Sync Config Files Across Multiple Computers with Dropbox

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to have the same setup on all of your nix boxes and be able to make a change to the config files on all the machines at the same time? Well, with Dropbox we can set this up easily.

Dropbox is a free online storage service that comes with a syncing app that works with Windows, Mac and of course Linux. Although Dropbox is typically used to sync files that reside in the /home/Dropbox directory we are going to make use of symbolic links to link files outside this directory in an attempt to sync config files across multiple Linux machines.

Benefits

Here are some of the benefits you will get when syncing your config files with Dropbox

Applications behave the same on all systems

One change to the config file affects all computers

Setting up a new system is as easy as installing Dropbox and making some links

Config files are backed up

Get dropbox

Install Dropbox with your favorite package manager, Debian/Ubuntu users can click here. You can also install the CLI version via python.

You can run Dropbox in Gnome by going: Applications > Internet > Dropbox

When ran for the first time you will be access to create an account or login. Just follow the simple steps to setup your Dropbox.

When finished you should have a folder in your home directory called, ‘Dropbox’.

Setting it up

Make a folder in Dropbox named ConfigFiles and move your original config files here. This will store them on Dropbox’s servers for all of your computers to see.

For example:

mv .bashrc Dropbox/ConfigFiles

Then make a symbolic link that points to the original file in the Dropbox sync folder:

ln -s Dropbox/ConfigFiles/.bashrc .bashrc

Files you might want to sync:

.bashrc - Bash

.bash_profile - Bash Profile

.vimrc - Vim configuration

.icons - for a consistent icon set

Other Neat Dropbox Uses

Things you can do: