How to share/transfer an Atom installation (packages and settings) from one Mac to another?

Question

Is it possible to copy Atom from one Mac to another, including all installed packages, settings etc?

Answer 1

I sync my Atom settings between Windows, macOS, and Linux machines using Resilio Sync Home. It is free and the files are not saved on the "cloud" (like Dropbox or Gists), but it requires that, at least, two machines are online in order to sync the current settings.

I do not want to sync caches, installation specific settings, et al., I update the .sync/IgnoreList file that is created in the synced directory (i.e., the ~/.atom directory). Unfortunately, you will have to update this on each machine that you sync (ironically, the IgnoreList file is not synced). By default, the file specifies various temporary files to be omitted from syncing, so you'll need to add the following:

## Atom-specific
/packages/node-debugger/debugger.log
\packages\node-debugger\debugger.log
/.apm
\.apm
/.node-gyp
\.node-gyp
/.npm
\.npm
/blob-store
\blob-store
/compile-cache
\compile-cache
/dev
\dev
/recovery
\recovery
/split-diff
\split-diff
/storage
\storage

Some of the omitted directories are package-specific (e.g., split-diff). Because Windows has different path delimiters than other platforms, I need to specify both(!!)

1. Install Resilio Sync Home on your first machine
2. Add the .atom directory to Resilio to be synced.
3. Update its IgnoreList file, as shown above. Save this file for the other machines you want to sync with.
4. Send a Resilio "Read & Write" link of that folder to the other machines you want to sync with or copy the "Read & Write" key to be used on the other machines. To do this, in Resilio's folder view, click on the .atom folder's menu (vertical dots on the right edge) and select "Copy Read & Write key". Save it for later.

Then on your other machines,

1. Install Resilio Sync Home
2. Create .atom/.sync
3. Copy the IgnoreList from your first machine to that directory
4. Add the .atom directory to be synced with the other machine. You should add the folder using "Enter key or link," then enter the key you copyed, above.
5. Wait until syncing is done before opening Atom. The first time will may take a few minutes.

Now I don't need to go around installing/removing packages on every machine, separately!

FYI: Changes to files and directories are saved in .sync/Archive, for some period of time, if you should need to recover them.