etc-update == hell!

genewbie · n00b Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Albany, NY

Per a suggestion in the following thread....

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=133987

I ran etc-update with -5...i tried doing it with -3 option, but for one I had 80+ files that supposedly needed updating, and secondly, when I tried it prompted me if I wanted to overwrite fstab...when I answered no, it kept asking me the same question over and over so I quit the -3 option and saved fstab make.conf and rc.conf, the only files I knowingly changed, and ran etc-update with -5 and rebooted....couldn't even get into X so I copied those files back over the updated ones and it booted into kde...i then opened a konsole and tried to switch to root entering the password i used since the install and no luck!! i can't change to the root user!! i also can't get out to the internet and lord knows what else!! why do i have to update these files? isn't there any easier way of doing it? why doesn't the -3 option work? how, when the -3 option does work, am i supposed to know whether or not to accept the "update"? what files should i just not mess with? PLEASE HELP!!! Thanks =)
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numerodix · l33t Joined: 18 Jul 2002 Posts: 743 Location: nl.eu

I agree it's a pain, I'd love a way to check which files have been modified, even if that involved marking the file manually somehow. I use it with colordiff, which makes it somewhat easier.
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robmoss · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 1:38 am Post subject:

I would suggest NEVER using etc-update, and instead using dispatch-conf. With regards your knackered system, you'll just have to go through and redo all the config files that you've overwritten. Sounds like you're no longer a member of the wheel group - usermod can help you there. Also you've lost /etc/conf.d/net.eth0. Repair that, too.
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genewbie · n00b Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Albany, NY

How do I "redo" all the configuration files I've overwritten?

....and once I "redo" them, is it going to tell me they need updating again?
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alexraasch · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 2:01 am Post subject:

Hi, I just ran into the very same problem you did. For the network etc-update changed my /etc/conf.d/net, so you'll want to check it.

I don't get why this overwriting of config files is necessary, escpecially if it's fstab and rc.conf. In my case it just replaced it with the originals ones you get after bootstrap. What's the f*** sense in doing that? Somewhere I read that it is supposed to merge your current configuration with the changes necessary after emerge -u, yet I have NEVER seen that actually work!

bos_mindwarp · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 4:00 am Post subject:

What sucks the most is when etc-update prompts for a new version of config file, just because the comment in it has changed (usually a CVS header).

Nuwen · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 20 Mar 2003 Posts: 123

Using those 'automatic update' options is almost always a really bad idea. If you don't use those, etc-update will tell you which files have changed, and let you chose whether to leave the file unmodified, use the new version, or manually merge the changes.

I agree that dispatch-conf is better for other reasons, but I'd used etc-update for a long time before that with no problems. I don't think I ever used the -* options. I'm not sure why people keep getting confused by this, do you really need a big red blinking warning to let you know that automatically overwriting fstab is bad :?:

To fix it, you'll basically have to edit any config files you've ever edited over again. Then just stop using those -* options, and maybe give dispatch-conf a shot too.

genewbie · n00b Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Albany, NY

As I said, I saved fstab, rc.conf, and make.conf...the only files I knew I edited in case of trouble like this. But apparantley a lot more is messed up here. How did I lose the ability to login as root? How exactly do I get out to the internet? What else is likely screwed up that I haven't noticed yet? Why didn't the -3 option work with etc-update?
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Nuwen · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 20 Mar 2003 Posts: 123

robmoss · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 3:48 pm Post subject:

genewbie · n00b Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Albany, NY

How do I run passwd as root when I can't log in as root? How often am I going to have to "update" these configuration files? It seems like a real hassle, especially when you supposedly have 80 files that need "updating". I don't remember what exactly the prompt said when using the -3 option, but it was something like....Do you want to change fstab(y/n)? And when I entered n it just kept going back. Seems strange to me. Thanks for all your help, but really I have no idea how I'm supposed to go back and fix my config files. Reinstall Gentoo? Why not, it only took me a week after work!!
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allucid · Veteran Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 1314 Location: atlanta

You had so many files to update because when you updated your system you emerged the new baselayout. This doesn't happen often and when it does you just have to deal with it. There is an option when using etc-update to delete the updated file and leave the original. If you select this option and then type "y" when it asks if you are sure you should be ok as long as there aren't any significant changes between file versions. This is probably how you should have changed fstab, group, rc.conf, etc.

Now, to fix stuff. Log out completely and log in as root (you can't su into root because your group file got over written and you are no longer a member of the "wheel" group). If you are using a login manager (gdm, kdm, xdm) then use Ctrl+Alt+F2 to get to a terminal where you can login outisde of X (Ctrl+Alt+F7 to get back to X). You can always log into root as long as you know the password. Now that we are root, to quickly get your internet running try "dhcpcd eth0". Now open up the install documetation in a browser somehow (try emerging lynx or links you are stuck in a terminal, and you can use Ctrl+Alt+F(1-7) to get to another terminal) and search for the fstab part, the make.conf part, the net.eth0 part, and the useradd part. You will either need to re-add your user using useradd (and the same username) or use usermod (man usermod) as root to change which groups your user belongs to. You should belong to the following groups: users, wheel, audio, portage. Those should fix your major problems.

JonR800 · n00b Joined: 09 Feb 2004 Posts: 8

I don't mean to be rude. But please take the time to review what changes are being made to your configuration files when running etc-update. If it looks like there's something in there that you specifically defined then don't update the file.

And never... run -5.. .unless you've looked over that list of changed config files 5 times over.

This may be a pain compared to other distros, but at least gentoo makes the effort to keep your configs current while most others just leave them untouched.

praioz · n00b Joined: 28 Apr 2003 Posts: 20 Location: germany

i'm not really sure, if thats 100% correct.
kind of long time ago
somebody showed me. and it worked pretty well. but never used it again, since rarely updating my system

i think he didnt use '-3' i think he used '3'

what it did.
it showed the changeable files in a list.
enter number for file
get a menu same style, options for files.
( overwrite with new, keep old and so on )

it takes more time indeed, but it'S kind of safer then automaticly be done.

but pls, check somewhere online, which options rc-update has, before trying the 3 or soomething.

hope it helps.
praioz

Nuwen · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 20 Mar 2003 Posts: 123

genewbie · n00b Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Albany, NY

Thank you to everyone who posted on this. Obviously I didn't realize what I was getting into when I started the whole etc-update thing. It can be very confusing.

allucid · Veteran Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 1314 Location: atlanta

here's some system-related files you don't want to overwrite:
/etc/fstab <-- describes the layout of your file system
/etc/make.conf <-- personalized portage settings (USE flags, CFLAGS, etc)
/etc/group <-- contains group info for all users
/etc/passwd <-- contains other user settings
/etc/rc.conf <-- global config settings (login manager, keyboard map, etc)
/etc/conf.d/net <-- network card settings

Nuwen · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 20 Mar 2003 Posts: 123

I think allucid covered the main files to watch out for pretty well, but the line is really pretty blurry. For instance, you never want to overwrite /etc/make.conf, but you might also run into trouble if you update portage and don't update it.

Once you see the diffs, it's usually pretty easy to remember what you changed, and see what needs to be changed. If not, just read the docs or ask someone.

Config file management is just about the worst part of Gentoo IMHO, so I definitely understand why you're frustrated with this. Just try to keep things from building up too much, and you'll learn to live with it after a while.

yuza · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 10:58 pm Post subject:

Do yourself a favor and use cfg-update instead of etc-update. It's a lot safer and easier and will save you a lot of time and headaches. You can find it here:
https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=86622
You won't have this kind of problems anymore...

praioz · n00b Joined: 28 Apr 2003 Posts: 20 Location: germany

shraps · n00b Joined: 16 Jan 2004 Posts: 25 Location: St. Louis, MO

in order to be able to 'su root' again, you will have to edit /etc/group and add yourself after root in the wheel group.

Ex:

wheel::10:root,yournamehere

hope that helps some of your problems...

-shraps

Danathan · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 08 Mar 2004 Posts: 120

tsawyer · n00b Joined: 06 Jun 2002 Posts: 22

Wouldn't it be great if portage or portage-ng would create a checksum of config files when they are installed. Then etc-update or some similar function could compare the current config file to the checksum at install to see if local modifications were made. Seems that in most cases if a file hasn't changed since install time, then it shouldn't be a problem to overwrite that file. Then maybe we could flag files like .fstab to never update. Config File Management, or lack there of, is my only gripe about Gentoo.
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ecatmur · Posted: Sat May 01, 2004 6:07 am Post subject:

dispatch-conf has this feature - and more.

gbu · Posted: Sat May 22, 2004 5:36 am Post subject:

The only problem with dispatch-conf (other than incomprehensible
instructions---see the way debian [debconf] does this; it's much clearer)
is that when you use the RCS archiving method, it sometimes fails to
merge the files properly, and puts >>>>>>>>>> <<<<<< lines
in the configuration file. If the configuration file happens to actually
be a binary/executable (like, say, /etc/.../xkbcomp), it's very easy to
miss the >>>> lines and accept the changes. After this happens, it's hard to
recover from it (especially since I find the menu options difficult to
interpret...). For this reason I switched back to etc-update pending
some dispatch-conf documentation...