Tech/HowTo/Home Directory Dot-files in Git

Creation

For the creation of a repo of existing dotfiles in your home directory the process is like.

1. Change your current working directory to your home

   cd ~/
   

2. In your home directory create a .gitignore like:

   # Ignore all
   *
   
   # Double Negative Include
   !.gitignore
   
   # Specifically identify directories and files to keep
   !README.md
   !.bash_aliases
   

3. Create a README.md for your sanity later

Install

To install the dot-files on a new user account

As your user

cd ~/
git init  
git remote add origin user@server.tld:user/dotfiles.git
git fetch  
git checkout -t origin/main