yadm/yadm.md

NAME

   yadm - Yet Another Dotfiles Manager

SYNOPSIS

   yadm command [options]

   yadm git-command-or-alias [options]

   yadm init [-f]

   yadm clone url [-f] [-w directory]

   yadm config name [value]

   yadm config [-e]

   yadm list [-a]

   yadm encrypt

   yadm decrypt [-l]

   yadm alt

   yadm perms

DESCRIPTION

   yadm  is a tool for managing a collection of files across multiple com-
   puters, using a shared Git repository.  In addition,  yadm  provides  a
   feature  to  select  alternate versions of files based on the operation
   system or host name.  Lastly, yadm supplies the  ability  to  manage  a
   subset of secure files, which are encrypted before they are included in
   the repository.

COMMANDS

   git-command or git-alias
          Any command not internally handled by yadm is passed through  to
          git(1).   Git commands or aliases are invoked with the yadm man-
          aged repository.  The working directory for git commands will be
          the configured work-tree (usually $HOME).

          Dotfiles  are  managed by using standard git commands; add, com-
          mit, push, pull, etc.

          The config command is not passed directly through.  Instead  use
          the gitconfig command (see below).

   alt    Create  symbolic links for any managed files matching the naming
          rules describe in the ALTERNATES section.  It is usually  unnec-
          essary  to  run  this  command,  as yadm automatically processes
          alternates by default.  This automatic behavior can be  disabled
          by setting the configuration yadm.auto-alt to "false".

   clone url
          Clone a remote repository for tracking dotfiles.  After the con-
          tents of the remote repository have been fetched, a  "merge"  of
          origin/master  is  attempted.   If  there  are conflicting files
          already present in the  work-tree,  this  merge  will  fail  and
          instead  a  "reset"  of origin/master will be done.  It is up to
          the user to resolve these conflicts, but if the  desired  action
          is to have the contents in the repository overwrite the existing
          files, then a "hard reset" should accomplish that:

                 yadm reset --hard origin/master

          The repository is stored in $HOME/.yadm/repo.git.   By  default,
          $HOME  will be used as the work-tree, but this can be overridden
          with the -w option.  yadm can be forced to overwrite an existing
          repository by providing the -f option.

   config This  command  manages  configurations  for  yadm.  This command
          works exactly they way git-config(1) does.  See  the  CONFIGURA-
          TION section for more details.

   decrypt
          Decrypt   all  files  stored  in  $HOME/.yadm/files.gpg.   Files
          decrypted will be relative to the configured work-tree  (usually
          $HOME).   Using the -l option will list the files stored without
          extracting them.

   encrypt
          Encrypt   all   files   matching   the   patterns    found    in
          $HOME/.yadm/encrypt.    See  the  ENCRYPTION  section  for  more
          details.

   gitconfig
          Pass options to the git config command. Since yadm already  uses
          the  config  command to manage its own configurations, this com-
          mand is provided as a way to change configurations of the repos-
          itory  managed  by yadm.  One particularly useful case may be to
          configure the repository so untracked files are hidden from sta-
          tus commands:

                 yadm gitconfig status.showUntrackedFiles no

   help   Print a summary of yadm commands.

   init   Initialize  a  new, empty repository for tracking dotfiles.  The
          repository is stored in $HOME/.yadm/repo.git.  By default, $HOME
          will  be  used as the work-tree, but this can be overridden with
          the -w option.  yadm can be  forced  to  overwrite  an  existing
          repository by providing the -f option.

   list   Print a list of files managed by yadm.  The -a option will cause
          all managed files to be listed.  Otherwise, the list  will  only
          include files from the current directory or below.

   perms  Update  permissions as described in the PERMISSIONS section.  It
          is usually unnecessary to run this command,  as  yadm  automati-
          cally processes permissions by default.  This automatic behavior
          can be disabled by setting the configuration yadm.auto-perms  to
          "false".

   version
          Print the version of yadm.

CONFIGURATION

   yadm  uses  a  configuration  file named $HOME/.yadm/config.  This file
   uses the same format as git-config(1).  Also, you can control the  con-
   tents  of  the  configuration  file  via the yadm config command (which
   works exactly like git-config).  For example, to disable alternates you
   can run the command:

          yadm config yadm.auto-alt false

   The following is the full list of supported configurations:

   yadm.auto-alt
          Disable  the  automatic  linking described in the section ALTER-
          NATES.  If disabled, you may still run yadm alt manually to cre-
          ate the alternate links.  This feature is enabled by default.

   yadm.auto-perms
          Disable  the  automatic permission changes described in the sec-
          tion PERMISSIONS.  If disabled, you may  still  run  yadm  perms
          manually  to  update  permissions.   This  feature is enabled by
          default.

   yadm.ssh-perms
          Disable the permission changes to $HOME/.ssh/*.  This feature is
          enabled by default.

ALTERNATES

   When managing a set of files across different systems, it can be useful
   to have an automated way of choosing an alternate version of a file for
   a  different  operation  system  or  simply for a different host.  yadm
   implements a feature which will automatically create a symbolic link to
   the  appropriate  version  of  a file, as long as you follow a specific
   naming convention.  yadm can detect files with names ending in:

          ##OS.HOSTNAME or ##OS or ##

   If there are any files managed by yadm's repository  which  match  this
   naming  convention,  symbolic links will be created for the most appro-
   priate version.  This may best be demonstrated by example.  Assume  the
   following files are managed by yadm's repository:

     - $HOME/path/example.txt##
     - $HOME/path/example.txt##Darwin
     - $HOME/path/example.txt##Darwin.host1
     - $HOME/path/example.txt##Darwin.host2
     - $HOME/path/example.txt##Linux
     - $HOME/path/example.txt##Linux.host1
     - $HOME/path/example.txt##Linux.host2

   If running on a Macbook named "host2", yadm will create a symbolic link
   which looks like this:

   $HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##Darwin.host2

   However, on another Mackbook named "host3", yadm will create a symbolic
   link which looks like this:

   $HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##Darwin

   Since  the  hostname  doesn't  match any of the managed files, the more
   generic version is chosen.

   If running on a Linux server named "host4", the link will be:

   $HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##Linux

   If running on a Solaris server, the link use the default "##" version:

   $HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##

   If no "##" version exists and no files match the current  OS  or  HOST-
   NAME, then no link will be created.

   OS  is  determined  by  running uname -s, and HOSTNAME by running host-
   name -s.  yadm will automatically create these links by  default.  This
   can  be  disabled  using the yadm.auto-alt configuration.  Even if dis-
   abled, links can be manually created by running yadm alt.

ENCRYPTION

   It can be useful to manage confidential files, like  SSH  keys,  across
   multiple  systems.  However,  doing so would put plain text data into a
   Git repository, which often resides on a public  system.   yadm  imple-
   ments  a feature which can make it easy to encrypt and decrypt a set of
   files so the encrypted version can be maintained in the Git repository.
   This feature will only work if the gpg(1) command is available.

   To  use  this  feature, a list of patterns must be created and saved as
   $HOME/.yadm/encrypt.  This list of patterns should be relative  to  the
   configured work-tree (usually $HOME).  For example:

           .ssh/*.key

   The yadm encrypt command will find all files matching the patterns, and
   prompt for a password. Once a  password  has  confirmed,  the  matching
   files  will  be encrypted and saved as $HOME/.yadm/files.gpg.  The pat-
   terns and files.gpg should be added to the yadm repository so they  are
   available across multiple systems.

   To decrypt these files later, or on another system run yadm decrypt and
   provide the correct password.  After files are  decrypted,  permissions
   are automatically updated as described in the PERMISSIONS section.

   NOTE:  It  is recommended that you keep confidential files in a private
   repository, even though they are encrypted.

PERMISSIONS

   When files are checked out of a Git repository, their  initial  permis-
   sions are dependent upon the user's umask. This can result in confiden-
   tial files with lax permissions.

   To prevent this, yadm will automatically update the permissions of con-
   fidential  files.  The "group" and "others" permissions will be removed
   from the following files:

   - $HOME/.yadm/files.gpg

   - All files matching patterns in $HOME/.yadm/encrypt

   - The SSH directory and files, .ssh/*

   yadm will automatically update permissions by default. This can be dis-
   abled  using the yadm.auto-perms configuration.  Even if disabled, per-
   missions can be manually updated by running yadm perms.  The SSH direc-
   tory processing can be disabled using the yadm.ssh-perms configuration.

FILES

   $HOME/.yadm/config
          Configuration file for yadm.

   $HOME/.yadm/repo.git
          Git repository used by yadm.

   $HOME/.yadm/encrypt
          List of globs used for encrypt/decrypt

   $HOME/.yadm/files.gpg
          All files encrypted with yadm encrypt are stored in this file.

EXAMPLES

   yadm init
          Create an empty repo for managing files

   yadm add .bash_profile ; yadm commit
          Add .bash_profile to the Git index and create a new commit

   yadm remote add origin <url>
          Add a remote origin to an existing repository

   yadm push -u origin master
          Initial push of master to origin

   echo .ssh/*.key >> $HOME/.yadm/encrypt
          Add a new pattern to the list of encrypted files

   yadm encrypt ; yadm add ~/.yadm/files.gpg ; yadm commit
          Commit a new set of encrypted files

REPORTING BUGS

   Report issues or create pull requests at GitHub:

   https://github.com/TheLocehiliosan/yadm

AUTHOR

   Tim Byrne <sultan@locehilios.com>

SEE ALSO

   git(1), gpg(1)

   Other management tools which inspired the creation of yadm:

   homeshick <https://github.com/andsens/homeshick>

   vcsh <https://github.com/RichiH/vcsh>