Use Stow for configuration management of multiple machines
======
Learn how to use Stow to manage configurations across machines in the
second article in our series on 20 ways to be more productive with open
source in 2020.
![A person programming][1]
Last year, I brought you 19 days of new (to you) productivity tools for 2019. This year, I'm taking a different approach: building an environment that will allow you to be more productive in the new year, using tools you may or may not already be using.
### Manage symlinks with Stow
Yesterday, I explained how I keep my files in sync across multiple machines with [Syncthing][2]. But that's only one of the tools I use to keep my configurations consistent. The other is a seemingly simple tool called [Stow][3].
![Stow help screen][4]
Stow manages symlinks. By default, it makes symlinks from the directory it is in to the directory below it. There are also options to set a source and target directory, but I don't usually use them.
As I mentioned in the Syncthing[article][5], I use Syncthing to keep a directory called **myconfigs** consistent across all of my machines. The **myconfigs** directory has several subdirectories underneath it. Each subdirectory contains the configuration files for one of the applications I use regularly.
![myconfigs directory][6]
On each machine, I change to the **myconfigs** directory and run **stow -S <directory name>** to symlink the files inside the directory to my home directory. For example, under the **vim** directory, I have my **.vimrc** and **.vim** directories. On each machine, I run **stow -S vim** to create the symlinks **~/.vimrc** and **~/.vim**. When I make a change to my Vim configuration on one machine, it applies to ALL of my machines.
Sometimes, though, I need something machine-specific, which is why I have directories like **msmtp-personal** and **msmtp-elastic** (my employer). Since my **msmtp** SMTP client needs to know what email server to relay through, and each one has different setups and credentials, I can use Stow to swap between the two by "unstowing" one with the **-D** flag and then putting the other in place.
![Unstow one, stow the other][7]
Sometimes I find myself adding files to a configuration. For that, there is the "restow" option with **-R**. For example, I like to use a specific font when I use Vim as a graphical application and not a console. The **.gvimrc** file lets me set options that apply only to the graphical version, in addition to the standard **.vimrc** file. When I first set this up, I moved **~/.gvimrc** to **~/myconfigs/vim** and then ran **stow -R vim**, which unlinks and relinks everything in that directory.
Stow lets me switch between several configurations with a simple command line and, in combination with Syncthing, I can be sure that I have the setup I like for the tools I use ready to go, no matter where I am or where I make changes.
[1]: https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/styles/image-full-size/public/lead-images/computer_keyboard_laptop_development_code_woman.png?itok=vbYz6jjb (A person programming)
[2]: https://syncthing.net/
[3]: https://www.gnu.org/software/stow/
[4]: https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/uploads/productivity_2-1.png (Stow help screen)
