Usage
init.sh Script
The init.sh script is a remote script used to setup a debian system from scratch. It installs some of the first on the system without having to clone the repository nor perform any other manual tasks.
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nicholaswilde/dotfiles2/main/scripts/init.sh)"
The script performs the following tasks:
Install Homebrew
Homebrew is a package manager that is used to install the stuff you need that Apple (or your Linux system) didn't. Installing brew with the init.sh script allows the ease of installation for go-task and lastpass-cli.
Note
brew is not available for arm systems.
The Homebrew installation also adds the bash completion to the ~/.profile file but needs to be manually sourced.
The build-essential apt package is also installed.
Install Task
Task is a task runner / build tool that aims to be simpler and easier to use than, for example, GNU Make. The dotfiles2 repo uses Task to easily install the dotfiles as well as perform other tasks.
Run task to list the current list of tasks supported by the repo.
task
task: Available tasks for this project:
* dotfiles: Install dotfiles
* export: Export brew formulas
* import: Import brew formulas
* init: Initialize remote dotfiles
* init-local: Initialize local dotfiles
* serve: Serve an mkdocs server
* venv: Run virtual environment
Note
The tasks listed above may be out of date to the actual tasks in the repo.
Install lastpass-cli
lastpass-cli is a command line tool for LastPass and is used to store and retrieve the SSH and GPG keys.
The lastpass-cli command will also prompt you to login.
...
==> lastpass-cli
Bash completion has been installed to:
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc/bash_completion.d
Please enter the LastPass master password for <[email protected]>.
Master Password:
Setup SSH
A private SSH key is imported from lastpass-cli. The script uses either the name of the lastpass-cli entry or the id. The repo also imports the private key from an secure note attachment rather than the Private Key field to reduce the risk of copying and pasting the key incorrectly.
The name of the GPG secure note below is ssh.
lpass show ssh
ssh [id: 4322045537695550419]
Language: en-US
Bit Strength:
Format:
Passphrase: None
Private Key: -----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
Public Key: ssh-rsa ....
Hostname:
Date: June,22,2021
NoteType: SSH Key
att-4322045537695550419-20689: id_rsa.txt
The secret key is saved in a text file titled id_rsa.txt and saved as attachment att-4322045537695550419-20689.
Note
LastPass only saves attachments with certain file extensions and so the id_rsa file needs to be saved with a *.txt file extensions before saving it as a LastPass attachment.
The script also imports the public SSH key from GitHub using the ssh-import-id-gh command from the ssh-import-id apt package.
Example public key URL:
Setup GPG
A private GPG key is imported from lastpass-cli. The script uses either the name of the lastpass-cli entry or the id. The repo also imports the private key from an secure note attachment rather than the Private Key field to reduce the risk of copying and pasting the key incorrectly.
The name of the GPG secure note below is gpg.
lpass show gpg
gpg [id: 8017296795546256342]
Date: June,20,2022
Hostname:
Public Key: -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Private Key: -----BEGIN PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----
Passphrase: None
Format:
Bit Strength:
Language: en-US
NoteType: SSH Key
att-8017296795546256342-55097: secret-key-backup.asc.txt
Notes:
The secret key is saved in a text file titled secret-key-backup.asc.txt and saved as attachment att-8017296795546256342-55097.
The script also refreshes the key from the Ubuntu keyserver.
...
gpg: refreshing 1 key from hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: key F08AD0AD08B7D7A3: "Nicholas Wilde <[email protected]>" 1 new signature
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg: new signatures: 1
...
Clone dotfiles2 Repository
The repo is cloned using the GitHub SSH URL to enable the ease of connection with the remote repo. When cloning, git will prompt whether you'd like to continue connecting. Type yes and enter to continue the connection.
...
==> Clone repo
Cloning into '/home/ubuntu/git/nicholaswilde/dotfiles2'...
The authenticity of host 'github.com (192.30.255.112)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:+DiY3wvvV6TuJJhbpZisF/zLDA0zPMSvHdkr4UvCOqU.
This key is not known by any other names
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?
init.sh Completion
There currently isn't a way to source the dotfiles in the current shell using the init.sh script. Therefore, the .profile file needs to be manually sourced.
...
==> dotfiles init complete
- Source the profile file to gain access to brew commands:
source ~/.profile
Dotfiles Repo
Installation
The dotfiles are installed as symbolic links to the home folder pointing to the repository location. That way when the dotfiles are updated in the home folder, the repo sees the files as modified and can be then updated and pushed to the remote repo.
The dotfiles can be installed by running the following commands:
Warning
Ensure that your current dotfiles in the home directory are backed up before installing the repo dotfiles.
Warning
There currently is not an automatic way of uninstalling the dotfiles once installed.
Homebrew Formulas
Homebrew formulas are automatically backed up to the formulas file when the reload alias is ran.
The formulas import and backup may also be manually ran by running the following commands:
Apt Packages
Apt package names are manually backed up to the packages file.
The packages install may also be manually ran by running the following commands:
Dotfiles
Symbolic links are created from the home directory to the repo so that when the dotfiles are updated, the repo sees the updates and the changes can be committed to the remote repo.
The reload alias, located in .bash_aliases is used to reload the dotfiles in the current shell and upload the messageless dotfile changes to the remote repo.
Workflow
- Make changes to a dotfiles, such as
.bash_aliases. - Reload the dotfiles by using the
reloadalias.
.bash* Files
The default Ubuntu distro both the .bashrc and .bash_aliases files to separate the profile settings from the aliases. This same concept is used to separate aliases, functions, exports, and completions.
| File name | Description |
|---|---|
.bash_aliases | A list of bash aliases |
.bash_completions | A list of bash completions |
.bash_exports | A list of bash exports, such as PATH |
.bash_functions | A list of bash functions, such as mkcdir |
.bashrc | The main bash file that loads all other bash files |
Common aliases and functions that I like to use are upgrate, reload, up, tmpd, and mkcdir.
Note
The bash dotfiles check that some applications are installed before loading some aliases and functions to ensure that the aliases and functions still work. E.g. mc for alias mv='mc mv'.
Functions
A list of functions may shown by running the lf function.
an() Add notes
applyenc() Apply SOPS encoded secret and restore it
bk() Make a backup of a file
cheat() Lookup a command at cheat.sh
clone() Clone a repo
count() Count the number of things
dataurl() Create a data URL from a file
dcleanup() Cleanup Docker stuff
extract() Extract a compressed file
fawk() Return a column number. df -h | awk '{print $2}' => df -h | fawk 2
getcity() Get the city of an IP address
getcom() Get a short commit from a repo
getip() The the IP address of a domain
getsecret() Get a secret
getver() Get the latest version from a repo
gz() Compare original and gzipped file size
kubectlgetall() Get all k8s namespaces
lf() List functions
mkcdir() Make and change to a directory
mwiki() Lookup something on Wikipedia
setns() Set a namespace
showpkg() Show apt package info
).*" | sort | awk 'BEGIN "}; {printf "%-30s \033[36m%s\033[0m\n", $1, $2}'
ssd() Get SSD parameters
targz() Create a tarball
tmpd() Make a temporary directory and enter it
up() Go up a number of directories
upgrate() Upgrade everything
urldecode() Decode URLencoded string
urlencode() Encode with URLEncode
weather() Get the local weather
Aliases
A list of aliases may be shown by running the alias command.
Config Files
Config files are stored in the .config repo directory and linked to the ~/.config/ directory.
Use the following command to manually link other .config files.
ls -la ~/.config/gh
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 2 ubuntu ubuntu 4096 Jul 24 22:40 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 ubuntu ubuntu 4096 Jul 24 22:40 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 ubuntu ubuntu 62 Jul 24 22:40 config.yml -> /home/ubuntu/git/nicholaswilde/dotfiles2/.config/gh/config.yml
See the [configuration page][./configuration.md] for how to add these files to the Taskfile.yaml file.