linux-forgeup

Modular, no‑sudo friendly Debian/Ubuntu bootstrap: local GitHub release installers + optional full system provisioning.

✨ Scenarios

Scenario	What You Get
Fresh machine (sudo access)	Install all you need on a new machine exactly like you are used to on other machines: APT packages, services, dotfiles, modern CLI stack
Restricted host (no sudo)	Local $HOME/.local/bin installs (fzf, ripgrep, starship, neovim, etc.)

On many servers (CI runners, shared university hosts, corporate bastions) you lack sudo. Standard package managers become unusable. Forge-Up provides helpers to fetch and unpack release artifacts locally (e.g. install_starship_prompt, install_eza, install_ripgrep) so you still get modern tooling.

🧩 Key Features

• APT install batch via install_apt_packages
• Local (no sudo) GitHub release installers (install_gh_binary, install_gh_package) plus wrappers: starship, eza, fzf, ripgrep (rg), lazygit, lazydocker, navi, neovim, dust, zoxide, rust
• Dotfiles cloning + stowing (GNU Stow)
• Systemd service enabling
• Colored logging + ASCII banner
• Idempotent, re-runnable provisioning

🚀 Quick Start (Full Provisioning)

git clone https://github.com/sascha-kirch/linux-forgeup.git
cd linux-forgeup
chmod +x forgeup
./forgeup -u -a -o -d

Flags:

• -u, --update-system: Update and upgrade the system packages with apt. [Requires sudo].
• -a, --apt-packages: Install APT packages listed in config/packages.conf. [Requires sudo].
• -o, --other-packages: install other (local) packages
• -s, --enable-services: Enable and start services listed in config/services.conf. [Requires sudo].
• -d, --setup-dotfiles: Setup and stow dotfiles listed in config/dotfiles.conf from sascha-kirch/dotfiles.
• -h, --help: Display help message.

No-sudo minimal (only local user installs, no sudo):

./forgeup -o

Note

Forge-Up auto-disables sudo-required steps if user not in sudo group

📁 Structure

.
├─ forgeup                 # main executable (flags, orchestration)
├─ forgeup_lib.sh          # aggregator (sources lib/*.sh)
├─ lib/
│  ├─ logging.sh           # print_logo, log_info, log_error, ...
│  ├─ core.sh              # can_sudo, is_installed, file_exists, fatal
│  ├─ gh_install.sh        # install_gh_binary / install_gh_package
│  ├─ installers.sh        # install_starship_prompt, install_nvim, ...
│  ├─ apt.sh               # install_apt_packages
│  ├─ services.sh          # enable_services
│  ├─ vim.sh               # vim-plug + plugins
│  ├─ tmux.sh              # tmux helpers
│  └─ dotfiles.sh          # setup_dotfiles, stow_dotfiles
├─ config/
│  ├─ packages.conf        # APT_PACKAGES array
│  ├─ services.conf        # SERVICES array
│  └─ dotfiles.conf        # DOTFILES_TO_STOW array
├─ VERSION
├─ Makefile
└─ README.md

🔌 Modular / Manual Usage

Aggregator load (recommended, loads all modules in correct order):

# from any directory
source /path/to/linux-forgeup/forgeup_lib.sh
print_logo
install_fzf
install_ripgrep 14.1.1
install_starship_prompt v1.23.0

Source specific modules (advanced, because dependencies to logging/core exist):

. lib/logging.sh
. lib/core.sh
. lib/gh_install.sh
install_gh_binary "junegunn/fzf" v0.66.0 "fzf-0.66.0-linux_amd64" true

Ensure PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Persist:

grep -q '.local/bin' ~/.profile || echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.profile

🙌 Install Wrapper

Use wrappers for common tools in lib/installers.sh:

source /path/to/linux-forgeup/forgeup_lib.sh
# GitHub release installers with defaults:
install_starship_prompt
install_eza
install_navi
install_fzf
install_ripgrep
install_dust
install_lazygit
install_nvim

# Other installers wrapping custom logic:
install_rust
uninstall_rust
install_lazydocker
install_zoxide
install_ollama

GitHub install wrappers accept optional version argument:

install_nvim v0.11.4
install_lazygit v0.55.1
install_fzf v0.66.0

Tip

If version omitted the default inside lib/installers.sh is used.

Local Install Logic:

• Binaries go to: $HOME/.local/bin/<name>
• Packages go to: $HOME/.local/packages/<repo_subname> then symlinked into $HOME/.local/bin
• Uses GitHub release tarballs: install_gh_binary (direct binary), install_gh_package (extract + symlink)
• Safe reinstallation via passing true internally (see wrappers)

📦 APT Packages

Edit config/packages.conf:

APT_PACKAGES=(
  htop
  stow
  tmux
  git
)

Run:

./forgeup -a

Warning

Requires sudo.

🔧 Dotfiles

Configure sets in config/dotfiles.conf:

DOTFILES_TO_STOW=(tmux vim bash starship)

Run:

./forgeup -d

Manual:

source forgeup_lib.sh
setup_dotfiles
stow_dotfiles tmux vim

Note

For now it clones my own sascha-kirch/dotfiles repository for setting up dotfiles. You can modify setup_dotfiles in lib/dotfiles.sh to use your own repo.

👻 Services

Add service names to config/services.conf:

SERVICES=(
  ssh
  cron
)

Then run:

./forgeup -s

Manual:

source forgeup_lib.sh
enable_services ssh cron

Warning

Requires sudo.

🔍 Logging Example

12:34:56 [INFO][FORGE-UP] Installing version 'v1.23.0' of repo 'starship/starship' ...

Levels: INFO / WARNING / ERROR / CONFIG

🛤 Known Limitations / TODO

• Add checksum verification for downloaded archives.
• Add uninstall functions for each tool.
• Improve version auto-discovery (currently manual defaults).
• Add support for other package managers and and non-systemd services.
• currently only GitHub releases as source for local installs.
• uses my own dotfiles repo; make this configurable.

🧯 Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Fix
Tool not found after install	PATH not updated	Add export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" to .profile
APT steps skipped	No sudo group membership	Run only -o (local installs) or gain sudo
Neovim old version still used	/usr/bin/nvim shadowing	Remove system neovim (handled automatically in install_nvim)

📄 Version

Current version: VERSION

Exported as FORGEUP_VERSION when sourcing forgeup_lib.sh

🤝 Contributing

1. Open issue / fork
2. Add/change functions in appropriate lib/*.sh
3. Keep wrappers idempotent
4. Run `make lint

---

Happy forging 🔧