config-shared/emacs/INSTRUCTIONS.md

   1 <!DOCTYPE html>
   2 <meta charset="utf-8">
   3
   4 # Setup Instructions for `emacs`
   5
   6 Created by [Steven Baltakatei Sandoval][bktei_2020_homepage] on 2020-04-16T23:13Z under a [CC BY-SA 4.0][cc_20131125_bysa] license and last updated on 2020-04-17T02:42Z.
   7
   8 ## 1. Summary
   9
  10 Emacs is a command line editor. This document contains instructions and files required to install and customize Emacs on GNU/Linux Debian 10 machines.
  11
  12 ### 1.1. File list
  13
  14         ./config-shared/emacs/home/.emacs.d/init.el    # enables MELPA repository
  15         ./config-shared/emacs/home/.config/systemd/user/emacs.service    # required for automatic daemon startup
  16         ./config-shared/emacs/home/.bash_aliases.appendme    # contains alias for use with emacs daemon
  17
  18 ## 2. Instructions
  19
  20 ### 2.1. Install `emacs` package
  21
  22 #### 2.1.a. Typical Debian install
  23
  24 Use `$ sudo apt-get install emacs` to install `emacs`.
  25
  26 #### 2.1.b. Headless Debian install (no GUI)
  27
  28 Use `$ sudo apt-get install emacs-nox` to install `emacs` without an X window manager. This may be useful if emacs is to be used via command-line only such as a machine without a monitor to which a use connects via `ssh`.
  29
  30 ### 2.2. Enable MELPA package repository
  31
  32 MELPA is a package repository for packages that add functionality to `emacs`. Detailed instructions for installing it may be found at melpa.org.<sup>[[1]](#melpa_2019_setupinst)</sup>
  33
  34 #### 2.2.a. Typical install
  35
  36 Create and/or edit the `~/.emacs.d/init.el` file to include the following text elisp code:
  37
  38         (require 'package)
  39         (let* ((no-ssl (and (memq system-type '(windows-nt ms-dos))
  40                                                 (not (gnutls-available-p))))
  41                    (proto (if no-ssl "http" "https")))
  42           (when no-ssl (warn "\
  43         Your version of Emacs does not support SSL connections,
  44         which is unsafe because it allows man-in-the-middle attacks.
  45         There are two things you can do about this warning:
  46         1. Install an Emacs version that does support SSL and be safe.
  47         2. Remove this warning from your init file so you won't see it again."))
  48           (add-to-list 'package-archives (cons "melpa" (concat proto "://melpa.org/packages/")) t)
  49           ;; Comment/uncomment this line to enable MELPA Stable if desired.  See `package-archive-priorities`
  50           ;; and `package-pinned-packages`. Most users will not need or want to do this.
  51           ;;(add-to-list 'package-archives (cons "melpa-stable" (concat proto "://stable.melpa.org/packages/")) t)
  52           )
  53         (package-initialize)
  54
  55 A copy of this text is contained within the `./config-shared/emacs/home/.emacs.d/init.el` file in this repository. A command to copy this code to a completely new system is below.
  56
  57     $ mkdir ~/.emacs.d
  58     $ cp ./config-shared/emacs/home/.emacs.d/init.el ~/.emacs.d/init.el
  59
  60 Run `M-x package-refresh-contents` (can be run from bash via `$ emacs -nw --eval '(progn (package-refresh-contents) (kill-emacs))'`) to download MELPA package list.<sup>[[2]](#se_20161221_emacsclimultieval)</sup>
  61
  62 ### 2.3. Configure `emacs` daemon and `emacsclient`
  63
  64 A convenient way to share buffers between different shells (ex: across guake and Terminal) is to edit files using multiple instances of `emacsclient`<sup>[[4]](#emacswiki_20200325_emacsclient)</sup> which each communicate with a single instance of `emacs --daemon`<sup>[[3]](#emacswiki_20200408_emacsdaemon)</sup>. An instance of `emacsclient` running in `guake` may crash due to a problem with `guake` but the text buffer being edited by the user will not be lost since it is maintained by `emacs --daemon`. To regain access to the buffer, one must only start another instance of `emacsclient` and switch to the buffer (ex: via `C-x b`).
  65
  66 #### 2.3.a. Create `emacs` daemon as a user service.
  67
  68 Create the `~/.config/systemd/user/emacs.service` file to be the following text:
  69
  70         [Unit]
  71         Description=Emacs text editor
  72         Documentation=info:emacs man:emacs(1) https://gnu.org/software/emacs/
  73
  74         [Service]
  75         Type=forking
  76         ExecStart=/usr/bin/emacs --daemon
  77         ExecStop=/usr/bin/emacsclient --eval "(kill-emacs)"
  78         Encopy itvironment=SSH_AUTH_SOCK=%t/keyring/ssh
  79         Restart=on-failure
  80
  81         [Install]
  82         WantedBy=default.target
  83
  84 This text is contained in this repository directory as `./config-shared/emacs/home/.config/systemd/user/emacs.service`. This file may be installed using the following command.
  85
  86     $ cp ./config-shared/emacs/home/.config/systemd/user/emacs.service ~/.config/systemd/user/emacs.service
  87
  88 Enable and start this service by running the following commands.
  89
  90     systemctl enable --user emacs
  91         systemctl start --user emacs
  92
  93 Successful running of this command should produce something like the following messages:
  94
  95     Created symlink /home/baltakatei/.config/systemd/user/default.target.wants/emacs.service → /home/baltakatei/.config/systemd/user/emacs.service.
  96
  97 A new process named `/usr/bin/emacs --daemon` should appear in `$ ps -aux | grep emacs` output. This process should appear automatically upon login.
  98
  99 In order to use the daemon to edit a text file in the command line, the following command should be used.
 100
 101     $ emacsclient -nw
 102
 103 #### 2.3.b. Create `emacsclient` alias.
 104
 105 Typing `emacsclient` instead of just `emacs` is inconvenient. Therefore, it's recommended to make an alias.
 106
 107 ##### 2.3.b.i. `bash` alias
 108
 109 If `bash` is your primary shell, then the alias can be included in the `~/.bash_aliases` file. The alias can be included by appending the `./config-shared/emacs/home/.bash_aliases.appendme` text file in this repository directory to the `~/.bash_aliases` file in the home directory. The following command may be used to to perform this append operation.
 110
 111     $ cat ./config-shared/emacs/home/.bash_aliases.appendme >> ~/.bash_aliases
 112
 113 The relevant portion of the `./config-shared/emacs/home/.bash_aliases.appendme` file is below.
 114
 115     alias emacs='emacsclient -create-frame --alternate-editor=""'
 116
 117 ## 3. Conclusion.
 118
 119 Emacs should now be configured to run automatically in the background as a daemon upon login.
 120
 121 ## 4. References
 122
 123 - <a name="melpa_2019_setupinst">1.</a> ["Getting started"][1]. https://melpa.org . Access date: 2020-04-17. [Archive link](https://web.archive.org/web/20200325114522/https://melpa.org/#/getting-started). Archive date: 2020-03-25.
 124 - <a name="se_20161221_emacsclimultieval">2.</a> ["emacs --eval of multiple functions on command line"][2]. Stack Exchange. Access date: 2020-04-17. [Archive link](https://web.archive.org/web/20200417002001/https://emacs.stackexchange.com/questions/29465/emacs-eval-of-multiple-functions-on-command-line/29467)
 125 - <a name="emacswiki_20200408_emacsdaemon">3.</a> ["Emacs As Daemon"][3]. EmacsWiki. Access date: 2020-04-17. License: GPLv2. [Archive link](https://web.archive.org/web/20200303223315/https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsAsDaemon). Archive date: 2020-03-03.
 126 - <a name="emacswiki_20200325_emacsclient">4.</a> ["Emacs Client"][4]. EmacsWiki. Access date: 2020-04-17. License: GPLv2. [Archive link](https://web.archive.org/web/20190804144010/https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsClient). Archive date: 2019-08-04.
 127
 128
 129 [1]: https://melpa.org/#/getting-started
 130 [2]: https://emacs.stackexchange.com/a/29467
 131 [3]: https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsAsDaemon
 132 [4]: https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsClient
 133 [bktei_2020_homepage]: http://baltakatei.com
 134 [cc_20131125_bysa]: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
 135
 136
 137 <hr>
 138 <p xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">This work by <a rel="cc:attributionURL"  href="http://baltakatei.com"><span rel="cc:attributionName">Steven Baltakatei Sandoval</span></a> is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=ccchooser" target="_blank" rel="license noopener noreferrer" style="display: inline-block;">CC BY-SA 4.0</a><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=ccchooser"><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left: 3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;opacity:0.7;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc_icon.svg" /><img  style="height:22px!important;margin-left: 3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;opacity:0.7;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc-by_icon.svg" /><img  style="height:22px!important;margin-left: 3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;opacity:0.7;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc-sa_icon.svg" /></a></p>