yadm/yadm.md

NAME

   yadm - Yet Another Dotfiles Manager

SYNOPSIS

   yadm command [options]

   yadm git-command-or-alias [options]

   yadm init [-f] [-w directory]

   yadm clone url [-f] [-w directory] [--bootstrap] [--no-bootstrap]

   yadm config name [value]

   yadm config [-e]

   yadm list [-a]

   yadm bootstrap

   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 operating
   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".

   bootstrap
          Execute $HOME/.yadm/bootstrap if it exists.

   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, followed by a
          "stash". This "stash" operation will preserve the original data.

          You can review the stashed conflicts by running the command

                 yadm stash show -p

          from  within  your  $HOME  directory. If you want to restore the
          stashed data, you can run

                 yadm stash apply
          or
                 yadm stash pop

          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.  By default yadm will ask
          the user if the bootstrap program should be run (if it  exists).
          The  options --bootstrap or --no-bootstrap will either force the
          bootstrap to be run, or  prevent  it  from  being  run,  without
          prompting the user.

   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 useful case might be to configure
          the repository so untracked files are shown in status  commands.
          yadm initially configures its repository so that untracked files
          are not shown.  If you wish use the  default  git  behavior  (to
          show  untracked files and directories), you can remove this con-
          figuration.

                 yadm gitconfig --unset status.showUntrackedFiles

   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.

OPTIONS

   yadm supports a set of universal options that alter the paths it  uses.
   The default paths are documented in the FILES section.  Any path speci-
   fied by these options must be fully qualified.  If you always  want  to
   override  one  or  more  of  these paths, it may be useful to create an
   alias for the yadm command.  For example, the following alias could  be
   used to override the repository directory.

          alias yadm='yadm --yadm-repo /alternate/path/to/repo'

   The  following  is  the  full  list  of universal options.  Each option
   should be followed by a fully qualified path.

   -Y,--yadm-dir
          Override the yadm directory.  yadm stores its data  relative  to
          this directory.

   --yadm-repo
          Override the location of the yadm repository.

   --yadm-config
          Override the location of the yadm configuration file.

   --yadm-encrypt
          Override the location of the yadm encryption configuration.

   --yadm-archive
          Override the location of the yadm encrypted files archive.

   --yadm-bootstrap
          Override the location of the yadm bootstrap program.

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.

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

   yadm.gpg-recipient
          Asymmetrically encrypt files with a gpg public/private key pair.
          Provide  a "key ID" to specify which public key to encrypt with.
          The key must exist in your public keyrings.  If  left  blank  or
          not  provided,  symmetric encryption is used instead.  If set to
          "ASK", gpg will  interactively  ask  for  recipients.   See  the
          ENCRYPTION  section  for more details.  This feature is disabled
          by default.

   yadm.gpg-program
          Specify an alternate  program  to  use  instead  of  "gpg".   By
          default, the first "gpg" found in $PATH is used.

   yadm.git-program
          Specify  an  alternate  program  to  use  instead  of "git".  By
          default, the first "git" found in $PATH is used.

   These  last  four  "local"  configurations  are  not  stored   in   the
   $HOME/.yadm/config, they are stored in the local repository.


   local.class
          Specify  a  CLASS for the purpose of symlinking alternate files.
          By default, no CLASS will be matched.

   local.os
          Override the OS for the purpose of symlinking alternate files.

   local.hostname
          Override the HOSTNAME for the purpose  of  symlinking  alternate
          files.

   local.user
          Override the USER for the purpose of symlinking alternate files.

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 operating system, host, or user.  yadm implements a feature
   which will automatically create a symbolic link to the appropriate ver-
   sion of a file, as long as you follow  a  specific  naming  convention.
   yadm can detect files with names ending in any of the following:

     ##
     ##CLASS
     ##CLASS.OS
     ##CLASS.OS.HOSTNAME
     ##CLASS.OS.HOSTNAME.USER
     ##OS
     ##OS.HOSTNAME
     ##OS.HOSTNAME.USER

   If  there  are  any  files  managed  by yadm's repository, or listed in
   $HOME/.yadm/encrypt, which match this naming convention, symbolic links
   will  be  created  for  the most appropriate 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##Work
     - $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 running on a system, with CLASS set to "Work", the link will be:

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

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

   Links  are also created for directories named this way, as long as they
   have at least one yadm managed file within them.

   CLASS must be manually set using  yadm config local.class <class>.   OS
   is  determined  by  running uname -s, HOSTNAME by running hostname, and
   USER by running id -u -n.  yadm will automatically create  these  links
   by default. This can be disabled using the yadm.auto-alt configuration.
   Even if disabled, links can be manually created by running yadm alt.

   It is possible to use "%" as a "wildcard" in place of CLASS, OS,  HOST-
   NAME,  or USER. For example, The following file could be linked for any
   host when the user is "harvey".

   $HOME/path/example.txt##%.%.harvey

   CLASS is a special value which is stored locally on each  host  (inside
   the  local repository). To use alternate symlinks using CLASS, you must
   set the value of class using the configuration  local.class.   This  is
   set like any other yadm configuration with the yadm config command. The
   following sets the CLASS to be "Work".

     yadm config local.class Work

   Similarly, the values of OS, HOSTNAME, and USER can be  manually  over-
   ridden  using  the  configuration options local.os, local.hostname, and
   local.user.

ENCRYPTION

   It can be useful to manage confidential files, like SSH  or  GPG  keys,
   across  multiple  systems.  However, doing so would put plain text data
   into a Git repository, which often resides on a  public  system.   yadm
   implements  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
              .gnupg/*.gpg

   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.

   Symmetric encryption is used by default, but asymmetric encryption  may
   be enabled using the yadm.gpg-recipient configuration.

   NOTE:  It is recommended that you use a private repository when keeping
   confidential files, 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/*

   - The GPG directory and files, .gnupg/*

   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

   The following are the default paths yadm uses for its own data.   These
   paths  can be altered using universal options.  See the OPTIONS section
   for details.

   $HOME/.yadm
          The yadm directory. By default, all data yadm stores is relative
          to this directory.

   $YADM_DIR/config
          Configuration file for yadm.

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

   $YADM_DIR/encrypt
          List of globs used for encrypt/decrypt

   $YADM_DIR/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/issues

AUTHOR

   Tim Byrne <sultan@locehilios.com>

SEE ALSO

   git(1), gpg(1)

   https://thelocehiliosan.github.io/yadm/