dotfiles

A few settings files for my current development setup

I'm running Windows 10, using WSL2 with Ubuntu for development.

I prefer to use Docker Desktop and configure VS Code to use that as a remote interpreter. I also develop with Pycharm in a similar way but have issues with the debugger so I've been leaning on VS Code.

Project files are kept inside a WSL2 folder location.

Inspired by https://github.com/nickjj/dotfiles

Install WS2

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10

Afterwards you can install Ubuntu or Debian or another distro

Note on Debian

There is a possible bug related to the $PATH variables loading into WSL2. If you find you can't launch Windows binaries from inside WSL2 (like code ., they may not be in your PATH due to microsoft/WSL#5779 . The solution is to remove the following lines from /etc/profile

if [ "`id -u`" -eq 0 ]; then
  PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"
else
  PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games"
fi

Note on WSL internet troubles

I have sometimes had a lot of difficulty maintaining an internet connection inside the WSL2 environment. This is always due to something about /etc/resolv.conf, which WSL tries to automatically set. Docker Desktop seems to interfere, and VPNs will definitely mess this up. I generally fix it by removing the "auto-generated" file (which sometimes is just a symlink that doesn't actually point to a file??) and replacing it with a file that has the following contents: nameserver 8.8.8.8 (google's nameserver), or if I'm behind a VPN I look up the specific nameservers I will need. I don't know enough about networking to understand this issue deeper.

Installs inside WSL2

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y \
  curl \
  ffmpeg \
  git \
  htop \
  python3-pip \
  python3-venv \
  rsync \
  unzip \
  vim \
  tmux \
  neovim

Close wsl2 and re-open (or logout/login) so PATH can be updated

Pyenv and Poetry install

Pyenv and Poetry are best installed through their installer scripts called out in their documentation.

Set up SSH keys

ensure the following:

chmod 700 ~/.ssh/
chmod 644 ~/.ssh/<publickey>.pub
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/<privatekey>

Probably want to set up ssh-agent (if below command doesn't work, you may need to specify filepath specifically):

ssh-add -l

To start:

eval `ssh-agent`

Clone dotfiles repo

SSH

git clone git@github.com:rengler33/dotfiles.git ~/github/dotfiles/

Create symlinks to various dotfiles.

ln -s ~/github/dotfiles/.bash_aliases ~/.bash_aliases && \
ln -s ~/github/dotfiles/.gitconfig ~/.gitconfig && \
ln -s ~/github/dotfiles/.vimrc ~/.vimrc && \
sudo ln -s ~/github/dotfiles/etc/wsl.conf /etc/wsl.conf

After editing the .gitconfig.user file to be personally relevant:

cp ~/github/dotfiles/.gitconfig.user ~/.gitconfig.user

If using VPN, WSL2 will likely require you to configure their nameservers:

My example file has the nameservers for NordVPN

sudo rm -r /etc/resolv.conf && sudo cp ~/github/dotfiles/etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf

Note: if the file is designated "immutable", you will need to use chattr to first be able to edit it. As superuser and owner of the file (root):

chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf
vim /etc/resolv.conf
chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

Remove incredibly annoying Windows ding sound while in bash

Go to /etc/inputrc and (as privileged user) umcomment/add line set bell-style none

Additional installs inside WSL2

Install pip if needed

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-pip

Install pipx

python3 -m pip install --user pipx
python3 -m pipx ensurepath

Install global python packages with pipx

pipx install \
pipenv \
cookiecutter \
flake8 \
black \
isort \
pytest \
pre-commit \
youtube-dl

Install AWS CLI V2

curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip" \
  && unzip awscliv2.zip && sudo ./aws/install && rm awscliv2.zip

Windows Installs from Powershell prompt (opened as administrator)

Installing Chocolatey

https://chocolatey.org/install

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

Installing applications

choco install -y `
firefox `
googlechrome `
nordvpn `
microsoft-windows-terminal `
powertoys `
autohotkey `
7zip.install `
putty.install `
curl `
ffmpeg `
kodi `
vlc `
winscp.install `
qbittorrent `
zoom `
obs-studio `
sizer `
calibre `
kindle `
vim `
markdownmonster `
steam `
git.install `
docker-desktop `
pycharm `
vscode `
vscode-insiders `
postman

Additional Windows Steps

Install MesloLGS NF font https://github.com/romkatv/dotfiles-public/tree/master/.local/share/fonts/NerdFonts (this is a good font that works well with oh-my-zsh and powerlevel10k)

Copy the items in the C/ folder manually to the Windows system if they're needed.

Note that the _vimrc file needs the directory ~\vimtmp to be created in order to store temporary files there specifically, otherwise it will use current directory.

Autohotkey Script(s)

One AHK script I like to have is a minimize/un-minimize option for WindowsTerminal.exe, you can make it startup at login by placing the script in C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Notes

Windows Terminal

You can change the default profile of windows terminal to be a WSL distro. You can also change the starting directory in the settings. See the example file.

Additionally you can create your own shortcut for windows terminal to open multiple tabs or panes using a target like this: wt -p "Ubuntu"; split-pane -p "Ubuntu"; new-tab -p "Windows PowerShell"; focus-tab -t 0 See more about this here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/command-line-arguments?tabs=windows

VS Code

Start with installing the "Remote Development" extension pack, a group of useful remote extensions.

Useful Extensions

Remote Development (Extension Pack)
Vim
Docker
GitLens
Rainbow Brackets
Python
Pylance
Python Docstring Generator
Python Indents
Jupyter

Pycharm Settings

To be inside WSL automatically change default terminal from cmd.exe to bash.exe

Docker / WSL2 settings & best practices

https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-windows/wsl/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/compare-versions#use-the-linux-file-system-for-faster-performance

SMB Network shares

Install sudo apt install cifs-utils

Create a file in ~/.smbcredentials that looks like this:

username=<USERNAME>
password=<PASSWORD>

Run sudo chmod 600 ~/.smbcredentials to lock down file permissions on that file.

Edit /etc/fstab to include a line with the following:

//<SERVER>/<SHARE> <MOUNTPATH> cifs rw,credentials=~/.smbcredentials,iocharset=utf8,nounix,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 0 0

Note the mountpath will need folders that already exist, e.g. /mnt/hagrid/courses

Run sudo mount -a to mount the paths.