diff -r ead5714cc480 -r 5c85f8b80b95 lib/Tools/components
--- a/lib/Tools/components	Mon Dec 31 14:58:21 2012 +0100
+++ b/lib/Tools/components	Mon Dec 31 15:56:17 2012 +0100
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
   echo "Usage: isabelle $PRG [OPTIONS] [COMPONENTS ...]"
   echo
   echo "  Options are:"
+  echo "    -I           init user settings"
   echo "    -R URL       component repository (default \$ISABELLE_COMPONENT_REPOSITORY)"
   echo "    -a           all missing components"
   echo "    -l           list status"
@@ -38,13 +39,17 @@
 
 #options
 
+INIT_SETTINGS=""
 COMPONENT_REPOSITORY="$ISABELLE_COMPONENT_REPOSITORY"
 ALL_MISSING=""
 LIST_ONLY=""
 
-while getopts "R:al" OPT
+while getopts "IR:al" OPT
 do
   case "$OPT" in
+    I)
+      INIT_SETTINGS="true"
+      ;;
     R)
       COMPONENT_REPOSITORY="$OPTARG"
       ;;
@@ -65,7 +70,7 @@
 
 # args
 
-[ "$#" -eq 0 -a -z "$ALL_MISSING" -a -z "$LIST_ONLY" ] && usage
+[ "$#" -eq 0 -a -z "$INIT_SETTINGS" -a -z "$ALL_MISSING" -a -z "$LIST_ONLY" ] && usage
 
 if [ -z "$ALL_MISSING" ]; then
   splitarray ":" "$@"
@@ -80,7 +85,23 @@
 splitarray ":" "$ISABELLE_COMPONENTS"; declare -a AVAILABLE_COMPONENTS=("${SPLITARRAY[@]}")
 splitarray ":" "$ISABELLE_COMPONENTS_MISSING"; declare -a MISSING_COMPONENTS=("${SPLITARRAY[@]}")
 
-if [ -n "$LIST_ONLY" ]; then
+if [ -n "$INIT_SETTINGS" ]; then
+  SETTINGS="$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/etc/settings"
+  SETTINGS_CONTENT='init_components "$USER_HOME/.isabelle/contrib" "$ISABELLE_HOME/Admin/components/main"'
+  if [ -e "$SETTINGS" ]; then
+    echo "User settings file already exists!"
+    echo
+    echo "Edit \"$SETTINGS\" manually"
+    echo "and add the following line near its start:"
+    echo
+    echo "  $SETTINGS_CONTENT"
+    echo
+  else
+    echo "Initializing \"$SETTINGS\""
+    mkdir -p "$(dirname "$SETTINGS")"
+    echo "$SETTINGS_CONTENT" > "$SETTINGS"
+  fi
+elif [ -n "$LIST_ONLY" ]; then
   echo
   echo "Available components:"
   for NAME in "${AVAILABLE_COMPONENTS[@]}"; do echo "  $NAME"; done