diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..731053df0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+/tools export-ignore
+/bots export-ignore
+/servers/network-hardware-passwords export-ignore
+/zilencer export-ignore
+/.gitattributes export-ignore
+/.gitignore export-ignore
+/templates/.gitignore export-ignore
diff --git a/tools/build-local-server-tarball b/tools/build-local-server-tarball
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..0999b59991
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/build-local-server-tarball
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/sh -ex
+
+git archive -o /tmp/zulip-server.tar.gz HEAD