# Pushing System-Wide Vim Configuration Changes Across Multiple VMs/Desktops **URL:** \ **Category:** Linux on Servers\ **Created:** [October 9, 2021, 12:45am UTC](https://community.learnlinux.tv/t/pushing-system-wide-vim-configuration-changes-across-multiple-vms-desktops/972 "2021-10-09T00:45:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GraysonPeddie](https://community.learnlinux.tv/user_avatar/community.learnlinux.tv/graysonpeddie/32/352_2.png) [@GraysonPeddie](https://community.learnlinux.tv/u/GraysonPeddie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2021, 12:45am UTC](https://community.learnlinux.tv/t/pushing-system-wide-vim-configuration-changes-across-multiple-vms-desktops/972/1 "2021-10-09T00:45:27Z")
While setting up my Debian Linux container, I needed to make changes to Vim system-wide instead of per-user. So I went ahead and removed everything from `/etc/vim/vimrc` and add my own settings: ```auto set mouse-= ``` I saved and reopened the same file and I still get the mouse pointer. Inside vim, I can do `set mouse-=a` which tells Vim not to interact with my mouse, however, I want to make it permanent regardless of the user. So `set mouse-=` does nothing. I then tried: ```auto set mouse-=a ``` …and that won’t do it either. ```auto set mouse= ``` …still won’t do it either, so I was out of luck until I found this thread in Github: > > > If ~/.vimrc doesn't exist, some configs in /etc/vimrc has no effect. E.g. > \`set …scrolloff=\\` > > Some configs changes the behaviour. E.g. > \`highlight Todo\` > doen't work. I have to use > \`highlight cTodo\` > > These configs works after I create an empty ~/.vimrc file. > > > Version Information: > \`\`\` > VIM - Vi IMproved 8.0 (2016 Sep 12, compiled Aug 24 2017 18:10:32) > Included patches: 1-987 > Compiled by root@dj > Huge version without GUI. Features included (+) or not (-): > +acl +file\_in\_path +mouse\_sgr +tag\_old\_static > +arabic +find\_in\_path -mouse\_sysmouse -tag\_any\_white > +autocmd +float +mouse\_urxvt +tcl > \-balloon\_eval +folding +mouse\_xterm +termguicolors > \-browse -footer +multi\_byte -terminal > ++builtin\_terms +fork() +multi\_lang +terminfo > +byte\_offset +gettext -mzscheme +termresponse > +channel -hangul\_input +netbeans\_intg +textobjects > +cindent +iconv +num64 +timers > \-clientserver +insert\_expand +packages +title > \-clipboard +job +path\_extra -toolbar > +cmdline\_compl +jumplist +perl +user\_commands > +cmdline\_hist +keymap +persistent\_undo +vertsplit > +cmdline\_info +lambda +postscript +virtualedit > +comments +langmap +printer +visual > +conceal +libcall +profile +visualextra > +cryptv +linebreak +python +viminfo > +cscope +lispindent -python3 +vreplace > +cursorbind +listcmds +quickfix +wildignore > +cursorshape +localmap +reltime +wildmenu > +dialog\_con +lua +rightleft +windows > +diff +menu +ruby +writebackup > +digraphs +mksession +scrollbind -X11 > \-dnd +modify\_fname +signs -xfontset > \-ebcdic +mouse +smartindent -xim > +emacs\_tags -mouseshape +startuptime -xpm > +eval +mouse\_dec +statusline -xsmp > +ex\_extra +mouse\_gpm -sun\_workshop -xterm\_clipboard > +extra\_search -mouse\_jsbterm +syntax -xterm\_save > +farsi +mouse\_netterm +tag\_binary > system vimrc file: "/etc/vimrc" > user vimrc file: "$HOME/.vimrc" > 2nd user vimrc file: "~/.vim/vimrc" > user exrc file: "$HOME/.exrc" > defaults file: "$VIMRUNTIME/defaults.vim" > fall-back for $VIM: "/usr/share/vim" > Compilation: gcc -c -I. -Iproto -DHAVE\_CONFIG\_H -g -O2 -U\_FORTIFY\_SOURCE -D\_FORTIFY\_SOURCE=1 > Linking: gcc -L. -rdynamic -Wl,-export-dynamic -Wl,-E -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib/perl5/5.16.2/x86\_64-linux-thread-multi/CORE -L/usr/local/lib -Wl,--as-needed -o vim -lm -lncurses -lelf -lnsl -lacl -lattr -lgpm -ldl -L/usr/lib -llua -Wl,-E -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib/perl5/5.16.2/x86\_64-linux-thread-multi/CORE -fstack-protector -L/usr/local/lib -L/usr/lib/perl5/5.16.2/x86\_64-linux-thread-multi/CORE -lperl -lnsl -ldl -lm -lcrypt -lutil -lpthread -lc -lpython2.7 -lpthread -ldl -lutil -lm -Xlinker -export-dynamic -L/usr/lib64 -ltcl8.5 -ldl -lpthread -lieee -lm -Wl,-R -Wl,/usr/lib64 -L/usr/lib64 -lruby -lpthread -lrt -ldl -lcrypt -lm -L/usr/lib64 > \`\`\` I scrolled down to the third post made by “djddjd” and I came across the setting, which is `let skip_defaults_vim = 1` So I added that to the top of the file. ```auto let skip_defaults_vim = 1 set mouse= ``` And now I get the insertion cursor instead of the mouse pointer so that I can select text without triggering Vim’s visual mode. If I remove `set mouse=` line from the /etc/vimrc file, the behavior is the same with the insertion cursor still over the terminal. Of course, inserting `set mouse=a` is the same as removing the `let skip_defaults_vim = 1` line from the vimrc file. ```auto let skip_defaults_vim = 1 set mouse=a ``` Because I do not need the visual mode, I can just delete the `set mouse=` line. Now here’s the problem. Once I add `let skip-defaults_vim = 1`, Vim started to behave similar to Vi. - A = Down - B = Up - C = Right - D = Left - Backspace = Nothing. Vim won’t erase text. As the thread is about how to push my own default settings system-wide across multiple virtual machines, here’s my question: how do I get it so that I can erase text and use arrow keys so that Vim won’t behave like Vi? And now here’s my main question: what would be the good way of pushing changes to Vim across multiple virtual machines regardless of users? I’m not concerned with overriding users’ .vimrc behavior as I want the changes to be global across all Linux VMs. This includes Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, and several other Linux distributions, so I want my changes to be distro-agnostic. I am handy with Linux as I have Ansible setup and ready to go; however, I have not written a playbook yet. I have watched Ansible videos from LearnLinuxTV’s YouTube channel since 2 years ago, but I will have to rewatch it again as my knowledge of it has gotten rusty. Should I use Ansible or Git for pushing vimrc changes? Some distributions put vimrc in /etc/ while others put vimrc in /etc/vim/ directory, so I do not know how that would work with Git. Anyway, please pardon me if my thread has gotten too long with a wall of text. Basically, I need to push my own Vim settings regardless of which Linux distribution is running in a virtual machine. Update: I also lost syntax highlighting by telling Vim to skip the entire default configuration. If I don’t tell Vim to skip default configuration, the `set mouse` command will still get overridden by the defaults. I do not like this behavior. Update 2: Okay, with the exception of pushing changes for Vim across multiple VMs automatically, here are the settings that will restore syntax highlighting, use of backspace, and arrow keys: ```auto let skip_defaults_vim = 1 set mouse= syntax on set backspace=indent,eol,start set nocompatible ``` I’ll just leave it there in case others might find useful, although this could have been a separate topic. I just had to do a couple of Google searches in the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_McBride](https://community.learnlinux.tv/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@Mr\_McBride](https://community.learnlinux.tv/u/Mr_McBride)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2021, 1:15pm UTC](https://community.learnlinux.tv/t/pushing-system-wide-vim-configuration-changes-across-multiple-vms-desktops/972/2 "2021-10-09T13:15:47Z")
Good find, thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![GraysonPeddie](https://community.learnlinux.tv/user_avatar/community.learnlinux.tv/graysonpeddie/32/352_2.png) [@GraysonPeddie](https://community.learnlinux.tv/u/GraysonPeddie)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 2:41am UTC](https://community.learnlinux.tv/t/pushing-system-wide-vim-configuration-changes-across-multiple-vms-desktops/972/3 "2021-10-15T02:41:22Z")
**Solved!** Okay. In order to refresh my memory regarding Ansible, I had to watch the Ansible tutorials by @jay even though I did play with Ansible last year (thanks for the tutorial regarding Ansible). This is what I have so far. **~/ansible/inventory** ```auto [debian] 172.20.1.3:[REDACTED] 172.20.1.4:[REDACTED] 172.20.30.4:[REDACTED] localhost ansible_connection=local [archlinux] 172.20.1.8:[REDACTED] ``` **~/ansible/ansible.cfg** ```auto [defaults] inventory = inventory private_key_file = ~/.ssh/ansible ``` **~/ansible/update\_vim.yml** ```auto --- - hosts: archlinux become: true tasks: - name: install vim in Arch Linux if not installed pacman: name: vim state: present - name: update vim file as root in Arch Linux desktop. copy: src: ~/ansible/files/vimrc dest: /etc/vimrc - hosts: debian become: true tasks: - name: install vim if not installed in Debian. apt: name: vim - name: update vim file as root in Debian servers. copy: src: ~/ansible/files/vimrc dest: /etc/vim/vimrc ``` **~/ansible/files/vimrc** ```auto let skip_defaults_vim = 1 set mouse= syntax on set backspace=indent,eol,start set nocompatible ``` **Result and Summary** And now everything should work. Oh, and I forgot to mention for those who came across this thread and are curious about the copy module. You can assign `owner`, `group`, and `mode` to a destination file you want to copy to. The `mode` is the file permission such as `0644` (“0” is no special permissions such as sticky or setuid/setgid, “644” is for read/write for user, read for group, and read for “other.” “1” is execute for the last three digits and “2” is for write. Hope that helps!