[vim] vim line numbers - how to have them on by default?

I can :set number from within a file I'm editing but how can I have them always be on by default?

Terminal > su > password > vim /etc/vimrc

Click here and edit as in line number (13):

set nu

set nu set ai set tabstop=4 set ls=2 set autoindent

Add the above code in your .vimrc file. if .vimrc file is not present please create in your home directory (/home/name of user)

set nu -> This makes Vim display line numbers

set ai -> This makes Vim enable auto-indentation

set ls=2 -> This makes Vim show a status line

set tabstop=4 -> This makes Vim set tab of length 4 spaces (it is 8 by default)

The filename will also be displayed.

in home directory you will find a file called ".vimrc" in that file add this code "set nu" and save and exit and open new vi file and you will find line numbers on that.

I'm using Debian 7 64-bit.

I didn't have a .vimrc file in my home folder. I created one and was able to set user defaults for vim.

However, for Debian 7, another way is to edit /etc/vim/vimrc

Here is a comment block in that file:

" All system-wide defaults are set in $VIMRUNTIME/debian.vim (usually just
" /usr/share/vim/vimcurrent/debian.vim) and sourced by the call to :runtime
" you can find below.  If you wish to change any of those settings, you should
" do it in this file (/etc/vim/vimrc), since debian.vim will be overwritten
" everytime an upgrade of the vim packages is performed.  It is recommended to
" make changes after sourcing debian.vim since it alters the value of the
" 'compatible' option.

If you don't want to add/edit .vimrc, you can start with

vi "+set number" /path/to/file

I did not have a .vimrc file in my home directory. I created one, added this line:

set number

and that solved the problem.

To change the default setting to display line numbers in vi/vim:

vi ~/.vimrc

then add the following line to the file:

set number

Either we can source ~/.vimrc or save and quit by :wq, now future vi/vim sessions will have numbering :)