Hamstercage commands take a number of options and parameters.

usage: hamstercage [-h] [-d DIRECTORY] [-f FILE] [-n HOSTNAME] [-r REPO] [-t TAG] [-v] {add,apply,diff,init,list,ls,remove,del,rm,save,tag} ...

Manage the hamster cage.

positional arguments:
  {add,apply,diff,init,list,ls,remove,del,rm,save,tag}
                        sub-command help
    add                 add one or more files to the manifest
    apply               apply files from repo to target
    diff                print differences between target and repo
    init                create a new manifest
    list (ls)           list manifest entries
    remove (del, rm)    remove one or more files from the manifest
    save                save target files to repo
    tag                 manage tags in the manifest

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -d DIRECTORY, --directory DIRECTORY
                        base directory of target files
  -f FILE, --file FILE  manifest file to use
  -n HOSTNAME, --hostname HOSTNAME
                        name of this host
  -r REPO, --repo REPO  directory of file repo
  -t TAG, --tag TAG     tags to apply/save
  -v, --verbose         verbose output

General Options

Target Directory -d / --directory

The directory where the managed files live, default /. You can set this to a different path when restoring config from a backup, or when managing a jail or container from the outside.

Hostname -n / --hostname

The hostname of the local host. By default the value of hostname(1). When applying files to the target directory, the hostname is used to obtain the default list of tags to use. Specifying this can be useful when restoring a host from backup, or when working on a container or jail.

Manifest File -f / --file

The name of the manifest file that tracks all managed files, as well as settings for the repository. Default is ./hamstercage.yaml.

Repository Base Directory -r / --rep

All managed files are stored under this directory. The default is the same directory the manifest file lives in.

Tags -t / --tag

By default, the tags to be used are taken from the host entry in the manifest. You can override them with this parameter.

Verbose output -v / --verbose

By default, Hamstercage will only print warnings or error. With this flag, progress will be reported on all operations.

Commands

Adding Files add

hamstercage add tag file...

Add one or more files to the repository. You need to specify the tag the files will be added to. The files will be added to the manifest, and the contents of the files copied to the repository.

Adding a file that is already in the manifest for the given tag is an error.

Applying Files apply

hamstercage apply [file...]

Apply files from the repository to the target. Without any further options and parameters, will apply all files from the default tags for this hostname. Specify one or more tags to limit files to those in those tags, or specify filenames that should be applied.

Determining Differences diff

hamstercage diff [file...]

Prints out a unified diff between all files in the repository and in the target. This allows you to preview what changed apply or save will make. Lines added in the system files are marked with +, while lines added in the local repo are marked with -.

Initialize a New Repository init

hamstercage init

Creates a new manifest file, by default ./hamstercage.yaml. Combine this with git init to create a new Hamstercage repository.

List Entries list

hamstercage list [-l]

Lists all entries in the manifest. When -l is given, will print more details on each entry.

Remove Files From Repository remove

hamstercage remove tag file...

Removes one or more files from the specified tag. Does not change files in the target.

Save Target to Repository save

hamstercage save [file...]

Updates the manifest entries and repository files from the target.

Adding Tags tag add

Adds a new tag to the manifest.

hamstercage tag add [-d description] tag