Your dotFiles should be unique. These are mine, fork this repository as a reference. You can learn a lot by looking at how other people set up their dotfiles.

This repository managed with Chezmoi, is the configuration for my Debian-based headless servers.

💎 Key Features

📂 Secure, templated dotfile management

This repository uses Chezmoi templates. Check the other sections.

When you install it, your identity is stored in ~/.config/chezmoi/chezmoi.toml. You can manually update these values by running: chezmoi edit-config.

Many dot files are managed by Chezmoi

• dot_curlrc: Curl is used in command lines or scripts to transfer data
• dot_editorconfig: EditorConfig a file format that enable various text editors and IDEs to adhere to defined styles
• dot_tmux.conf: tmux is a terminal multiplexer. It lets you switch easily between several programs in one terminal, detach them (they keep running in the background) and reattach them to a different terminal
• dot_wgetrc: GNU Wget is a non-interactive commandline tool for retrieving files using HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and FTPS

The reason that many of these file names start with a period and are therefore known as “dotfiles” is the accidental invention of “hidden files” in 1997.

🧩 Modular Zsh configuration with aliases and functions

Zsh is a shell designed for interactive use, the files load order:

1. ~/.zshenv managed as dot_zshenv
   • Environment variables loaded for all shells such as interactive, non-interactive, login, and scripts
2. ~/.config/zsh/.zshrc managed as dot_config/zsh/dot_zshrc
   • Main config file for interactive shells
3. ~/.config/zsh/aliases.zsh managed as dot_config/zsh/aliases.zsh
   • Additional configuration loaded via .zshrc
4. ~/.config/zsh/functions.zsh managed as dot_config/zsh/functions.zsh
   • Additional configuration loaded via .zshrc
5. ~/.config/starship.toml managed as dot_config/starship.toml
   • Starship prompt loaded via .zshrc

Install zsh manually if you're not using run_once_before_install-packages.sh.tmpl

1. sudo apt install zsh
2. chsh -s /bin/zsh

The change takes effect on your next login (or open a new terminal session) and verify with echo $SHELL

🛠 Modern Tooling

• Standard ls is aliased to Eza for better readability:
  • --icons: Display of icons for different file types with a Nerd Font
  • --git: Shows Git status for files directly in the directory listing
  • --group-directories-first: Keeps your view organized
• Prompt: Starship is gorgeous and works everywhere with Rust-powered
• System info: Fastfetch is a maintained neofetch like tool

🔒 Hardened GIT & SSH configuration

Commit Signing: Git is configured to sign commits using SSH keys (ED25519)

• GitHub & [GitLab] (https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/repository/signed_commits/ssh/) documentation

Multiplexing: Hardened ~/.ssh/config with ControlMaster enabled for lightning-fast subsequent connections to the same host

Privacy: Sensitive hostnames and IPs are offloaded to ~/.ssh/config.local (ignored by Git)

Modular GIT configuration:

• ~/.config/git/config managed as a Chezmoi's template /dot_config/config.tmpl
  • Main config file, template information are collected during the quick start
• ~/.config/git/aliases managed as /dot_config/aliases
  • Additional configuration loaded via ~/.config/git/config
• ~/.config/git/gitignore_global managed as /dot_config/gitignore_global
  • Used by GIT without a specific configuration

Modular SSH configuration:

• ~/.ssh/config managed as a Chezmoi's template dot_ssh/config.tmpl
  • Main config file, template information are collected during the quick start
• ~/.ssh/authorized_keys managed as a Chezmoi's template dot_ssh/authorized_keys.tmpl
  • Contains a list of public keys that are permitted to access that specific user account remotely
  • Include one static key and keys fetched from GitHub
• ~/.ssh/sockets managed as dot_ssh/sockets
  • Support Multiplexing for lightning-fast subsequent connections to the same host

✍️ Vim configuration with colors cheme support

Configured for professional sysadmin work:

• Mac classic color scheme modified by Drew Neil for a clean, light-background aesthetic
• Support for termguicolors, optimized for Ghostty
• Swaps and backups disabled to keep your home directory clean

🚀 Quick Start

On a fresh Debian install, run:

sh -c "$(curl -fsLS get.chezmoi.io)" -- -b ~/.config/bin init --apply bhdicaire

① Installs Chezmoi to manage your dotFiles

② Automatically triggers the run_once_before_install-packages.sh script to install missing components

③ Prompts you for information in order to generate localized configs

• Email for GIT configuration
• Full name for GIT signature
• Hostname for specific configuration items

.
├── dot_config/
│   ├── git/          # Templated Git config (name/email)
│   ├── zsh/          # Modular shell scripts (aliases.zsh, functions.zsh)
│   └── starship.toml # Prompt configuration
├── dot_ssh/
│   ├── config.tmpl   # Secure SSH client config
│   └── authorized_keys.tmpl # Fetches keys from GitHub
├── dot_vim/          # Vim colorschemes
├── dot_vimrc         # Main Vim configuration
└── run_once_before_install-packages.sh.tmpl #  Bootstrap script

Licence

dotFiles by Benoît H. Dicaire are shared under MIT.

Related projects

• The unofficial* guide to dotfiles on GitHub
• Awesome dotfiles