Interactive installer for setting up a consistent shell environment on Ubuntu/Debian servers. Clone to any server, run the installer, pick what you need.

Quick start

git clone https://git.mpx.sk/elvis/server-cli-tools ~/server_cli_tools # edit, if repo moves
cd ~/server_cli_tools
./install.sh              # interactive menu
./install.sh --all        # install everything
./install.sh --update     # pull latest + re-run menu
./install.sh --uninstall  # remove installed configs

What's included

#	Component	What it does
1	Core packages	`vim`, `bat`, `eza`, `fzf`, `htop`, `tmux`, `zsh`, `ripgrep`, `fd-find`, `zoxide`, `git-delta`
2	Zsh + Oh-My-Zsh	Shell, plugins (`zsh-autosuggestions`, `zsh-syntax-highlighting`, `z`), `bira` prompt theme
3	Aliases + tools	General, git, and docker aliases with a self-documenting help system (`h`)
4	Terminal configs	`bat` theme (base16)
5	Docker	Docker Engine + Compose from Docker's official apt repo (`docker-ce`, `docker-compose-plugin`), service enabled, user added to `docker` group, management aliases
6	Git config	`git-delta` as pager with side-by-side diffs

NOTE: There's minimal custom theme in <repo>/configs/zsh/zhann-elvis.zsh-theme. To apply it toggle ZSH_THEME and uncomment sourcing it in ~/.zshrc after install. For more themes, see Oh-My-Zsh themes.

Alias highlights

Type h after installation to see all aliases with descriptions. Some highlights:

ll    — eza with icons, groups, timestamps
pf    — fzf + bat file preview
cdf   — fuzzy cd into any subdirectory
mkcd  — mkdir + cd in one command
twd   — tar current directory
gdn   — numbered git diff (then gdn 3 to diff file #3)
gcpm  — git add -u + commit + push in one command
gstm  — git stash with mandatory message
ds    — toggle docker container start/stop
da    — docker ps -a

How it works

Idempotent — safe to run multiple times; skips already-installed packages
Non-destructive — existing configs are backed up to ~/.server_cli_tools_bkp/<timestamp>/
Selective — interactive menu lets you toggle individual components
Ubuntu/Debian — uses apt; warns on other distros (configs still work)

Repo structure

server_cli_tools/
  install.sh                    # main installer
  configs/
    aliases/
      .aliases                  # general aliases (server-adapted)
      .functions.sh             # helper functions + alias help system
      .git_aliases              # git shortcuts + stash management
      .docker_aliases           # docker management aliases
      .git_bash_autocomplete    # bash git completion
    custom_tools/
      backup_dotfiles.sh        # backup conflicting dotfiles
    bat/config                  # bat theme
    zshrc                       # .zshrc with oh-my-zsh, bira theme, plugins

Customization

After installation, create local overrides that won't be tracked:

~/.config/aliases/.local_aliases — machine-specific aliases
~/.config/aliases/.custom_aliases — temporary/personal aliases

Use ea l to edit local aliases, ea c for custom, sa to re-source.

Troubleshooting

Setting `zsh` as default shell for user with disabled password

When installing zsh and oh-my-zsh as non-root user with disabled password, you'll be asked to input password to set zsh as default shell, which will fail regardless of your input. After installation, login as root or any user that is member of sudo group with set password and manually change default shell in shell for the user.

Terminal type / colors over SSH

Clients such as Ghostty set TERM to values like xterm-ghostty. SSH forwards that to the server, but the server usually has no matching terminfo entry. Symptoms include:

'xterm-ghostty': unknown terminal type when running ./install.sh (the interactive menu calls clear)
Broken or missing colors in vim, htop, tmux, and other TUI programs

install.sh detects an unknown TERM at startup and falls back to the first available of xterm-256color, xterm, screen, or dumb. You can also use the non-interactive installer: ./install.sh --all.

For all future SSH sessions to any server, force a portable TERM on the client before connecting. Add a wrapper on your local machine (not the server). The function body is the same in bash and zsh; what differs is where you put it and how you check that it took effect.

Bash (~/.bashrc) — append at the end of the file:

unalias ssh 2>/dev/null
ssh() {
  TERM=xterm-256color command ssh "$@"
}

Zsh (~/.zshrc) — append at the end, after Oh-My-Zsh and other plugins so nothing loads later and overrides it:

unalias ssh 2>/dev/null
ssh() {
  TERM=xterm-256color command ssh "$@"
}

Zsh also allows function ssh { ... } with the same body; ssh() { ... } is equivalent. In both shells, command ssh calls the real binary and avoids recursion.

	Bash	Zsh
Config file	`~/.bashrc`	`~/.zshrc`
Placement	End of file	End of file, after OMZ/plugins
Clear alias first	`unalias ssh` (if present)	Same — plugins sometimes define `ssh` aliases
Argument forwarding	`"$@"`	`"$@"` — not `"@"`
Reload	`exec bash` or new terminal	`exec zsh` or new terminal
Check wrapper is active	`type ssh`	`whence -v ssh` (`type` can be ambiguous in zsh)

Verify:

# bash
type ssh
ssh myhost 'echo $TERM'

# zsh
whence -v ssh
ssh myhost 'echo $TERM'

Both should report a shell function and print xterm-256color on the remote host.

One-off:

TERM=xterm-256color ./install.sh

Optional: in ~/.ssh/config, SetEnv TERM=xterm-256color under Host * only works when the remote sshd accepts TERM via AcceptEnv — many servers do not, so the shell wrapper above is more reliable.

README.md

Server CLI Tools