"29 config files in /etc need updating" & etc-

Evangelion

These might be unrelated, but still

I have had a bit of a problem with the config-files in /etc. There are now 29 config files in /etc that need updating (as told by emerge). What do I do with them? There is help available (emerge --help config), but it didn't really help. What should I do with them? The number of those files keeps on increasing.

Also, when I run etc-update, it provides my with a long list (26 files) of files and asking me to edit them. Ummm... What should I do with? I can

1) Replace original with update
2) Delete update, keeping original as is
3) Interactively merge original with update
4) SHow differences again

I haven't heard of this before :oops:

bsolar · Bodhisattva Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 2764

Emerge does not replace sensitive config files, i.e. those in /etc. Instead it creates a file with a different name, i.e instead of overwriting rc.conf, it creates a ._0000_rc.conf (or something like that).

If you run etc-update it finds these files and asks you what to do. It also prints the differences.

In the end you can overwrite the files and manually reconfigure them or delete the new version and keep yours.

If the only difference between the files are your edits, keep the old one. If not note what to edit from the old file and replace, then correct the new file,

Evangelion · Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2003 7:52 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the info, I'll take a look at what is the best way to handle the situatiion

masseya · Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2003 6:40 pm Post subject:

You might also want to read up on CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK as it will allow you to specify directories where you want the config files to simply be over written after an emerge. This is helpful for thing that you don't manually change because you typically don't want to see that you have 35 files to update with etc-update.

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Dalrain · Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2003 9:26 pm Post subject:

Of course you need to be mindful to not allow it full access, as things like /etc/fstab have been overwritten in this way in the past. Having that changed over to the defaults can cause a lot of interesting problems...

Zu` · l33t Joined: 26 May 2002 Posts: 716 Location: BE

Evangelion: You probably updated baselayout since that caused a lot of etc updates for me here. Generally it were just updates in the comment headers (for example "2002" was changed to "2003").

Tristam29: With the new portage version (r11 and higher IIRC -- I'm running r12 now), there is now an option available in /etc/etc-update.conf which should take care of such trivial etc updates as changes in the comments.

masseya · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2003 4:16 pm Post subject:

pilla · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2003 4:18 pm Post subject:

See also this FAQ entry. It needs to be completed, though.
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Exci · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2003 5:48 pm Post subject:

I use the following strategy for cleaning out the need-to-be-updated-files,

I first check for important files I don't want to overwrite: fstab, groups, make.conf etc. I always check if there are important new lines in it, (show differences) after this I decide to complete get rid of the new update or i merge the new lines in the config file.

after that I check the rest, when I never touched the config file that needs to be updated i quickly look at the new lines and just use the new one.

If i did touch the original of configfile I look in it and decide if i want to update or just delete the new config file, it happens very often that it's just the default of the config file:
for example '/etc/conf.d/net' when this is one of the need-to-be-updated-files and you look into it you just see the default file with the default IP's and commented gateway, you don't want to update those files

some tips:
NEVER go on auto-pilot-mode with etc-update , you don't want to accidently delete your fstab and reboot or make.conf and discover it after weeks of emerging new files.

do etc-update everytime you see that one of your config files isn't up-to-date, look into bugs.gentoo.org and search for baselayout 'bugs' for results of ignoring etc-update

AlterEgo · Veteran Joined: 25 Apr 2002 Posts: 1619

Evangelion · Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2003 1:14 pm Post subject:

Hagar · Guru Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 445

atm I have baselayout version 1.8.6.2 installed.
After running emerge rsync the previous version is comming up in a emerge -p world.

I'm missing a few /dev/* files after the upgrade to 1.8.6.2
Should I downgrade to 1.8.5.8 of leave it as it is?

rac · Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2003 12:11 am Post subject:

Hagar, I recommend you downgrade. 1.8.6.2 was masked after it was released, as it was causing lots of problems.
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