.dotfiles: One to Rule Them All

Having a repository with a collection of all your dotfiles is the best way to keep your environments synced on multiple machines (e.g. home and work). With one of these, you can set up a new machine in a matter of seconds, with all your settings, aliases and even programs.

But what exactly is a dotfile?

As the name says, a dotfile is a file whose name starts with a ..

On Unix file systems, files starting with a . are hidden. Dotfiles usually live in your home folder (~) and contain settings and configuration. For example, .gitconfig can contain the git shortcuts you use every day, and .bashrc can contain aliases or programs that run when you open your terminal.

One to rule them all

I have been playing with my dotfiles for a while. At first I copied them by hand, or used Dropbox and symlinks to share them across machines. It worked, but I was only copying settings around. What I wanted was a single command to run, and then everything would be ready.

One lazy day, I did not want to rebuild my favourite environment on yet another new machine by hand. I looked for a better approach and found dotfiles.github.io, a whole site dedicated to exactly this problem.

Following the “copy from the best” approach, I created a small repo containing my basic set-up.

The magic box

This is the structure of the ring repo:

├── Brewfile
├── Makefile
├── README.md
├── git
│   ├── gitconfig
│   └── gitignore
└── zsh
    ├── aliases
    └── zshrc

Brewfile

It lists all the programs and apps to install, from git to flux and some Finder improvements.

Makefile

It’s the engine, where the magic happens. It creates symlinks from the repo to the git and zsh settings in your home folder:

symlinks:
    @ln -sf $(DIR)/git/gitconfig ~/.gitconfig
    @ln -sf $(DIR)/git/gitignore ~/.gitignore
    @ln -sf $(DIR)/zsh/zshrc ~/.zshrc

There is also a part that installs and upgrades the programs with brew:

brew:
    brew update
    brew upgrade
    brew tap Homebrew/bundle
    brew tap caskroom/versions
    brew bundle
    brew cleanup

git/

Ça va sans dire, it contains all the git settings.

zsh/

Same as above, all the shell settings.

Up and running

There are just a couple of prerequisites, which I want to automate in the future:

• zsh: instead of plain bash, I use oh-my-zsh.
• brew: Homebrew, a package manager for macOS.

Once these two are installed, you are ready.

First, clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/sirlisko/dotfiles.git
cd dotfiles

Then install everything:

make

That’s it.

To infinity and beyond

Unfortunately, I have not had much time to improve them yet. There are a few things I would like to add, for example removing the prerequisites. My to-do list:

• automate the installation of zsh
• automate the installation of brew
• macOS settings
• NPM global packages
• apm and Atom configuration

For now, I am happy enough with them.

I suggest playing with your dotfiles. It’s a good exercise and time well spent: you will learn a lot, and the next time you set up a new machine, you will feel like a magician.