life-sync-1.1.1.0: README.md
# life-sync
[](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/life-sync)
[](https://travis-ci.org/kowainik/life-sync)
[](https://github.com/kowainik/life-sync/blob/master/LICENSE)
[](http://stackage.org/lts/package/life-sync)
[](http://stackage.org/nightly/package/life-sync)
`life-sync` is a CLI tool that makes it easier to synchronize a repository of
personal config files across multiple machines.
## Motivation
You might have some configuration files with different settings for your system.
For example:
1. Preferred settings for your editors (Spacemacs, Vim, etc.).
2. Useful bash aliases and other miscellaneous shell settings.
3. Git configuration.
And much more! But sometimes you start working from a fresh machine without
having your settings within reach, as in these situations:
1. You bought a new PC or laptop.
2. You reinstalled the operating system on your machine.
3. You were given a new laptop at work.
Every time this happens, you need to walk through the tedious process of copying
your data again. It's a well-known practice to
[store configs in a `dotfiles` GitHub repository](https://dotfiles.github.io/).
And `life-sync` makes it much easier to maintain this repository! With a single
command, your can copy every file and directory from your `dotfiles` repository to
your machine. Or update your remote `dotfiles` repository after multiple local
changes to different files.
## Prerequisites
* [`git`](https://git-scm.com)
* [`hub`](https://github.com/github/hub)
* SSH access to Github configured
## Installation
There are several ways to install `life` on your machine.
Here are detailed instructions on different approaches.
### From Hackage/Stackage
Install with one simple command:
```shell
$ cabal install life-sync
```
or
```shell
$ stack install life-sync
```
### Homebrew
If you are on MacOS, you can get `life-sync` using
[Homebrew](https://brew.sh/) Kowainik's Tap.
You need to run the following commands for that:
```shell
$ brew tap kowainik/tap
$ brew install life-sync
```
### Ubuntu
If you are on Ubuntu, you can get `life-sync` from Kowainik's PPA.
You need to run the following commands for that:
```shell
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kowainik/life-sync
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install life-sync
```
### Setup
You can turn on bash auto-completion by running the following command:
```
$ source <(life --bash-completion-script `which life`)
```
## Usage
After installing `life-sync` you need to call the command `life` with specified options:
```
$ life --help
Usage: life COMMAND
life-sync synchronize your personal configs
Available options:
-h,--help Show this help text
Available commands:
init Initialize GitHub repository named 'dotfiles' if you
don't have one.
add Add file or directory to the life configuration.
remove Remove file or directory from the life configuration.
push Updates GitHub repository from local state and push
the latest version.
pull Updates local state of '.life' and 'dotfiles' from
GitHub repository.
`life init` usage: life init OWNER
OWNER Your github user name
`life add` usage: life add ((-f|--file FILE_PATH) | (-d|--dir DIRECTORY_PATH))
-f,--file FILE_PATH File to add
-d,--dir FILE_PATH Directory to add
`life remove` usage: life remove ((-f|--file FILE_PATH) | (-d|--dir DIRECTORY_PATH))
-f,--file FILE_PATH File to remove
-d,--dir FILE_PATH Directory to remote
`life push` usage: life push
`life pull` usage: life pull OWNER [-f|--no-file FILE_PATH] [-d|--no-dir FILE_PATH]
OWNER Your github user name
-f,--no-file FILE_PATH Excluding these specific files from copying
-d,--no-dir FILE_PATH Excluding these specific directories from copying
```
> **NOTE:** If a command takes a path to a file or a directory as an
> argument, the path should be specifed relative to the home directory.
`life-sync` keeps the structure of your `dotfiles` repository in its own file
called `.life` which is also stored in your `dotfiles` repository.
You can see an example of a `dotfiles` repository maintained by `life-sync` here:
* [ChShersh/dotfiles](https://github.com/ChShersh/dotfiles)
## Examples
### Create a `dotfiles` repository for the first time
```
$ life init MyGithubName
```
### Track a new file or directory
To track a file:
```
$ life add -f path/to/file/relative/from/home
```
To track a directory:
```
$ life add -d path/to/dir/relative/from/home
```
To stop tracking some file, use `life remove` instead.
### Push all changes to the remote repository
```
$ life push
```
### Pull all changes from the remote repository
To pull every file and directory:
```
$ life pull ChShersh
```
To pull everything except some files or some directories:
```
$ life pull ChShersh --no-file some/file --no-dir some/dir
```