looking for better way of automating the work environment - linux

Question

I am working on VMs (virtual machine). I use VMs for testing purpose and i keep frequently creating VMs or switching VMs. The problem is that i need to recreate my working environment every time i create/switch VM. My working environment includes files (.bashrc, .emacs, .emacs.d, .vimrc, .gitconfig etc). Since I need these files for creating my own flexible linux environment. But its headache to keep copying these files every time.
Please suggest a better way of recreating my env quickly.

Answer 1

You can create bash script to do that. As per my understanding you know git. I will suggest you to create couple of git repos (maybe on github) based on classification of your env files. Here is the example for recreating your env quickly.
In vm share the path to git repos. And you can link files with the your repo files. e.g. .bashrc -> to/your/bashrc
#!/bin/bash
declare -a repos=('repo1.git' 'repo2.git' 'repo3.git')
err=0
err_sts()
{
if [ 0 -ne $? ]; then
err=$1
echo above step failed exiting.. err code: $err
exit $err
fi
}
gclone()
{
echo path=$1
echo repo=$2
path=$1
repo=$2
echo "cd $hmdir"
cd $hmdir
echo "git clone $path/$repo"
git clone $path/$repo
}
main()
{
echo enter the path to repos:
read pth
ls $pth
err_sts 1
#path where you want your repos
echo enter home dir for repos:
read hmdir
ls $hmdir
err_sts 2
err=3
for ((i = 0; i < ${#repos[#]}; i++))
do
echo "ls $pth/${repos[$i]}"
ls $pth/${repos[$i]}
err_sts $(($err + $i))
gclone $pth ${repos[$i]}
done
}
main

Answer 2

I suggest creating a github repository of your working environment. Once that's done, on each new host run:
cd ~
cd git clone [my repo URL]
...to download all of your files with the corresponding directory structure.
If this is overkill for you, or if you have files outside of your home folder, then perhaps a tar ball may be more suitable:
cd /
tar czvf ~/my_env.tgz [path to each file]
Then on the new machine:
cd /
tar xzvf ~/my_env.tgz
Note that with the github solution, it's much easier to update a range of hosts as you change something in your environment.
NB: If you need to install packages, etc. you could include an init.sh that takes care of common tasks for you.

Answer 3

I use CloudShare and I think this solution will help you with the problem that you are referring to when you write " i keep frequently creating VMs or switching VMs. The problem is that i need to recreate my working environment every time i create/switch VM" .
Let me explain. CloudShare provides a virtual IT environment for developing and testing your applications. You have a feature there where you can either "snapshot" your environment and create a "golden template" of your current VM. Doing this will solve your problem as you won't need to recreate your VM everytime and you will be able to revert to the last working state with the click of a mouse. You can read more on your own here : http://cloudshare.com/overview-1
I hope this helps you