daglink symlink management # daglink ..because trees are boring ### Why would you need this? - You have customised a lot of files in your system - you want to keep them in a central location, in order to: - back them up easily - keep track of them - (maybe) version control them - you want to link different things into different (or the same) locations depending on hostname - e.g link a different /etc/apt.sources.list depending on distribution version - you want a tool that is so meta, it can install itself ## What does it do? daglink makes symbolic links. The main usage is linking various well-known paths to somewhere within a self-contained config directory. E.g. you can keep all your settings in ~/dev/config, and creates links to files / folders within it from e.g /etc/apt/sources.list.d, /etc/sessions.d, ~/.vimrc. Really it can be used for any configuration that requires well-known paths and you wish to store the contents of such files in a place of your choosing. ## Configuration: All the configuration is in one file, that is by default searched for in `~/.config/daglink/links.yml`. But you can use `-c` to provide your own config path. The basic entry looks like this: /etc/path/to/wherever: path: ~/config/whatever-config This will link `/etc/path/to/wherever` to `~/config/whatever-config`. You can use relative paths as the `path` value, they are taken from the current directory (or from the `--base` option). ### Tags: You probably don't want to link the same things to the same places on every computer you use. For this, you can use tags. To specify that a directive only applies for a given tag, you can use: /etc/path/to/wherever: path: ~/config/whatever-config tags: home (`tags` is a space-separated list, the directive will be applied if you have specified all of the given tags) To specify multiple targets for a single location, use a list: /etc/path/to/wherever: - path: ~/config/home-config tags: home - path: ~/config/work-config tags: work **Note**: this will fail if more than one directive matches the provided set of tags, as that would be impossible to do. ### zero install If you love zero-install (I do), you can use daglink to make sure a location contains the latest version of a given feed. For example, you can add daglink itself to run whenever you login with this rather self-referential entry: ~/.config/autostart/daglink-update.desktop: uri: http://gfxmonk.net/dist/0install/daglink.xml extract: daglink-update.desktop Since you can't provide command-line arguments to that startup item, you will also need to make sure your config file can be found at `~/.config/daglink/links.yml`. By now you can probably guess how I suggest you do that: ~/.config/daglink/links.yml: path: links.yml The beauty of this is that if you have a development version of daglink registered for that interface it will be used, otherwise it'll be cached from the internet and updated periodically, just like any other zero install feed. There aren't many cases where it's a good idea to keep symlinks of 0install implementations around, but I think symlinks to desktop items can be quite useful - especially if you want to take this configuration to a new machine. ## Meta: You can provide more than just paths in the configuration. There is a `meta` section which allows you to specify: #### zero install aliases If you're going to use the same uri over and over again, this allows you to define an alias. E.g: meta: zeroinstall_aliases: config: http://example.com/0install/my-config.xml ~/.vimrc: uri: config extract: vimrc #### default basedir If you don't specify --basedir, daglink will take the base directory form the meta section (if it exists): meta: basedir: ~/dev/config #### default tags per-hostname If you want to use daglink to update your symlinks automaically, you'll want to put per-machine tags in your config. These tags are only used if you don't specify any tags on the command line itself: meta: default_tags: host1: - ubuntu-maverick - xmodmap host2: - fedora-15 - xkb For a complete example config, feel free to peek at my own configuration: <https://github.com/gfxmonk/app-customisations/blob/master/meta/links.yml> ## Usage: 0launch http://gfxmonk.net/dist/0install/daglink.xml --help https://github.com/gfxmonk/daglink

daglink

..because trees are boring

Why would you need this?

  • You have customised a lot of files in your system
  • you want to keep them in a central location, in order to:
    • back them up easily
    • keep track of them
    • (maybe) version control them
  • you want to link different things into different (or the same) locations depending on hostname
    • e.g link a different /etc/apt.sources.list depending on distribution version
  • you want a tool that is so meta, it can install itself

What does it do?

daglink makes symbolic links. The main usage is linking various well-known paths to somewhere within a self-contained config directory. E.g. you can keep all your settings in ~/dev/config, and creates links to files / folders within it from e.g /etc/apt/sources.list.d, /etc/sessions.d, ~/.vimrc.

Really it can be used for any configuration that requires well-known paths and you wish to store the contents of such files in a place of your choosing.

Configuration:

All the configuration is in one file, that is by default searched for in ~/.config/daglink/links.yml. But you can use -c to provide your own config path.

The basic entry looks like this:

/etc/path/to/wherever:
  path: ~/config/whatever-config

This will link /etc/path/to/wherever to ~/config/whatever-config. You can use relative paths as the path value, they are taken from the current directory (or from the --base option).

Tags:

You probably don't want to link the same things to the same places on every computer you use. For this, you can use tags. To specify that a directive only applies for a given tag, you can use:

/etc/path/to/wherever:
  path: ~/config/whatever-config
  tags: home

(tags is a space-separated list, the directive will be applied if you have specified all of the given tags)

To specify multiple targets for a single location, use a list:

/etc/path/to/wherever:
  - path: ~/config/home-config
    tags: home
  - path: ~/config/work-config
    tags: work

Note: this will fail if more than one directive matches the provided set of tags, as that would be impossible to do.

zero install

If you love zero-install (I do), you can use daglink to make sure a location contains the latest version of a given feed. For example, you can add daglink itself to run whenever you login with this rather self-referential entry:

~/.config/autostart/daglink-update.desktop:
  uri: http://gfxmonk.net/dist/0install/daglink.xml
  extract: daglink-update.desktop

Since you can't provide command-line arguments to that startup item, you will also need to make sure your config file can be found at ~/.config/daglink/links.yml. By now you can probably guess how I suggest you do that:

~/.config/daglink/links.yml:
  path: links.yml

The beauty of this is that if you have a development version of daglink registered for that interface it will be used, otherwise it'll be cached from the internet and updated periodically, just like any other zero install feed. There aren't many cases where it's a good idea to keep symlinks of 0install implementations around, but I think symlinks to desktop items can be quite useful - especially if you want to take this configuration to a new machine.

Meta:

You can provide more than just paths in the configuration. There is a meta section which allows you to specify:

zero install aliases

If you're going to use the same uri over and over again, this allows you to define an alias. E.g:

meta:
  zeroinstall_aliases:
    config: http://example.com/0install/my-config.xml

~/.vimrc:
  uri: config
  extract: vimrc

default basedir

If you don't specify --basedir, daglink will take the base directory form the meta section (if it exists):

meta:
  basedir: ~/dev/config

default tags per-hostname

If you want to use daglink to update your symlinks automaically, you'll want to put per-machine tags in your config. These tags are only used if you don't specify any tags on the command line itself:

meta:
  default_tags:
    host1:
      - ubuntu-maverick
      - xmodmap
    host2:
      - fedora-15
      - xkb

For a complete example config, feel free to peek at my own configuration: https://github.com/gfxmonk/app-customisations/blob/master/meta/links.yml

Usage:

0launch http://gfxmonk.net/dist/0install/daglink.xml --help