It is expected that the watched file/directory are already in a git repository (the script will not create a repository). If a folder is being watched, this will be watched fully recursively; this also means that all files and sub-folders added and removed from the directory will always be added and removed in the next commit. The `.git` folder will be excluded from the `inotifywait` call so changes to it will not cause unnecessary triggering of the script.
If you want to have the script auto-started upon boot, the method to do this depends on your operating system and distribution. If you have a GUI dialog to set up startup launches, you might want to use that, so you can more easily find and change the startup script calls later on.
A central place to put startup scripts on Linux is generally `/etc/rc.local` (to my knowledge; only tested and confirmed on Ubuntu). This file, if it has the +x bit, will be executed upon startup, **by the root user account**. If you want to start `gitwatch` from `rc.local`, the recommended way to call it is:<br/>
A central place to put startup scripts on Linux is generally `/etc/rc.local` (to my knowledge; only tested and confirmed on Ubuntu). This file, if it has the +x bit, will be executed upon startup, **by the root user account**. If you want to start `gitwatch` from `rc.local`, the recommended way to call it is:
The `<username>` bit should be replaced with your username or that of any other (non-root) user account; it only needs write-access to the git repository of the file/folder you want to watch. The ampersand (`&`) at the end sends the launched process into the background (this is important if you have other calls in `rc.local` after the mentioned line, because the `gitwatch` call does not usually return).
Please also note that if either of the paths involved contains spaces or special characters, you need to escape them accordingly; if you don't know how to do that, the internet will help you, or feel free to ask here or contact me directly.
Eidolon Night
12 years ago