rcup - Man Page

This is a program to update and install personal dotfiles. These dotfiles are managed in a separate directory. Use rcup to install files from your dotfiles directories or from host- or tag-specific directories within.

See Directory Layout for details on the directory layout.

It supports these options:

-B HOSTNAME

treat host-HOSTNAME as the host-specific directory instead of computing it.

-C

copy the files instead of symlinking them.

-d DIR

install dotfiles from the DIR. This can be specified multiple times.

-f

if the rc file already exists in your home directory but does not match the file in your dotfiles directory, remove the rc file then create the symlink.

-g

print to stdout a standalone shell script that will run the rcup command as specified. Nothing on your filesystem will be modified by rcup when this flag is passed.

-h

show usage instructions.

-I EXCL_PAT

install rc files that match EXCL_PAT despite being excluded by the -x flag or a setting in rcrc(5). This can be repeated with additional patterns. See lsrc(1), EXCLUDE PATTERN, for more details.

-i

if the rc file already exists in your home directory but does not match the file in your dotfiles directory, prompt for how to handle it. This is the default.

-K

skip pre- and post-hooks.

-k

run pre- and post-hooks (see Directory Layout for more details on hooks). This is the default.

-S EXCL_PAT

any rc file that matches EXCL_PAT is installed using a symlink even if it is a directory. This option can be repeated.

-s EXCL_PAT

any file that matches EXCL_PAT is installed as normal, in accordance with the Algorithm section below. This is the opposite of -S. This option can be repeated.

-t TAG

install dotfiles according to TAG.

-U EXCL_PAT

any rc file that matches EXCL_PAT is installed without a leading dot. This option can be repeated. See the documentation of the -U option in lsrc(1) for more information.

-u EXCL_PAT

any rc file that matches EXCL_PAT is installed with a leading dot. This is the opposite of -U. This option can be repeated. This is the default. See the documentation of the -u option in lsrc(1) for more information.

-q

decrease verbosity.

-V

show the version number.

-v

increase verbosity. This can be repeated for extra verbosity. Verbose messages are printed to stderr.

-x EXCL_PAT

do not install rc files that match EXCL_PAT. This can be repeated with additional patterns. See lsrc(1), EXCLUDE PATTERN, for more details.

files

only install the specified file(s)

Any non-dot non-meta file or directory under your dotfiles directory will be installed as a dotfile. For example, .dotfiles/zshrc will be installed into ~/.zshrc .

Files are installed as symlinks. Directories are installed by making directories. The -C flag causes files to be installed as copies instead of symlinks. The COPY_ALWAYS option in rcrc(5) can be used to list files that must only be copied. Copied files are not updated in your dotfiles directory.

Three meta files are supported: host-specific files, tagged files, hooks.

Host-specific files go in a directory named for the host, prefixed with host-. For example, .dotfiles/host-scarlett contains files specific to the computer with hostname scarlett, and these files will only be installed on the computer with hostname scarlett.

Tagged files go in a directory named for the tag, prefixed with tag-. Therefore, files under .dotfiles/tag-git are only installed when installing using the git tag.

Hooks go in a directory named hooks. Two hooks are supported by rcup: pre-up and post-up. These go in files or directories with predictable filenames: .dotfiles/hooks/pre-up and .dotfiles/hooks/post-up, or .dotfiles/hooks/pre-up/* and .dotfiles/hooks/post-up/*. These files must be executable. They are run every time rcup is run, and therefore must be idempotent.

Hooks will be executed one at a time, sorted alphabetically. For instance, hooks/pre-up/animals will run before hooks/pre-up/aquariums, and hooks/pre-up/4-eyes will run before hooks/post-up/2-u-nothing-compares.

It is instructive to understand the process rcup uses when synchronizing your rc files:

1. The pre-up hook is run.

2. All non-host, non-tag files without a dot prefix are symlinked to the dotted filename in your home directory. So, .dotfiles/tigrc is symlinked to ~/.tigrc.

3. All non-host, non-tag directories have their structure copied to your home directory, then a non-dotted symlink is created within. So for example, .dotfiles/vim/autoload/haskell.vim causes the ~/.vim/autoload directory to be created, then haskell.vim is symlinked within.

4. Steps (2) and (3) are applied to host-specific files. These are files under a directory named host-$HOSTNAME.

5. Steps (2) and (3) are applied to tag-specific files. These are files under directories named tag-$TAG_NAME, where $TAG_NAME is the name of each specified tag in turn, taken from the command line or from rcrc(5).

6. The post-up hook is run.

RCRC

User configuration file. Defaults to ~/.rcrc.

~/.dotfiles ~/.rcrc

lsrc(1), mkrc(1), rcdn(1), rcrc(5), rcm(7)

rcup is maintained by Mike Burns <mburns@thoughtbot.com> and thoughtbot

lsrc(1), mkrc(1), rcdn(1), rcm(7), rcrc(5).