X-Git-Url: https://git.madduck.net/code/vcsh.git/blobdiff_plain/ef369a31786e19bec1b56460f8ceb2bcf3801d71..fbb76b4ff54910ef43bbbf08571a95ab3f6398ea:/README.md?ds=sidebyside diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index c40ccf4..c58810b 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,59 +1,137 @@ -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 howto](#30-second-howto) +2. [Introduction](#introduction) +3. [Usage Exmaples](#usage-examples) +4. [Overview](#overview) +5. [Getting Started](#getting-started) +6. [Contact](#contact) -vcsh allows you to have several git repositories, all maintaining their working -trees in $HOME without clobbering each other. That, in turn, means you can have -one repository per config set (zsh, vim, ssh, etc), picking and choosing which -configs you want to use on which machine. -vcsh was designed with [mr] [1] in mind so you might want to install that, as -well. +# 30 second howto -Read INSTALL.md for detailed setup instructions. +While it may appear that there's an overwhelming amount of documentation and +while the explanation of the concepts behind `vcsh` needs to touch a few gory +details of `git` internals, getting started with `vcsh` is extremely simple. -The following overview will try to give you an idea of the use cases and -advantages of vcsh. See sections 3 and 4 for detailed instructions and -examples. +Let's say you want to version control your `vim` configuration: -# 2 Overview + vcsh init vim + vcsh vim add ~/.vimrc ~/.vim + vcsh vim commit -m 'Initial commit of my Vim configuration' + # optionally push your files to a remote + vcsh vim remote add origin + vcsh vim push -u origin master + # from now on you can push additional commits like this + vcsh vim push -## 2.1 Comparison to Other Solutions ## +If all that looks a _lot_ like standard `git`, that's no coincidence; it's +a design feature. + + +# Introduction + +[vcsh][vcsh] allows you to maintain several Git repositories in one single +directory. They all maintain their working trees without clobbering each other +or interfering otherwise. By default, all Git repositories maintained via +`vcsh` store the actual files in `$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 +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. + +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. + +## Talks + +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]. + + +# 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 ` | +| _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 ` | +| | `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 $HOME**, adding all their dotfiles (and possibly more) +single repository in `$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 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`. -**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 $HOME**. +As `vcsh` allows you to put an arbitrary number of distinct repositories into +your `$HOME`, you will end up with a lot of repositories very quickly. -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. +`vcsh` was designed with [myrepos][myrepos], a tool to manage Multiple +Repositories, in mind and the two integrate very nicely. The myrepos tool +(`mr`) has native support for `vcsh` repositories and the configuration for +myrepos is just another set of files that you cat track with `vcsh` like any +other. This makes setting up any new machine a breeze. It can take literally +less than five minutes to go from standard installation to fully set up system. -## 2.2 Default Directory Layout ## +We suggest using [myrepos][myrepos] to manage both `vcsh` and other repositories. The +`mr` utility takes care of pulling in and pushing out new data for a variety of +version control systems. While the use of myrepos is technically optional, 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 + |-- $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (defaults to $HOME/.config) | |-- mr | | |-- available.d | | | |-- zsh.vcsh @@ -71,6 +149,7 @@ To illustrate, this is what a possible directory structure looks like. | | |-- tmux.vcsh -> ../available.d/tmux.vcsh | | `-- vim.vcsh -> ../available.d/vim.vcsh | `-- vcsh + | |-- config | `-- repo.d | |-- zsh.git -----------+ | |-- gitconfigs.git | @@ -78,154 +157,193 @@ To illustrate, this is what a possible directory structure looks like. | `-- vim.git | |-- [...] | |-- .zshrc <----------------------+ - |-- .gitignore + |-- .gitignore.d + | `-- zsh |-- .mrconfig `-- .mrtrust -### available.d ### +### 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. +The files you see in $XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/mr/available.d are myrepos +configuration files that contain the commands to manage (checkout, update +etc.) a single repository. vcsh repo configs end in .vcsh, git configs end +in .git, etc. This is optional and your preference. For example, this is +what a zsh.vcsh with read-only access to my zshrc repo looks likes. I.e. in +this specific example, push can not work as you will be using the author's +repository. This is for demonstration, only. Of course, you are more than +welcome to clone from this repository and fork your own. - [$HOME/.config/vcsh/repo.d/zsh.git] + [$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vcsh/repo.d/zsh.git] checkout = vcsh clone 'git://github.com/RichiH/zshrc.git' zsh - update = vcsh run zsh git pull - push = vcsh run zsh git push - status = vcsh run zsh git status - gc = vcsh run zsh git gc + update = vcsh zsh pull + push = vcsh zsh push + status = vcsh zsh status + gc = vcsh zsh gc -### config.d ### +### config.d -~/.config/mr/available.d contains *all available* repositories. Only -files/links present in mr/config.d, however, will be used by mr. That means +$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/mr/available.d contains *all available* repositories. Only +files/links present in mr/config.d, however, will be used by myrepos. 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 ### +### ~/.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/* + include = cat ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/mr/config.d/* -### repo.d ### +### repo.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 $HOME directly (see .zshrc -above). +$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, [myrepos][myrepos] 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`. +`vcsh foo push`. -## 2.3 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. -1. Clone the mr repository (containing available.d, config.d etc.); for - example: `vcsh clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh_mr_template.git` +1. Clone the myrepos 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`. +3. Run myrepos 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 + (thanks to myrepos) 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 # + +# Getting Started Below, you will find a few different methods for setting up vcsh: -3.1. The Template Way -3.2. The Steal-from-Template Way -3.3. The Manual Way +1. The Template Way +2. The Steal-from-Template Way +3. The Manual Way -### 3.1 The Template Way ### +### The Template Way -#### 3.1.1 Prerequisites #### +#### Prerequisites Make sure none of the following files and directories exist for your test (user). If they do, move them away for now: -* ~/.gitignore +* ~/.gitignore.d * ~/.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/ +* $XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/mr/available.d/mr.vcsh +* $XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/mr/available.d/zsh.vcsh +* $XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/mr/config.d/mr.vcsh +* $XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/vcsh/repo.d/mr.git/ All of the files are part of the template repository, the directory is where the template will be stored. - apt-get install mr + apt-get install myrepos -#### 3.1.2 Clone the Template #### +### Install vcsh +#### Debian + +If you are using Debian Squeeze, you will need to enable backports. +From Wheezy onwards, you can install it directly: + + apt-get install vcsh + +#### Gentoo + +To install vcsh in Gentoo Linux just give the following command as root: + + emerge dev-vcs/vcsh + +#### Arch Linux + +vcsh is availabe via [AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=54164) +and further documentation about the use of AUR is available +[on Arch's wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_User_Repository). + + cd /var/abs/local/ + wget https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/vc/vcsh-git/vcsh-git.tar.gz + tar xfz vcsh-git.tar.gz + cd vcsh-git + makepkg -s + pacman -U vcsh*.pkg.tar.xz + +#### From source + + # choose a location for your checkout mkdir -p ~/work/git - cd !$ - git clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh.git vcsh + cd ~/work/git + git clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh.git cd vcsh - ln -s vcsh /usr/local/bin # or add it to your PATH + sudo 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 #### +#### 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 ~/.config/mr/config.d/ + 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 #### +#### 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 + 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 + vcsh foo add bar baz quux + vcsh foo remote add origin git://quuux + vcsh foo commit + vcsh foo 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 + 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 ### +### The Steal-from-Template Way You're welcome to clone the example repository: - git clone git://github.com/RichiH/vcsh_mr_template.git + 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). -### 3.3 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. @@ -239,18 +357,20 @@ copy mine verbatim, either is fine. 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 +Grab my myrepos config. see below for details on how I set this up vcsh clone ssh:///mr.git - cd ~/.config/mr/config.d/ + cd $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mr/config.d/ ln -s ../available.d/* . -mr is used to actually retrieve configs, etc +myrepos is used to actually retrieve configs, etc ~ % cat ~/.mrconfig [DEFAULT] - include = cat ~/.config/mr/config.d/* + # 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 @@ -261,9 +381,10 @@ mr is used to actually retrieve configs, etc ~ % cd ~ % mr -j 5 up -# 4 Usage # -### 4.1 Keeping repositories Up-to-Date ### +# myrepos 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: @@ -272,27 +393,22 @@ This is the beauty of it all. Once you are set up, just run: Neat. -### 4.1 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): - 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. + vcsh foo add bar baz quux + vcsh foo commit + vcsh foo push -### 4.3 Using vcsh without mr ### +### Using vcsh without myrepos -vcsh encourages you to use mr. It helps you manage a large number of +vcsh encourages you to use [myrepos][myrepos]. 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 +to use myrepos, 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` @@ -301,19 +417,31 @@ 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 + vcsh zsh status + vcsh zsh add .zshrc + vcsh zsh commit -Obviously, without mr keeping repositories up-to-date, it will have to be done +Obviously, without myrepos 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] +# 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] + -[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