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Set up user environment

Set up shell

yay -S zsh
chsh

Choose /usr/bin/zsh.

Then, install oh-my-zsh (see (upstream docs)[https://ohmyz.sh/#install]).

Also, install from AUR:

yay -S autojump

In ~/.zshrc, activate these plugins:

plugins=(git github git-extras gitignore svn lol catimg compleat wakeonlan battery autojump colorize web-search dirhistory screen rand-quote hitchhiker)

In case you are using ssh-agent via systemd for KeepassXC for example, add to ~/.zshrc:

export SSH_AUTH_SOCK=$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/ssh-agent.socket

This should trigger the user unit via ssh-agent.socket.

You may also want to copy over more things from ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom of one of your existing machines, e.g. themes etc.

You might also want to add to your .zshrc:

export SYNCTEX_EDITOR="emacsclient --no-wait +%{line} %{input}"

export LESSCOLORIZER='pygmentize -O style=solarized-dark'

You might also want to install:

yay -S zsh-syntax-highlighting zsh-autosuggestions

and activate these with:

cd ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom
ln -s /usr/share/zsh/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.plugin.zsh .
ln -s /usr/share/zsh/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh .

and configure by creating ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/zsh-autosuggestions-config.zsh with content:

ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_HIGHLIGHT_STYLE='fg=60'
#ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_USE_ASYNC=true
ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_BUFFER_MAX_SIZE=40

You may also want to create ~/bin and copy over files you already have there, and then add to .zshrc:

export PATH=$PATH:~/bin/

In case you are using Grid tools, you might also want to set:

export RUCIO_ACCOUNT=MYCERNACCOUNT

Keep extended ZSH history

Create ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/history.zsh with content:

HISTFILE=~/.histfile
HISTSIZE=2000000
SAVEHIST=2000000

## Extended history.
## Instead of just a list of commands, append it with this:
## `:<beginning time since epoch>:<elapsed seconds>:<command>'.
setopt extended_history

You may want to save ZSH history periodically, e.g. via Syncthing, useful for easier recovery or to search through history from other machines you use.

Run crontab -e as user, and add a line like:

*/30   *  * * * cp -a /home/olifre/.histfile /home/olifre/Sync/Sync/ZSH-History/histfile-myhostname

Syncthing setup

Enable the syncthing-tray-qt6 widget by enabling the tray icon, which automatically causes it to autostart and also starts the setup wizard.

You might also want to do (should in principle be done by the tray widget):

systemctl --user --now enable syncthing

Set up ssh-agent

systemctl enable --user ssh-agent

Edit ~/.zshrc, set:

export SSH_AUTH_SOCK=$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/ssh-agent.socket

Also, edit ~/.config/plasma-workspace/env/ssh-agent.sh (may need to create directory) and add the same line.

Re-login after this.

WireGuard VPN

yay -S wireguard-tools
nmcli conn import type wireguard file somefilewithoutspaces.conf

Note that you may want to adapt the config in NetworkManager graphically afterwards, as VPNs imported this way are autoconnect / always-on by default.

WireProxy setup

In addition to a WireGuard VPN e.g. used for work, you might also want to use an extra VPN e.g. to home exposing itself as a SOCKS5 proxy. This can be done by wireproxy. Install it via:

yay -S wireproxy

Then deploy the config for a user-level service:

mkdir -p ~/.config/wireproxy

Create the file ~/.config/wireproxy/home.conf with a regular wireguard config, but add:

[Socks5]
BindAddress = 127.0.0.1:8100

Then enable the service with:

systemctl enable --now --user wireproxy@home.service

and set up your Firefox via FoxyProxy to use this SOCKS5 proxy as appropriate. You can check the status via:

journalctl --user -u wireproxy@home -f

Other things you might want to do

  • Firefox plugins such as:
  • Firefox configuration:
    • User Scripts
    • User Styles
    • May want to set up opening of last opened tabs, disable search results before history results, set as default browser.
    • May also want to activate Passkey support in the KeepassXC browser plugin.
    • If you are working with the LHC computing grid, you may want to copy over ~/.globus and add the certificate to Firefox, and enable a master password there.
    • You may want to disable password saving in Firefox (in case you use KeepassXC).
  • In KDE/Plasma, you may want to:
    • Create more virtual desktop, e.g. 6 in total, and set up navigation to rotate.
    • You may want to configure the virtual desktop switcher to show icons for apps.
    • You may also want to disable gliding of the background image in the glide effect in virtual desktop setup.
    • You may want to configure the application switcher with icons not to limit itself to applications from the current virtual desktop.
    • Edit window decoration => window title bar buttons, add “always on top” and “on all desktops”.
    • In keyboard setup, enable the compose key, e.g. re-use the “menu” key for that.
    • You might want to change “Desktop” settings and add mouse bindings: Vertical Scroll to switch the vertical desktop and middle click to switch windows.
    • You might also wantr to reconfigure the calendar to show calendar week numbers and important dates, e.g. astronomical events, regional holidays etc.

Set up Git

Install git-lfs:

yay -S git-lfs
git lfs install

You will likely want to use a ~/.gitconfig like this:

[user]
        email = freyermuth@physik.uni-bonn.de
        name = Oliver Freyermuth
		signingkey = PUTYOURGPGKEYHERE
[color]
        ui = auto
        diff = auto
        branch = auto
        interactive = auto
        status = auto
[credential]
        helper = cache --timeout=3600
[core]
        compression = 9
        bigfilethreshold = 180m
        whitespace = blank-at-eof,blank-at-eol,cr-at-eol,indent-with-non-tab,space-before-tab
[push]
        default = simple
        followTags = true
[merge]
[grep]
        lineNumber = on
[diff "bin"]
        textconv = hexdump -v -C
[format]
        pretty = fuller
[filter "lfs"]
        required = true
        clean = git-lfs clean -- %f
        smudge = git-lfs smudge -- %f
        process = git-lfs filter-process

Set up fonts

yay -S adobe-source-code-pro-fonts

I use this for example in Emacs.

Set up zathura

Create ~/.config/zathura/zathurarc with content:

#set recolor-keephue true
set recolor-darkcolor "#93A1A1"
set recolor-lightcolor "#002B36"
#set recolor-reverse-video true
#set recolor true
#set render-loading false
set render-loading true
#set render-loading-bg #000000
#set render-loading-fg #000000
set page-cache-size 300
set page-store-threshold 300
#set smooth-scroll true
set font "Source Code Pro normal 7"
set first-page-column 1:2

Configure yt-dlp

Create ~/.config/yt-dlp/config with content:

--mtime

Set up conky

Install conky:

yay -S conky

Restore your favourite configuration to ~/.config/conky, then create ~/.config/autostart/conky.desktop with content:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=conky
Exec=conky --daemonize --pause=5
StartupNotify=false
Terminal=false

I am using this theme repo.

Set up Konsole

You may want to copy the built-in profile, then set up infinite history, and also set a transparency of 20 % for the terminal.

Set up printing

In case you use a central CUPS server, things are easy:

mkdir ~/.cups

then, create ~/.cups/client.conf with content:

Encryption IfRequested
ServerName cups.example.com

and ~/.cups/lpoptions with content:

Default my-favourite-printer

Set up arch-update

Nice graphical tool to check for updates, integrates well with KDE/Plasma. Install:

yay -S arch-update

and then enable autostart of tray as user:

arch-update --tray --enable

Finally, enable the systemd timer unit:

systemctl --user enable arch-update.timer