Cross-platform .gitconfig

Dojang allows you to use nearly the same Git settings across devices, while still making some settings different depending on your environment. For example, you can use the same name or aliases for your favorite commands on all your devices, but have different settings for the editor, SSH, and GnuPG programs on different devices.

Suppose you want to use the following settings on macOS:

[user]
    name = John Doe
[alias]
    f = fetch --tags --all -p
    ci = commit
    co = switch --create
    st = status --short --branch
[core]
    editor = vim
[gpg]
    path = /usr/local/bin/gpg

… and want to use the following settings on Windows:

[user]
    name = John Doe
[alias]
    f = fetch --tags --all -p
    ci = commit
    co = switch --create
    st = status --short --branch
[core]
    editor = notepad
    sshCommand = C:/Windows/System32/OpenSSH/ssh.exe
    autocrlf = false
    symlinks = true
[credential "helperselector"]
    selected = manager
[gpg]
    program = C:\\Program Files (x86)\\GnuPG\\bin\\gpg.exe

How do we achieve this?

Let the contents vary depending on the environment

We'll work on sharing common settings in one place later, but first we need to make them environment-specific. To do this, we need to make sure that the environment-specific configuration files are copied to ~/.gitconfig via per-file routing. In your manifest (dojang.toml) file, put the following settings:

[files."gitconfig/.gitconfig.mac"]
mac = "$HOME/.gitconfig"

[files."gitconfig/.gitconfig.win"]
win = "$UserProfile/.gitconfig"

[monikers.mac]
os = "macos"

[monikers.win]
os = "windows"

Notice that we've created one per-file routing for one environment. If you look at the routing in gitconfig/.gitconfig.mac, it only contains the path when the mac moniker is satisfied, and the path when the win moniker is satisfied is missing. Intentionally omitting certain environments like this is called null routing. With null routing, routing is considered to not exist for certain environments, and the configuration file for those environments is not copied.

With these settings, the contents of gitconfig/.gitconfig.mac will be copied to ~/.gitconfig on macOS, and the contents of gitconfig/.gitconfig.win will be copied to ~/.gitconfig on Windows.

Create a common configuration file

Putting common settings in one place is a simple matter of using the [include] function supported by Git config itself. Create gitconfig/.gitconfig.mac like below:

[include]
    path = ~/.gitconfig.common
[core]
    editor = vim
[gpg]
    path = /usr/local/bin/gpg

The gitconfig/.gitconfig.win will look like this

[include]
    path = ~/.gitconfig.common
[core]
    editor = notepad
    sshCommand = C:/Windows/System32/OpenSSH/ssh.exe
    autocrlf = false
    symlinks = true
[credential "helperselector"]
    selected = manager
[gpg]
    program = C:\\Program Files (x86)\\GnuPG\\bin\\gpg.exe

Finally, create a common config file, gitconfig/.gitconfig.common:

[user]
    name = John Doe
[alias]
    f = fetch --tags --all -p
    ci = commit
    co = switch --create
    st = status --short --branch

Don't forget to add one more per-file routing to the manifest file so that the gitconfig/.gitconfig.common file is copied to ~/.gitconfig.common, as shown below:

[files."gitconfig/.gitconfig.common"]
mac = "$HOME/.gitconfig.common"
win = "$UserProfile/.gitconfig.common"