diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a20ef19ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# build directory
+/output*/
+/_output*/
+/_output
+
+# docker build
+/deploy/docker/rbdplugin
+
+# Emacs save files
+*~
+\#*\#
+.\#*
+
+# Vim-related files
+[._]*.s[a-w][a-z]
+[._]s[a-w][a-z]
+*.un~
+Session.vim
+.netrwhist
+
+# git merge files
+*.orig
+*.patch
+*.rej