Setting Up vim
on PE Hosts
Learning Objectives
Students should
- have
vim
installed on their account on PE nodes.
vim
Configuration
Like many other Unix programs, you can configure your preferences by creating an rc
(run commands) file in your home directory. These rc
files will be read by the corresponding programs and executed line-by-line as if the text is entered into the program through a keyboard. You can view an rc
file as a script that will be executed automatically whenever a program starts.
For vim
, the rc
file is called .vimrc
. The dot (i.e., .
) in the front of the file name carries a special meaning in Unix. It means that this file is hidden -- you won't see it when you ls
. Hiding the run command files prevent your home directory from being cluttered. To tell ls
to show the hidden files, use the -a
flag
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We have created a .vimrc
file, with CS2030S defaults, for your use. This is the basis upon which you can build your own configuration.
To copy this file to your home directory on the PE nodes,
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You can ask vim
to automatically back up the files that you edit. This has been a lifesaver for me on multiple occasions.
The default .vimrc
contains the following two lines:
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This causes vim
to save the previous version of every file you edited in a backup directory at location ~/.backup
. You need to create this directory, however, by
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Now, if you made changes to a file that you regretted, or if you accidentally deleted a file, you can check under ~/.backup
to see if the backup can save you.
Recovering from Backup
To recover the file from the backup folder, you can copy the file using
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vim
Plugins
CS2030S provides a minimal set of vim
extensions by default for your labs and practical exams. See the article on vim
plugins for details.
Additional vim
extensions are installed under ~/.vim
. To install these "official" CS2030S vim
extensions, you can copy the .vim
from cs2030s's home directory to your home directory. On the PE host, run:
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You can test out the different color schemes according to the instructions to check if you have set up the plugins correctly. The default CS2030S .vimrc
uses the molokai
color schemes.