If you're starting from scratch, go ahead and create a .dotfiles folder, which we'll use to track your dotfiles
git init --bare $HOME/.dotfiles
create an alias dotfiles so you don't need to type it all over again
alias dotfiles='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME'
set git status to hide untracked files
dotfiles config --local status.showUntrackedFiles no
add the alias to .bashrc (or .zshrc) so you can use it later
echo "\nalias dotfiles='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME'" >> $HOME/.bashrc
Usage
Now you can use regular git commands such as:
dotfiles status
dotfiles add .vimrc
dotfiles commit -m "Add vimrc"
dotfiles add .bashrc
dotfiles commit -m "Add bashrc"
dotfiles push
Make sure to have git installed, then clone your github repository:
git clone --bare https://github.com/USERNAME/dotfiles.git $HOME/.dotfiles
Define the alias in the current shell scope
alias dotfiles='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME'
Set git status to hide untracked files
dotfiles config --local status.showUntrackedFiles no
Checkout the actual content from the git repository to your $HOME
dotfiles checkout
Note that if you already have some of the files you'll get an error message. You can either (1) delete them or (2) back them up somewhere else. It's up to you.
Awesome! You’re done.
Source: https://medium.com/toutsbrasil/how-to-manage-your-dotfiles-with-git-f7aeed8adf8b