ejmg · October 13, 2018 18:40 · Oct 13, 2018
diff --git a/how-to-manage-dot-files-with-only-git-atlassian.md b/how-to-manage-dot-files-with-only-git-atlassian.md
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+---
+link: null
+title: The best way to store your dotfiles: A bare Git repository
+description: Recently I read about this amazing technique in an Hacker News thread on people's solutions to store their dotfiles. User StreakyCobra showed his elegant setup and ... It made so much sense! I am in the process of switching my own system to the same technique. The only pre-requisite is to install Git.
+keywords: null
+author: null
+date: null
+publisher: Atlassian Developers
+stats: paragraph=37 sentences=63, words=860
+---
+Disclaimer: the title is slightly hyperbolic, there are other proven solutions to the problem. I do think the technique below is very elegant though.
+
+Recently I read about this amazing technique in an [Hacker News thread](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11070797) on people's solutions to store their [dotfiles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-file). User `StreakyCobra` [showed his elegant setup](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11071754) and ... It made so much sense! I am in the process of switching my own system to the same technique. The only pre-requisite is to install [Git](https://www.atlassian.com/git/).
+
+In his words the technique below requires:
+
+> No extra tooling, no symlinks, files are tracked on a version control system, you can use different branches for different computers, you can replicate you configuration easily on new installation.
+
+The technique consists in storing a [Git bare repository](http://www.saintsjd.com/2011/01/what-is-a-bare-git-repository/) in a "_side_" folder (like `$HOME/.cfg` or `$HOME/.myconfig`) using a specially crafted alias so that commands are run against that repository and not the usual `.git` local folder, which would interfere with any other Git repositories around.
+
+## Starting from scratch
+
+If you haven't been tracking your configurations in a Git repository before, you can start using this technique easily with these lines:
+
+```bash
+git init --bare $HOME/.cfg
+alias config='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.cfg/ --work-tree=$HOME'
+config config --local status.showUntrackedFiles no
+echo "alias config='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.cfg/ --work-tree=$HOME'" >> $HOME/.bashrc
+```
+
+* The first line creates a folder `~/.cfg` which is a [Git bare repository](http://www.saintsjd.com/2011/01/what-is-a-bare-git-repository/) that will track our files.
+
+* Then we create an alias `config` which we will use instead of the regular `git` when we want to interact with our configuration repository.
+
+* We set a flag - local to the repository - to hide files we are not explicitly tracking yet. This is so that when you type `config status` and other commands later, files you are not interested in tracking will not show up as `untracked`.
+
+* Also you can add the alias definition by hand to your `.bashrc` or use the the fourth line provided for convenience.
+
+I packaged the above lines into a [snippet](https://bitbucket.org/snippets/nicolapaolucci/ergX9) up on Bitbucket and linked it from a short-url. So that you can set things up with:
+
+```bash
+curl -Lks http://bit.do/cfg-init | /bin/bash
+```
+
+After you've executed the setup any file within the `$HOME` folder can be versioned with normal commands, replacing `git` with your newly created `config` alias, like:
+
+```bash
+config status
+config add .vimrc
+config commit -m "Add vimrc"
+config add .bashrc
+config commit -m "Add bashrc"
+config push
+```
+
+## Install your dotfiles onto a new system (or migrate to this setup)
+
+If you already store your configuration/dotfiles in a [Git repository](https://www.atlassian.com/git/), on a new system you can migrate to this setup with the following steps:
+
+* Prior to the installation make sure you have committed the alias to your `.bashrc` or `.zsh`:
+
+```bash
+alias config='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.cfg/ --work-tree=$HOME'
+```
+* And that your source repository ignores the folder where you'll clone it, so that you don't create weird recursion problems:
+
+```bash
+echo ".cfg" >> .gitignore
+```
+* Now clone your dotfiles into a [bare](http://www.saintsjd.com/2011/01/what-is-a-bare-git-repository/) repository in a _"dot"_ folder of your `$HOME`:
+
+```bash
+git clone --bare  $HOME/.cfg
+```
+* Define the alias in the current shell scope:
+
+```bash
+alias config='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.cfg/ --work-tree=$HOME'
+```
+* Checkout the actual content from the bare repository to your `$HOME`:
+
+```bash
+config checkout
+```
+* The step above might fail with a message like:
+
+```bash
+error: The following untracked working tree files would be overwritten by checkout:
+    .bashrc
+    .gitignore
+Please move or remove them before you can switch branches.
+
+Aborting
+```
+
+This is because your `$HOME` folder might already have some stock configuration files which would be overwritten by Git. The solution is simple: back up the files if you care about them, remove them if you don't care. I provide you with a possible rough shortcut to move all the offending files automatically to a backup folder:
+
+```
+mkdir -p .config-backup && \
+config checkout 2>&1 | egrep "\s+\." | awk {'print $1'} | \
+xargs -I{} mv {} .config-backup/{}
+```
+* Re-run the check out if you had problems:
+
+```bash
+config checkout
+```
+* Set the flag `showUntrackedFiles` to `no` on this specific (local) repository:
+
+```bash
+config config --local status.showUntrackedFiles no
+```
+* You're done, from now on you can now type `config` commands to add and update your dotfiles:
+
+```bash
+config status
+config add .vimrc
+config commit -m "Add vimrc"
+config add .bashrc
+config commit -m "Add bashrc"
+config push
+```
+
+Again as a shortcut not to have to remember all these steps on any new machine you want to setup, you can create a simple script, [store it as Bitbucket snippet](https://bitbucket.org/snippets/nicolapaolucci/7rE9K) like I did, [create a short url](http://bit.do) for it and call it like this:
+
+```bash
+curl -Lks http://bit.do/cfg-install | /bin/bash
+```
+
+For completeness this is what I ended up with (tested on many freshly minted [Alpine Linux](http://www.alpinelinux.org/) containers to test it out):
+
+```bash
+git clone --bare https://bitbucket.org/durdn/cfg.git $HOME/.cfg
+function config {
+   /usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.cfg/ --work-tree=$HOME $@
+}
+mkdir -p .config-backup
+config checkout
+if [ $? = 0 ]; then
+  echo "Checked out config.";
+  else
+    echo "Backing up pre-existing dot files.";
+    config checkout 2>&1 | egrep "\s+\." | awk {'print $1'} | xargs -I{} mv {} .config-backup/{}
+fi;
+config checkout
+config config status.showUntrackedFiles no
+```
+
+## Wrapping up
+
+I hope you find this technique useful to track your configuration. If you're curious, [my dotfiles live here](https://bitbucket.org/durdn/cfg.git). Also please do stay connected by following [@durdn](https://www.twitter.com/durdn) or my awesome team at [@atlassiandev](https://www.twitter.com/atlassiandev).
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