Migrating from cbracken/dvm

Move an existing ~/.dvm across without re-downloading a single SDK — and remove the shell function that would otherwise hide the new tool.

cbracken/dvm is the older Dart version manager, and it also lives in ~/.dvm. This dvm deliberately takes that directory over, and dvm migrate is how the handover happens.

What is already there#

An older install looks like this:

~/.dvm/
  darts/<version>/     the SDKs, extracted
  scripts/dvm          the shell function that gets sourced
  environments/        the older tool's per-environment symlinks
  .git/                its own checkout

The important part: darts/<version> holds extracted SDKs in exactly the layout this dvm expects in versions/<version>. So migration is a move, not a download.

Step 1 — install this dvm#

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mrgnhnt96/dvm/main/install.sh | sh

The install script writes ~/.dvm/bin/dvm, a path the older tool leaves alone, so at this point both installs sit side by side.

Step 2 — remove the shell function#

Do this first — it is what lets the rest of this page work.

The older dvm is installed as a shell function, sourced from your .zshrc or .bashrc:

[[ -s "$HOME/.dvm/scripts/dvm" ]] && . "$HOME/.dvm/scripts/dvm"

A shell function is resolved before PATH is searched at all. So with that line in place, typing dvm runs the old tool no matter what you have installed — and because the two tools have overlapping command names, the errors look like your own mistakes rather than like the wrong program answering.

Delete the line, then start a new shell. dvm doctor reports this by file and line if you are not sure whether you got it:

dvm doctor

Step 3 — see the plan#

dvm migrate --dry-run

Found an older dvm (cbracken/dvm) in /Users/you/.dvm:
  darts/  scripts/  environments/

Would move 3 SDKs from darts/ to versions/:
  3.4.0
  2.19.6
  3.0.5   (skipped: versions/3.0.5 already exists)

A later `dvm migrate --clean` would delete:
  /Users/you/.dvm/scripts
  /Users/you/.dvm/environments
  /Users/you/.dvm/.git

--dry-run reports and stops there, so the disk is exactly as you left it.

Step 4 — migrate#

dvm migrate

This moves the SDKs and stops there. Deleting is a separate --clean run.

Those directories may be your only copy of those SDKs, so the command is written around that: the move happens before any deletion, a version already present in versions/ is skipped rather than overwritten, and a move is only reported as done once the destination is verified.

Step 5 — set up the shim#

The older tool worked by switching a global environment. This one resolves per directory, through a shim:

dvm setup

Add the PATH line it prints, start a new shell, and check:

dvm doctor

See The Shim and Your PATH.

Step 6 — clean up, when you are ready#

dvm migrate --clean

Removes the older tool's scripts/, environments/ and .git/. It asks first, and you can take your time: they cost a few megabytes, and doctor reports them as a warning.

What changes about your workflow#

Old way	New way
`dvm install 2.19.6`	`dvm install 2.19.6` — same idea, central cache .
`dvm use 2.19.6` — switched a global environment	`dvm use 2.19.6` — writes a committed `.dvmrc` for this project .
`dvm list`	`dvm list`.
Remembering which environment is active	`cd` into a project and `dart` is that project's SDK.
—	`dvm which` tells you which of five rules chose the SDK you got.

The headline difference is the per-project pin. The older tool has one global environment at a time; this one answers the question per directory, which is what lets two repositories on one machine disagree about their SDK and both be right.