mkdir -p ~/work/git - cd !$ - 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 ~/.config/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 .config/mr/available.d/mr.vcsh - vim .config/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 .config/mr/available.d/mr.vcsh .config/mr/available.d/foo.vcsh - vim .config/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:///mr.git - cd ~/.config/mr/config.d/ - ln -s ../available.d/* . - - -mr is used to actually retrieve configs, etc - - ~ % cat ~/.mrconfig - [DEFAULT] - include = cat ~/.config/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. 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:///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 - ----------- - -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/) +[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