89 lines
4.2 KiB
Org Mode
89 lines
4.2 KiB
Org Mode
* dotlink
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There are countless ways of managing your dotfiles.. this is also one.
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After trying several approaches and switching between different setups, this method finally met all of my requirements:
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- As simple as possible
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- Multiple machines are managed in one repository
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- Identical configurations for one program on several machines only need to be adjusted in one place
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- Different configurations for one program on several machines are no problem
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- Set everything up with one command
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- Updating configurations shall require nothing more than =git pull=
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This is a reference repository which contains a bash script (=dotlink=) and some example dotfiles for two machines (=host1= and =host2=).
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*Warning*: If you want to try this make a backup of your dotfiles!
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The script doesn't overwrite existing files but you never know.
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** Concept
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The concept is based on symlinks and two directories, =common= and =machines=).
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The =machines= directory contains subdirectories for all machines on which dotfiles are managed.
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They need to match the /hostname/ of the machine (in this repository =host1= and =host2=) and mimic the corresponding =$HOME= directories.
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The =common= directory contains configs which are present on multiple machines.
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It doesn't follow any specific structure, you can choose what suits your setup.
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Subdirectories with program names, followed by the configuration files (in this repository only =mpv=) make probably the most sense but its up to you.
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The =common= directory should never contain symlinks.
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Symlinks from the =machines= directory to the =common= directory make the configs available on multiple machines and they can be adjusted in one place (see =mpv= in this repository).
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Here is the tree output from this repository:
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#+begin_example text
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dotlink/
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├── common
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│ └── mpv
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│ ├── input.conf
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│ └── mpv.conf
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├── machines
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│ ├── host1
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│ │ ├── .config
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│ │ │ └── mpv -> ../../../common/mpv/
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│ │ └── .offlineimaprc
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│ └── host2
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│ └── .config
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│ ├── beets
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│ │ └── config.yaml
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│ └── mpv -> ../../../common/mpv/
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└── dotlink
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#+end_example
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The *mpv* configuration is shared between hosts, =host1= has an *OfflineIMAP* configuration in his home directory and =host2= has a *beets* configuration in his =.config= directory.
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Every file from every =machines/<hostname>= directory can then be linked to the corresponding path into the home directory of the machine.
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This can be done by hand or with help of the =dotlink= script.
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If you updated a configuration somewhere else just call =git pull= and thats it.
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** Script usage
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When calling the =dotlink= script, all files from the =machines/<hostname>= directory, which matches the current /hostname/, are linked to their destination in the =$HOME= directory.
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Calling the script is only neccessary when new files were added which are not linked yet.
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The script can be executed from everywhere, it is just important that it's stored next to a =machines= directory like in this repository.
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#+begin_example text
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Usage: dotlink [OPTIONS]
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Simple dotfile management based on symlinks.
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OPTIONS
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-h, --help Show this help message
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-u, --unlink Remove current links
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#+end_example
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** Adding configuration files for only one host
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Add the files to =machines/<hostname>/<path_in_home>=.
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If you want to keep all configuration files in the =common= directory and just use symlinks in the =machines= directory, you can follow the instructions below.
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** Adding configuration files for multiple host
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It is important that the links from the =machines= directory to the =common= directory are relative.
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Follow these steps to add new configurations for multiple machines:
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1. Add the files somewhere to the =common= directory
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2. Execute =ln -rs common/<config_or_directory> machines/<hostname>/<path_in_home>= for every machine on which the files should be present
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3. Execute the =dotlink= script on every modified machine
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