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Dotfiles

macOS Ubuntu WSL RHEL

My macOS / Ubuntu / WSL 2 / RHEL dotfiles.

Browseable docs: https://dotfiles.lindjo.no

Forked from https://github.com/runesto/dotfiles

About this project

I finally decided that I wanted to be able to execute a single command to "bootstrap" a new system to pull down all of my dotfiles and configs, as well as install all the tools I commonly use. In addition, I wanted to be able to re-execute that command at any time to synchronize anything that might have changed. Finally, I wanted to make it easy to re-integrate changes back in, so that other machines could be updated.

That command is dotfiles, and this is my "dotfiles" Git repo.

How the "dotfiles" command works

When dotfiles is run for the first time, it does a few things:

  1. Git is installed if necessary (via APT on Ubuntu, already present on macOS).
  2. This repo is cloned into your user directory, under ~/.dotfiles.
  3. Files in /copy are copied into ~/. (read more)
  4. Files in /link are symlinked into ~/. (read more)
  5. You are prompted to choose scripts in /init to be executed. The installer auto-selects scripts based on OS (e.g., _macos_ scripts are only selected on macOS). Scripts with _personal_ in the filename are default unchecked.
  6. Your chosen init scripts are executed (in alphanumeric order, hence the funky names). (read more)

On subsequent runs, step 1 is skipped, step 2 just updates the already-existing repo, and step 5 remembers what you selected the last time. The other steps are the same.

Other subdirectories

  • The /backups directory gets created when necessary. Any files in ~/ that would have been overwritten by files in /copy or /link get backed up there.
  • The /bin directory contains executable shell scripts (including the dotfiles script) and symlinks to executable shell scripts. This directory is added to the path.
  • The /caches directory contains cached files, used by some scripts or functions.
  • The /conf directory stores app configuration files (Sublime Text, IntelliJ) that are linked into app-specific locations by dedicated init scripts.
  • The /hooks directory contains git hooks that are symlinked into .git/hooks/ by init/12_git_hooks.sh.
  • The /source directory contains files that are sourced whenever a new shell is opened (in alphanumeric order, hence the funky names).
  • The /test directory contains unit tests for especially complicated bash functions.
  • The /vendor directory contains third-party libraries (zsh plugins as git submodules).
  • The /website directory is a Docusaurus site that renders the README, TIPS.md, and tips/ files for GitHub Pages. Built and deployed by .github/workflows/deploy-docs.yml. Run cd website && npm install && npm start to develop locally.

The "copy" step

Any file in the /copy subdirectory will be copied into ~/. Sensitive information is managed via git-secrets, but files that may need local edits (like copy/.gitconfig) should be copied rather than linked as a second line of defense. Because the file you'll be editing is no longer in ~/.dotfiles, it's less likely to be accidentally committed into your public dotfiles repo.

The "link" step

Any file in the /link subdirectory gets symlinked into ~/ with ln -s. Edit one or the other, and you change the file in both places. Don't link files containing sensitive data, or you might accidentally commit that data! If you're linking a directory that might contain sensitive data (like ~/.ssh) add the sensitive files to your .gitignore file!

The "init" step

Scripts in the /init subdirectory will be executed. A whole bunch of things will be installed, but only if they aren't already.

macOS

Linux / WSL

All platforms

Hacking my dotfiles

Because the dotfiles script is completely self-contained, you should be able to delete everything else from your dotfiles repo fork, and it will still work. The only thing it really cares about are the /copy, /link and /init subdirectories, which will be ignored if they are empty or don't exist.

If you modify things and notice a bug or an improvement, file an issue or a pull request and let me know.

Also, before installing, be sure to read my gently-worded note.

Installation

macOS Notes

You need to have XCode or, at the very minimum, the XCode Command Line Tools, which are available as a much smaller download.

The easiest way to install the XCode Command Line Tools is to open up a terminal, type xcode-select --install and follow the prompts.

Ubuntu / WSL Notes

You should at least update/upgrade APT with sudo apt-get -qq update && sudo apt-get -qq dist-upgrade first.

Heed this critically important warning before you install

If you're not me, please do not install dotfiles directly from this repo!

Why? Because I often completely break this repo while updating. Which means that if I do that and you run the dotfiles command, your home directory will burst into flames, and you'll have to go buy a new computer. No, not really, but it will be very messy.

Actual installation

  1. Read my gently-worded note
  2. Fork this repo
  3. Open a terminal/shell and do this (change andrelin and main as appropriate):

Ubuntu / WSL

export DOTFILES_GH_USER=andrelin
export DOTFILES_GH_BRANCH=main
bash -c "$(wget -qO- https://raw.github.com/$DOTFILES_GH_USER/dotfiles/$DOTFILES_GH_BRANCH/bin/dotfiles)" && source ~/.zshrc

macOS

export DOTFILES_GH_USER=andrelin
export DOTFILES_GH_BRANCH=main
bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/$DOTFILES_GH_USER/dotfiles/$DOTFILES_GH_BRANCH/bin/dotfiles)" && source ~/.zshrc

Since you'll be using the dotfiles command on subsequent runs, you'll only have to set the DOTFILES_GH_USER variable for the initial install, but if you have a custom branch, you will need to export DOTFILES_GH_BRANCH for subsequent runs.

There's a lot of stuff that requires admin access via sudo, so be warned that you might need to enter your password here or there.

Actual installation (for me)

Ubuntu / WSL

bash -c "$(wget -qO- https://raw.github.com/andrelin/dotfiles/main/bin/dotfiles)" && source ~/.zshrc

macOS

bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/andrelin/dotfiles/main/bin/dotfiles)" && source ~/.zshrc

Aliases and Functions

To keep things easy, the ~/.zshrc and ~/.bashrc files are very simple, and should never need to be modified. Instead, add your aliases, functions, settings, etc into one of the files in the source subdirectory, or add a new file. They're all automatically sourced when a new shell is opened. Take a look, I have a lot of aliases and functions.

Scripts

The /bin directory is added to $PATH and contains:

  • dotfiles - (re)initialize dotfiles. It might ask for your password (for sudo).
  • eachdir - run one or more commands in one or more directories.
  • isip - list bound IP addresses, or check if a specific IP is bound.
  • sync-claude-deny - sync git-secret paths into Claude Code deny rules. Use --check to verify without modifying.
  • sort-claude-settings - sort arrays in Claude Code settings files for deterministic output.

The src function (defined in .zshrc and .bashrc) re-sources all files in /source, useful after making changes without opening a new shell.

Tips

A growing index of terminal tricks, repo features, and bundled-tool basics lives in TIPS.md, with one file per category under tips/. Run tips in a shell to print them all, tips <FILE> (e.g. tips 22) for one section, tips <FILE>.<N> (e.g. tips 22.3) for a single tip, tips <D>x for a whole decade, tips -l to list titles, or tips -h for usage.

License

Copyright © 2022-2026 Andreas Lind-Johansen Licensed under the MIT license.

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