How do I set up Vim autoindentation properly for editing Python files?

I use this on my macbook:

" configure expanding of tabs for various file typesau BufRead,BufNewFile *.py set expandtabau BufRead,BufNewFile *.c set expandtabau BufRead,BufNewFile *.h set expandtabau BufRead,BufNewFile Makefile* set noexpandtab" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------" configure editor with tabs and nice stuff..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------set expandtab           " enter spaces when tab is pressedset textwidth=120       " break lines when line length increasesset tabstop=4           " use 4 spaces to represent tabset softtabstop=4set shiftwidth=4        " number of spaces to use for auto indentset autoindent          " copy indent from current line when starting a new line" make backspaces more powerfullset backspace=indent,eol,startset ruler                           " show line and column numbersyntax on               " syntax highlightingset showcmd             " show (partial) command in status line

(edited to only show stuff related to indent / tabs)

I use:

$ cat ~/.vimrcsyntax onset showmatchset ts=4set sts=4set sw=4set autoindentset smartindentset smarttabset expandtabset number

But but I'm going to try Daren's entries

A simpler option: just uncomment the following part of the configuration (which is originally commented out) in the /etc/vim/vimrc file:

    if has("autocmd")      filetype plugin indent on    endif