Earlier this year, I built a new PC and it’s running Ubuntu. I’ve been installing various apps and configuring them since then. Now, I realize I don’t have any way of knowing what I would want to reinstall, if I (for instance) lost this drive somehow.
How do you keep track of what you’ve installed/ your favorite apps?
Separately, how can I backup the configurations I’m using right now.
Thanks!
I just check my Nix.config, but most distros don’t have that privilege.
Idk how it works for most other distros, but I know on Arch you can check all packages manually installed by pacman and your AUR helper.
Git.
Keep all the config files of your tools in subdirectories of a git versioned directory and symlink them into their target location (e.g. with GNU stow). If installation of a tool is involved and you expect to have to revisit it, put the steps into an installation bash script and version it as well.
+1, essential ones I keep in GitHub repository (like zsh, tmux, xdefaults configs with no personal data). With makefile that makes symlinks. This is the easiest way to sync zsh config between my personal and work machines.
Rest is just in a backup.
Do you have an example of a generalise makefile that does that? Or does it need to be customise per configuration?
On my GitHub repo. Needs to be customized, but you should get the idea.
Maybe there is a way to write it better, I’m no makefile expert ;)
@zacher_glachl @perishthethought I take a similar approach starting with a bare work-tree at $HOME/.cfg and add config files I’ve changed. Then throw my --git-dir and --work-tree switches in an alias for git.
As for installed programs, a simple backup of my portage world file takes car of that.
Apart from those little tools running in the background that get their own little “How to install and configure X” file, I don’t keep a list. I just install things as I need them, copying back config files from a backup. It’s less annoying and time consuming than one might expect and keeps the system slim by not installing what I never use anyway.
Backup $home and /etc. That should be good enough.
I make a list of all the ones I like. Then when I feel my system is getting too bloated, I wipe and reinstall while only installing the packages from my list.
It’s very “low tech,” but it’s always worked out well for me.
