Add another machine

1. Install dotsync, and make sure git reaches your repository without any prompt:

   git ls-remote git@github.com:you/dotfiles.git

2. Connect the machine:

   dotsync init git@github.com:you/dotfiles.git

   init clones the repository, installs every managed file, copies the binary to ~/.local/bin and starts the background agent. It’s safe to run again.

3. Check the result:

   dotsync doctor     # git access, the agent, the last sync
   dotsync status     # every managed file

Files the machine already has

A machine often has its own version of a managed file already: a distribution’s default .bashrc, or an old .gitconfig. You choose what happens to it:

This machine has…	dotsync init <url>	dotsync init --keep-existing <url>
no such file	the shared version is installed	the shared version is installed
an identical file	it’s left as it is	it’s left as it is
a different file	it’s backed up, then replaced by the shared version	it’s left untouched and reported as a conflict

The default gets a new machine consistent without asking you anything, and nothing is lost: every replaced file is in ~/.local/state/dotsync/backups/. Choose --keep-existing when the machine has changes you want to review file by file, then resolve each conflict.

A file that exists only on this machine, in a spot the manifest manages but the repository has nothing for yet, is sent to the repository.

Note

The choice only matters the first time an entry syncs on a machine, including when you later add an entry or include one. After that, a file changed on both sides is always a conflict. The setting is saved as on_existing in this machine’s configuration.

A machine that shouldn’t get everything

• Entries limited to another operating system, like "os": ["darwin"] on a Linux machine, are skipped automatically.
• To skip an entry on this machine only, run dotsync exclude <entry> here.

See Per-OS and per-machine differences.

Options for init

Flag	Use it to
--keep-existing	turn differing existing files into conflicts, as above
--branch <name>	sync a branch other than main
--interval <seconds>	sync more or less often than every 300 seconds
--no-agent	skip the background agent, if you’ll run dotsync sync -q from your own scheduler
--no-install	leave the binary where it is instead of copying it to ~/.local/bin

Retiring a machine

There’s nothing to undo on the others. On the old machine, uninstall dotsync, or just wipe it. Its commits stay in the repository’s history.