RCUP(1) General Commands Manual RCUP(1)

rcup — update and install dotfiles managed by rcm

rcup [-CfhiKkqVv] [-B hostname] [-d dir] [-g] [-I excl_pat] [-S excl_pat] [-s excl_pat] [-t tag] [-U excl_pat] [-u excl_pat] [-x excl_pat] [files ...]

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:

HOSTNAME
treat host-HOSTNAME as the host-specific directory instead of computing it
copy the files instead of symlinking them
DIR
install dotfiles from the DIR. This can be specified multiple times.
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
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.
show usage instructions.
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.
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
skip pre- and post-hooks
run pre- and post-hooks (see DIRECTORY LAYOUT for more details on hooks). This is the default.
EXCL_PAT
any rc file that matches EXCL_PAT is installed as if it were a file (using a symlink) instead of as if it were a directory (by making a directory). This option can be repeated.
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.
TAG
install dotfiles according to TAG
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.
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.
decrease verbosity
show the version number.
increase verbosity. This can be repeated for extra verbosity. Verbose messages are printed to stderr.
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.

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.

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

July 28, 2013 Debian