Provided by: yadm_3.1.1-1_all 
NAME
yadm - Yet Another Dotfiles Manager
SYNOPSIS
yadm command [options]
yadm git-command-or-alias [options]
yadm init [-f] [-w dir]
yadm clone url [-f] [-w dir] [-b branch] [--bootstrap] [--no-bootstrap]
yadm config name [value]
yadm config [-e]
yadm list [-a]
yadm bootstrap
yadm encrypt
yadm decrypt [-l]
yadm alt
yadm perms
yadm enter [ command ]
yadm git-crypt [ options ]
yadm transcrypt [ options ]
yadm upgrade [-f]
yadm introspect category
DESCRIPTION
yadm is a tool for managing a collection of files across multiple computers, using a
shared Git repository. In addition, yadm provides a feature to select alternate versions
of files for particular systems. Lastly, yadm supplies the ability to manage a subset of
secure files, which are encrypted before they are included in the repository.
COMMANDS
git-command or git-alias
Any command not internally handled by yadm is passed through to git(1). Git
commands or aliases are invoked with the yadm managed repository. The working
directory for Git commands will be the configured work-tree (usually $HOME).
Dotfiles are managed by using standard git commands; add, commit, push, pull, etc.
The config command is not passed directly through. Instead use the gitconfig
command (see below).
alt Create symbolic links and process templates for any managed files matching the
naming rules described in the ALTERNATES and TEMPLATES sections. It is usually
unnecessary to run this command, as yadm automatically processes alternates by
default. This automatic behavior can be disabled by setting the configuration
yadm.auto-alt to "false".
bootstrap
Execute $HOME/.config/yadm/bootstrap if it exists.
clone url
Clone a remote repository for tracking dotfiles. After the contents of the remote
repository have been fetched, a "check out" of the remote HEAD branch is attempted.
If there are conflicting files already present in the work-tree, the local version
will be left unmodified and you'll have to review and resolve the difference.
The repository is stored in $HOME/.local/share/yadm/repo.git. By default, $HOME
will be used as the work-tree, but this can be overridden with the -w option. yadm
can be forced to overwrite an existing repository by providing the -f option. If
you want to use a branch other than the remote HEAD branch you can specify it using
the -b option. By default yadm will ask the user if the bootstrap program should
be run (if it exists). The options --bootstrap or --no-bootstrap will either force
the bootstrap to be run, or prevent it from being run, without prompting the user.
config This command manages configurations for yadm. This command works exactly the way
git-config(1) does. See the CONFIGURATION section for more details.
decrypt
Decrypt all files stored in $HOME/.local/share/yadm/archive. Files decrypted will
be relative to the configured work-tree (usually $HOME). Using the -l option will
list the files stored without extracting them.
encrypt
Encrypt all files matching the patterns found in $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt. See
the ENCRYPTION section for more details.
enter Run a sub-shell with all Git variables set. Exit the sub-shell the same way you
leave your normal shell (usually with the "exit" command). This sub-shell can be
used to easily interact with your yadm repository using "git" commands. This could
be useful if you are using a tool which uses Git directly, such as tig, vim-
fugitive, git-cola, etc.
Optionally, you can provide a command after "enter", and instead of invoking your
shell, that command will be run with all of the Git variables exposed to the
command's environment.
Emacs Tramp and Magit can manage files by using this configuration:
(add-to-list 'tramp-methods
'("yadm"
(tramp-login-program "yadm")
(tramp-login-args (("enter")))
(tramp-login-env (("SHELL") ("/bin/sh")))
(tramp-remote-shell "/bin/sh")
(tramp-remote-shell-args ("-c"))))
With this config, use (magit-status "/yadm::").
git-crypt options
If git-crypt is installed, this command allows you to pass options directly to git-
crypt, with the environment configured to use the yadm repository.
git-crypt enables transparent encryption and decryption of files in a git
repository. You can read https://github.com/AGWA/git-crypt for details.
gitconfig
Pass options to the git config command. Since yadm already uses the config command
to manage its own configurations, this command is provided as a way to change
configurations of the repository managed by yadm. One useful case might be to
configure the repository so untracked files are shown in status commands. yadm
initially configures its repository so that untracked files are not shown. If you
wish use the default Git behavior (to show untracked files and directories), you
can remove this configuration.
yadm gitconfig --unset status.showUntrackedFiles
help Print a summary of yadm commands.
init Initialize a new, empty repository for tracking dotfiles. The repository is stored
in $HOME/.local/share/yadm/repo.git. By default, $HOME will be used as the work-
tree, but this can be overridden with the -w option. yadm can be forced to
overwrite an existing repository by providing the -f option.
list Print a list of files managed by yadm. The -a option will cause all managed files
to be listed. Otherwise, the list will only include files from the current
directory or below.
introspect category
Report internal yadm data. Supported categories are commands, configs, repo, and
switches. The purpose of introspection is to support command line completion.
perms Update permissions as described in the PERMISSIONS section. It is usually
unnecessary to run this command, as yadm automatically processes permissions by
default. This automatic behavior can be disabled by setting the configuration
yadm.auto-perms to "false".
transcrypt options
If transcrypt is installed, this command allows you to pass options directly to
transcrypt, with the environment configured to use the yadm repository.
transcrypt enables transparent encryption and decryption of files in a git
repository. You can read https://github.com/elasticdog/transcrypt for details.
upgrade
Version 3 of yadm uses a different directory for storing data. When you start to
use version 3 for the first time, you may see warnings about moving your data to
this new directory. The easiest way to accomplish this is by running "yadm
upgrade". This command will start by moving your yadm repo to the new path. Next
it will move any archive data. If the archive is tracked within your yadm repo,
this command will "stage" the renaming of that file in the repo's index.
Upgrading will attempt to de-initialize and re-initialize your submodules. If your
submodules cannot be de-initialized, the upgrade will fail. The most common reason
submodules will fail to de-initialize is because they have local modifications. If
you are willing to lose the local modifications to those submodules, you can use
the -f option with the "upgrade" command to force the de-initialization.
After running "yadm upgrade", you should run "yadm status" to review changes which
have been staged, and commit them to your repository.
You can read https://yadm.io/docs/upgrade_from_2 for more information.
version
Print the version of yadm.
OPTIONS
yadm supports a set of universal options that alter the paths it uses. The default paths
are documented in the FILES section. Any path specified by these options must be fully
qualified. If you always want to override one or more of these paths, it may be useful to
create an alias for the yadm command. For example, the following alias could be used to
override the repository directory.
alias yadm='yadm --yadm-repo /alternate/path/to/repo'
The following is the full list of universal options. Each option should be followed by a
path.
-Y,--yadm-dir
Override the yadm directory. yadm stores its configurations relative to this
directory.
--yadm-data
Override the yadm data directory. yadm stores its data relative to this directory.
--yadm-repo
Override the location of the yadm repository.
--yadm-config
Override the location of the yadm configuration file.
--yadm-encrypt
Override the location of the yadm encryption configuration.
--yadm-archive
Override the location of the yadm encrypted files archive.
--yadm-bootstrap
Override the location of the yadm bootstrap program.
CONFIGURATION
yadm uses a configuration file named $HOME/.config/yadm/config. This file uses the same
format as git-config(1). Also, you can control the contents of the configuration file via
the yadm config command (which works exactly like git-config). For example, to disable
alternates you can run the command:
yadm config yadm.auto-alt false
The following is the full list of supported configurations:
yadm.alt-copy
If set to "true", alternate files will be copies instead of symbolic links. This
might be desirable, because some systems may not properly support symlinks.
yadm.auto-alt
Disable the automatic linking described in the section ALTERNATES. If disabled, you
may still run "yadm alt" manually to create the alternate links. This feature is
enabled by default.
yadm.auto-exclude
Disable the automatic exclusion of patterns defined in $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt.
This feature is enabled by default.
yadm.auto-perms
Disable the automatic permission changes described in the section PERMISSIONS. If
disabled, you may still run yadm perms manually to update permissions. This
feature is enabled by default.
yadm.auto-private-dirs
Disable the automatic creating of private directories described in the section
PERMISSIONS.
yadm.cipher
Configure which encryption system is used by the encrypt/decrypt commands. Valid
options are "gpg" and "openssl". The default is "gpg". Detailed information can be
found in the section ENCRYPTION.
yadm.git-program
Specify an alternate program to use instead of "git". By default, the first "git"
found in $PATH is used.
yadm.gpg-perms
Disable the permission changes to $HOME/.gnupg/*. This feature is enabled by
default.
yadm.gpg-program
Specify an alternate program to use instead of "gpg". By default, the first "gpg"
found in $PATH is used.
yadm.gpg-recipient
Asymmetrically encrypt files with a gpg public/private key pair. Provide a "key
ID" to specify which public key to encrypt with. The key must exist in your public
keyrings. Multiple recipients can be specified (separated by space). If left
blank or not provided, symmetric encryption is used instead. If set to "ASK", gpg
will interactively ask for recipients. See the ENCRYPTION section for more
details. This feature is disabled by default.
yadm.openssl-ciphername
Specify which cipher should be used by openssl. "aes-256-cbc" is used by default.
yadm.openssl-old
Newer versions of openssl support the pbkdf2 key derivation function. This is used
by default. If this configuration is set to "true", openssl operations will use
options compatible with older versions of openssl. If you change this option, you
will need to recreate your encrypted archive.
yadm.openssl-program
Specify an alternate program to use instead of "openssl". By default, the first
"openssl" found in $PATH is used.
yadm.ssh-perms
Disable the permission changes to $HOME/.ssh/*. This feature is enabled by
default.
The following four "local" configurations are not stored in the $HOME/.config/yadm/config,
they are stored in the local repository.
local.class
Specify a class for the purpose of symlinking alternate files. By default, no
class will be matched.
local.hostname
Override the hostname for the purpose of symlinking alternate files.
local.os
Override the OS for the purpose of symlinking alternate files.
local.user
Override the user for the purpose of symlinking alternate files.
ALTERNATES
When managing a set of files across different systems, it can be useful to have an
automated way of choosing an alternate version of a file for a different operating system,
host, user, etc.
yadm will automatically create a symbolic link to the appropriate version of a file, when
a valid suffix is appended to the filename. The suffix contains the conditions that must
be met for that file to be used.
The suffix begins with "##", followed by any number of conditions separated by commas.
##<condition>[,<condition>,...]
Each condition is an attribute/value pair, separated by a period. Some conditions do not
require a "value", and in that case, the period and value can be omitted. Most attributes
can be abbreviated as a single letter.
<attribute>[.<value>]
These are the supported attributes, in the order of the weighted precedence:
template, t
Valid when the value matches a supported template processor. See the TEMPLATES
section for more details.
user, u
Valid if the value matches the current user. Current user is calculated by running
id -u -n.
distro, d
Valid if the value matches the distro. Distro is calculated by running lsb_release
-si or by inspecting the ID from /etc/os-release.
os, o Valid if the value matches the OS. OS is calculated by running uname -s.
class, c
Valid if the value matches the local.class configuration. Class must be manually
set using yadm config local.class <class>. See the CONFIGURATION section for more
details about setting local.class.
hostname, h
Valid if the value matches the short hostname. Hostname is calculated by running
uname -n, and trimming off any domain.
default
Valid when no other alternate is valid.
extension, e
A special "condition" that doesn't affect the selection process. Its purpose is
instead to allow the alternate file to end with a certain extension to e.g. make
editors highlight the content properly.
NOTE: The OS for "Windows Subsystem for Linux" is reported as "WSL", even though uname
identifies as "Linux".
You may use any number of conditions, in any order. An alternate will only be used if ALL
conditions are valid. For all files managed by yadm's repository or listed in
$HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt, if they match this naming convention, symbolic links will be
created for the most appropriate version.
The "most appropriate" version is determined by calculating a score for each version of a
file. A template is always scored higher than any symlink condition. The number of
conditions is the next largest factor in scoring. Files with more conditions will always
be favored. Any invalid condition will disqualify that file completely.
If you don't care to have all versions of alternates stored in the same directory as the
generated symlink, you can place them in the $HOME/.config/yadm/alt directory. The
generated symlink or processed template will be created using the same relative path.
Alternate linking may best be demonstrated by example. Assume the following files are
managed by yadm's repository:
- $HOME/path/example.txt##default
- $HOME/path/example.txt##class.Work
- $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin
- $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin,hostname.host1
- $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin,hostname.host2
- $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Linux
- $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Linux,hostname.host1
- $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Linux,hostname.host2
If running on a Macbook named "host2", yadm will create a symbolic link which looks like
this:
$HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin,hostname.host2
However, on another Mackbook named "host3", yadm will create a symbolic link which looks
like this:
$HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin
Since the hostname doesn't match any of the managed files, the more generic version is
chosen.
If running on a Linux server named "host4", the link will be:
$HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Linux
If running on a Solaris server, the link will use the default version:
$HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##default
If running on a system, with class set to "Work", the link will be:
$HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##class.Work
If no "##default" version exists and no files have valid conditions, then no link will be
created.
Links are also created for directories named this way, as long as they have at least one
yadm managed file within them.
yadm will automatically create these links by default. This can be disabled using the
yadm.auto-alt configuration. Even if disabled, links can be manually created by running
yadm alt.
Class is a special value which is stored locally on each host (inside the local
repository). To use alternate symlinks using class, you must set the value of class using
the configuration local.class. This is set like any other yadm configuration with the
yadm config command. The following sets the class to be "Work".
yadm config local.class Work
Similarly, the values of os, hostname, and user can be manually overridden using the
configuration options local.os, local.hostname, and local.user.
TEMPLATES
If a template condition is defined in an alternate file's "##" suffix, and the necessary
dependencies for the template are available, then the file will be processed to create or
overwrite files.
Supported template processors:
default
This is yadm's built-in template processor. This processor is very basic, with a
Jinja-like syntax. The advantage of this processor is that it only depends upon
awk, which is available on most *nix systems. To use this processor, specify the
value of "default" or just leave the value off (e.g. "##template").
ESH ESH is a template processor written in POSIX compliant shell. It allows executing
shell commands within templates. This can be used to reference your own
configurations within templates, for example:
<% yadm config mysection.myconfig %>
To use the ESH template processor, specify the value of "esh"
j2cli To use the j2cli Jinja template processor, specify the value of "j2" or "j2cli".
envtpl To use the envtpl Jinja template processor, specify the value of "j2" or "envtpl".
NOTE: Specifying "j2" as the processor will attempt to use j2cli or envtpl, whichever is
available.
If the template processor specified is available, templates will be processed to create or
overwrite files.
During processing, the following variables are available in the template:
Default Jinja or ESH Description
------------- ------------- --------------------------
yadm.class YADM_CLASS Locally defined yadm class
yadm.distro YADM_DISTRO lsb_release -si
yadm.hostname YADM_HOSTNAME uname -n (without domain)
yadm.os YADM_OS uname -s
yadm.user YADM_USER id -u -n
yadm.source YADM_SOURCE Template filename
NOTE: The OS for "Windows Subsystem for Linux" is reported as "WSL", even though uname
identifies as "Linux".
NOTE: If lsb_release is not available, DISTRO will be the ID specified in /etc/os-release.
Examples:
whatever##template with the following content
{% if yadm.user == "harvey" %}
config={{yadm.class}}-{{yadm.os}}
{% else %}
config=dev-whatever
{% include "whatever.extra" %}
{% endif %}
would output a file named whatever with the following content if the user is "harvey":
config=work-Linux
and the following otherwise (if whatever.extra contains admin=false):
config=dev-whatever
admin=false
An equivalent Jinja template named whatever##template.j2 would look like:
{% if YADM_USER == 'harvey' -%}
config={{YADM_CLASS}}-{{YADM_OS}}
{% else -%}
config=dev-whatever
{% include 'whatever.extra' %}
{% endif -%}
An equivalent ESH templated named whatever##template.esh would look like:
<% if [ "$YADM_USER" = "harvey" ]; then -%>
config=<%= $YADM_CLASS %>-<%= $YADM_OS %>
<% else -%>
config=dev-whatever
<%+ whatever.extra %>
<% fi -%>
ENCRYPTION
It can be useful to manage confidential files, like SSH or GPG keys, across multiple
systems. However, doing so would put plain text data into a Git repository, which often
resides on a public system. yadm can make it easy to encrypt and decrypt a set of files so
the encrypted version can be maintained in the Git repository. This feature will only
work if a supported tool is available. Both gpg(1) and openssl(1) are supported. gpg is
used by default, but openssl can be configured with the yadm.cypher configuration.
To use this feature, a list of patterns must be created and saved as
$HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt. This list of patterns should be relative to the configured
work-tree (usually $HOME). For example:
.ssh/*.key
.gnupg/*.gpg
Standard filename expansions (*, ?, [) are supported. If you have Bash version 4, you may
use "**" to match all subdirectories. Other shell expansions like brace and tilde are not
supported. Spaces in paths are supported, and should not be quoted. If a directory is
specified, its contents will be included, but not recursively. Paths beginning with a "!"
will be excluded.
The yadm encrypt command will find all files matching the patterns, and prompt for a
password. Once a password has confirmed, the matching files will be encrypted and saved as
$HOME/.local/share/yadm/archive. The "encrypt" and "archive" files should be added to the
yadm repository so they are available across multiple systems.
To decrypt these files later, or on another system run yadm decrypt and provide the
correct password. After files are decrypted, permissions are automatically updated as
described in the PERMISSIONS section.
Symmetric encryption is used by default, but asymmetric encryption may be enabled using
the yadm.gpg-recipient configuration.
NOTE: It is recommended that you use a private repository when keeping confidential files,
even though they are encrypted.
Patterns found in $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt are automatically added to the repository's
info/exclude file every time yadm encrypt is run. This is to prevent accidentally
committing sensitive data to the repository. This can be disabled using the yadm.auto-
exclude configuration.
Using transcrypt or git-crypt
A completely separate option for encrypting data is to install and use transcrypt or git-
crypt. Once installed, you can use these tools by running yadm transcrypt or yadm git-
crypt. These tools enables transparent encryption and decryption of files in a git
repository. See the following web sites for more information:
- https://github.com/elasticdog/transcrypt
- https://github.com/AGWA/git-crypt
PERMISSIONS
When files are checked out of a Git repository, their initial permissions are dependent
upon the user's umask. Because of this, yadm will automatically update the permissions of
some file paths. The "group" and "others" permissions will be removed from the following
files:
- $HOME/.local/share/yadm/archive
- All files matching patterns in $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt
- The SSH directory and files, .ssh/*
- The GPG directory and files, .gnupg/*
yadm will automatically update permissions by default. This can be disabled using the
yadm.auto-perms configuration. Even if disabled, permissions can be manually updated by
running yadm perms. The .ssh directory processing can be disabled using the yadm.ssh-
perms configuration. The .gnupg directory processing can be disabled using the yadm.gpg-
perms configuration.
When cloning a repo which includes data in a .ssh or .gnupg directory, if those
directories do not exist at the time of cloning, yadm will create the directories with
mask 0700 prior to merging the fetched data into the work-tree.
When running a Git command and .ssh or .gnupg directories do not exist, yadm will create
those directories with mask 0700 prior to running the Git command. This can be disabled
using the yadm.auto-private-dirs configuration.
HOOKS
For every command yadm supports, a program can be provided to run before or after that
command. These are referred to as "hooks". yadm looks for hooks in the directory
$HOME/.config/yadm/hooks. Each hook is named using a prefix of pre_ or post_, followed by
the command which should trigger the hook. For example, to create a hook which is run
after every yadm pull command, create a hook named post_pull. Hooks must have the
executable file permission set.
If a pre_ hook is defined, and the hook terminates with a non-zero exit status, yadm will
refuse to run the yadm command. For example, if a pre_commit hook is defined, but that
command ends with a non-zero exit status, the yadm commit will never be run. This allows
one to "short-circuit" any operation using a pre_ hook.
Hooks have the following environment variables available to them at runtime:
YADM_HOOK_COMMAND
The command which triggered the hook
YADM_HOOK_EXIT
The exit status of the yadm command
YADM_HOOK_FULL_COMMAND
The yadm command with all command line arguments (parameters are space delimited,
and any space, tab or backslash will be escaped with a backslash)
YADM_HOOK_REPO
The path to the yadm repository
YADM_HOOK_WORK
The path to the work-tree
FILES
All of yadm's configurations are relative to the "yadm directory". yadm uses the "XDG
Base Directory Specification" to determine this directory. If the environment variable
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME is defined as a fully qualified path, this directory will be
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/yadm. Otherwise it will be $HOME/.config/yadm.
Similarly, yadm's data files are relative to the "yadm data directory". yadm uses the
"XDG Base Directory Specification" to determine this directory. If the environment
variable $XDG_DATA_HOME is defined as a fully qualified path, this directory will be
$XDG_DATA_HOME/yadm. Otherwise it will be $HOME/.local/share/yadm.
The following are the default paths yadm uses for its own data. Most of these paths can
be altered using universal options. See the OPTIONS section for details.
$HOME/.config/yadm
The yadm directory. By default, all configs yadm stores is relative to this
directory.
$HOME/.local/share/yadm
The yadm data directory. By default, all data yadm stores is relative to this
directory.
$YADM_DIR/config
Configuration file for yadm.
$YADM_DIR/alt
This is a directory to keep "alternate files" without having them side-by-side with
the resulting symlink or processed template. Alternate files placed in this
directory will be created relative to $HOME instead.
$YADM_DATA/repo.git
Git repository used by yadm.
$YADM_DIR/encrypt
List of globs used for encrypt/decrypt
$YADM_DATA/archive
All files encrypted with yadm encrypt are stored in this file.
EXAMPLES
yadm init
Create an empty repo for managing files
yadm add .bash_profile ; yadm commit
Add .bash_profile to the Git index and create a new commit
yadm remote add origin <url>
Add a remote origin to an existing repository
yadm push -u origin master
Initial push of master to origin
echo .ssh/*.key >> $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt
Add a new pattern to the list of encrypted files
yadm encrypt ; yadm add ~/.local/share/yadm/archive ; yadm commit
Commit a new set of encrypted files
REPORTING BUGS
Report issues or create pull requests at GitHub:
https://github.com/TheLocehiliosan/yadm/issues
AUTHOR
Tim Byrne <sultan@locehilios.com>
SEE ALSO
git(1), gpg(1) openssl(1) transcrypt(1) git-crypt(1)
https://yadm.io/