## 1.1 Prerequisites ##
-Make sure none of the following files/diretories exist for your test (user). If they do, move them away for now:
+Make sure none of the following files/diretories exist for your test (user). If
+they do, move them away for now:
* ~/.gitignore
* ~/.mrconfig
* ~/.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.
+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
### 1.5.2 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):
+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.
+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.
# 2. The steal-from-template way #
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).
+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. 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.
+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
# 4. 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.
+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.
## 4.1 A few examples ##
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:
+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:
+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;
# 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 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.
+vcsh was designed with mr [1] in mind so you might want to install that, as
+well.
Read INSTALL.md for detailed setup instructions.
## 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 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.
-**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 $HOME**.
-Furthermore, by making use of mr [1], it makes it very easy to enable/disable and clone a large number of repositories.
-The use of mr is technically optional, but it will be an integral part of the proposed system that follows.
+Furthermore, by making use of mr [1], it makes it very easy to enable/disable
+and clone a large number of repositories. The use of mr is technically
+optional, but it will be an integral part of the proposed system that follows.
## Default Directory Layout ##
jobs = 5
include = cat ~/.config/mr/config.d/*
-The files you see in ~/.config/mr/available.d are mr configuration files that contain the commands to manage (checkout, update etc.) a single repository.
-vcsh repo configs end in .vcsh, git configs end in .git, etc. This is optional and your preference.
-For example, this is what a zsh.mrconfig with read-only access to my zshrc repo looks likes. I.e. in this specific example, push can not work.
+The files you see in ~/.config/mr/available.d are mr configuration files that
+contain the commands to manage (checkout, update etc.) a single repository.
+vcsh repo configs end in .vcsh, git configs end in .git, etc. This is optional
+and your preference. For example, this is what a zsh.mrconfig with read-only
+access to my zshrc repo looks likes. I.e. in this specific example, push can
+not work.
[$HOME/.config/vcsh/repo.d/zsh.git]
checkout = vcsh clone 'git://github.com/RichiH/zshrc.git'
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/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 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).
+~/.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).
-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 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).
+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
+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).
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projects / code / vcsh.git / commitdiff