Manage dotfiles with chezmoi

0. Background

When changing computers, you need to migrate some configuration files from the old computer to the new one, such as .zshrc, .vimrc, .gitconfig, and so on.

Some files may not necessarily be located in the home directory, such as .ssh/config, .config/.starship.yaml. It's a bit of a hassle to migrate these files manually.

Therefore, you need a tool to manage these configuration files.

1. Requirements

• Support multiple platforms, such as macOS, Linux, Windows.
• Support version management, such as git.
• Support templates.

I did a little research and found that there are several tools that can manage dotfiles:

• chezmoi
  • Golang written
  • Github Star 10.2k
• dotbot
  • Python written
  • Github Star 6.5k

chezmoi meets my requirements, and it's written in Golang without any dependencies, so I decided to use chezmoi.

2. Install

sh -c "$(curl -fsLS get.chezmoi.io)"

You could find more installation methods here

3. Usage

3.1 Initialize

tip

After initialization, a ~/.local/share/chezmoi directory (local repository) will be generated in the home directory to store chezmoi configuration files. You can enter the directory with the chezmoi cd command.

3.2 Add files

3.3 Update files

tip

After updating the file, remember to commit to the remote repository. You can refer to the previous section.

3.4 Fetch files from remote repository

Fetch files from remote repository and apply them.

chezmoi update

It's equivalent to

chezmoi git pull origin main
chezmoi apply

3.5 Extend usage

3.5.1 Templating

chezmoi supports templates,which can generate different configuration files for different hosts and so on.

For example, I want to configure different account names for different computers, I can do this:

• Create ~/.account.json file, the content is as follows:

~/.account.json

{
  "name": "thewang"
}

• Configure the data field in ~/.config/chezmoi/chezmoi.toml.

~/.config/chezmoi/chezmoi.toml

[data]
  name = "thewang"

• Add file with --autotemplate flag.

chezmoi add --autotemplate ~/.account.json

{
  "name": "{{ .name }}"
}