What is Base?

Base is a way for Bash users to organize the following across multiple hosts:

.bash_profile
.bashrc
generic Bash libraries and commands
company specific Bash libraries and commands
team specific Bash libraries and commands
user specific settings (aliases, functions, Bash settings)
share Bash libraries and commands across teams

How can I get set up?

You can get set up in a very short time. Essentially, this is what you have to do:

Check out Base. The standard convention is $HOME/git/base. In case your git directory is elsewhere, symlink it to $HOME/git.
Consolidate your profile specifics from your current .bash_profile and .bashrc into <yourname>.sh file. Place this file under base/user directory.
Make a backup of your .bash_profile. Replace this file with a symlink to base/lib/bash_profile.
Make a backup of your .bashrc. Replace this file with a symlink to base/lib/bashrc.

Here is the code:

cd $HOME
mkdir git && cd git
git clone git@github.com:codeforester/base.git
cd $HOME
mv .bash_profile .bash_profile.safe && ln -sf $HOME/git/base/lib/bash_profile .bash_profile
mv .bashrc       .bashrc.safe       && ln -sf $HOME/git/base/lib/bashrc       .bashrc

How does Base work?

In a typical setting .bashrc sources in $BASE_HOME/base_init.sh which does the following:

sources in lib/stdlib.sh, and user/<user>.sh if it exists, in that order
updates $PATH to include the relevant bin directories
- $BASE_HOME/company/bin is always added
- $BASE_HOME/team/$BASE_TEAM/bin is added if $BASE_TEAM is set in user/<user>.sh
- $BASE_HOME/team/$BASE_TEAM/bin is added for each team defined in $BASE_SHARED_TEAMS (space-separated string), set in user/<user>.sh

Directory structure

Environment variables

BASE_HOME
BASE_DEBUG
BASE_TEAM
BASE_SHARED_TEAMS
BASE_OS
BASE_HOST

FAQ

My git location is not `$HOME/git/base`. What should I do?

You can either * specify your base location in $HOME/.baserc, like

      BASE_HOME=/path/to/base

* symlink `$HOME/git/base` to the right place

You need to do this on every host where you want base.

I don't want to keep my personal settings private, and not in git. What should I do?

Do one of the following:

* write a one-liner in `user/<user>.sh` like this:

    source /path/to/your.settings

* add the following code to your .bashrc:

    export BASE_HOME=/path/to/base
    source "$BASE_HOME/base_init.sh"

In both these cases, you need to manage your files manually, outside git.

I do want to use the default settings. What should I do?

Add this to your user/<user>.sh file:

import lib/base_defaults.sh

I want to make sure I keep my base repository updated always. How can I do it?