Git checkout structure and settings

Introduction

I often need different Git settings depending on the repository I'm working on, and I want to version and centralize those settings in my dotfiles repo. This blog post outlines a structure for checking out our repository and using the Git feature `includeIf` to load different settings by folder, while storing all those settings in my dotfiles repo.

Repo checkout structure

A git repo is self-contained in a directory. If you want to move the repositories to match the outline I am about to describe, simply move the folder.

Similar to the Java package naming structure, I check out the git repositories starting from the broadest category and then, for each folder, get more specific. I start with a folder called repo and notice that it's lowercase. Then I have one folder for each hosting provider, e.g.:

• gitlab
• github

Followed up with any potential customer, for example:

• repo/gitlab/{customer-a}/{subdomain-x}/{application}

I try to use a subdomain that maps to a system, following my https://fredrkl.com/blog/service-oriented-architecture-framework/, plus the application name for the repo.

Git config

In my dotfiles repo, I keep a .gitconfig file and create a symbolic link to:

ln -sf ~/dotfiles/.gitconfig ~/.gitconfig.

Now this gitconfig references other gitconfig files that are enabled for specific paths, using the pretty neat git feature includeIf:

...
[includeIf "gitdir:~/repos/github/customer1/"]
  path = ~/.gitconfig-cust1
[includeIf "gitdir:~/repos/azure-devops/customer2/"]
  path = ~/.gitconfig-customer2-azure-devops
...

Customer 1 gitconfig

[user]
  name = Fredrik Klingenberg.
  email = fredrik.klingenberg.E@customer1.XY
  signingkey = SIGNINGKEY

Customer 2 gitconfig

[user]
  name = Fredrik Klingenberg.
  email = fredrik.klingenberg.E@customer2.XY
[core]
  sshCommand = ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa -o IdentitiesOnly=yes

This was particularly useful since Azure DevOps repositories only support checking out repositories using SSH with RSA and not my default ed25519.