1 |
felix posted <20060109224837.GA11125@×××××××.com>, excerpted below, on |
2 |
Mon, 09 Jan 2006 14:48:37 -0800: |
3 |
|
4 |
> On Mon, Jan 09, 2006 at 04:14:03PM -0500, Mark Haney wrote: |
5 |
>> What's the best way to update config files? I am a big fan of RH's |
6 |
>> method of dealing with them, and can't stand the way Debian does it, so |
7 |
>> how do the majority of Gentoo users manage their config files? |
8 |
> |
9 |
> What I do is use RCS on any config file I modify[.] When I started, I |
10 |
> was not aware of the gentoo update programs, so I use my own little |
11 |
> script[.] |
12 |
|
13 |
I don't see the original post yet, here, so I'll reply to this one. |
14 |
|
15 |
If you (Mark) are asking the question, it probably means you haven't read |
16 |
the Gentoo documentation on the subject. That's in the handbook, and if |
17 |
you've missed that, there's quite a lot of additional very useful |
18 |
information there you've likely also missed. Too many folks read just the |
19 |
installation section, and miss all the other information, including this. |
20 |
Would you try to drive a car without learning the controls? Why then are |
21 |
you trying to drive Gentoo without learning them? Just because you've |
22 |
used other cars/Linux-distribs doesn't mean Gentoo's controls are in the |
23 |
same place or work the same way, and if you get it wrong, you can easily |
24 |
be a danger to yourself and others. |
25 |
|
26 |
Overall handbook URL: |
27 |
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-amd64.xml |
28 |
|
29 |
You'll probably want to read or at least scan the working with portage and |
30 |
working with Gentoo sections. In particular, the answer to the question |
31 |
you asked here is discussed in the handbook, part 3, Working with Portage, |
32 |
chapter 4, Additional Portage Tools. You'll want either etc-update, if |
33 |
you don't want to bother keeping a history of past configurations, or |
34 |
dispatch-conf, if you want to keep an RCS style history of past |
35 |
configurations, for easy rollback should it become necessary. |
36 |
|
37 |
Because Gentoo is normally build-from-source and that can be a hassle if |
38 |
you decide you want to rollback an entire package to a previous version, |
39 |
portage has the ability to create and use binary packages as well as |
40 |
from-source. To backup a package as it already exists on your system, use |
41 |
quickpkg, covered in the same chapter. To create a binary package at |
42 |
build-time, use the appropriate emerge switches. You can tell portage to |
43 |
create binary packages for everything it emerges, so you'll always have |
44 |
them if needed, by setting FEATURES=buildpkg in make.conf. See part 2, |
45 |
Working with Gentoo, chapter 3, Portage Features, for coverage of these |
46 |
options. There's also documentation in make.conf.example and in the |
47 |
various manpages, make.conf and emerge, in particular. Unless you are |
48 |
short on space (it requires 2-4 gig to store the binpkgs for an entire |
49 |
system, with several versions of the frequently updated ones), I'd |
50 |
recommend setting FEATURES=buildpkg, as it DEFINITELY makes rolling back |
51 |
to earlier versions of a package, or simply retrieving files as they were |
52 |
in the original package, MUCH easier than having to remerge from source an |
53 |
entire package! |
54 |
|
55 |
Of course, the rest of those parts have equally useful information, so I'd |
56 |
recommend you read or at least scan them as well. Doing all the stuff a |
57 |
responsible sysadmin does to maintain a system is MUCH easier, knowing |
58 |
the tools Gentoo has available to help, and the basics of how to use them. |
59 |
|
60 |
-- |
61 |
Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. |
62 |
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- |
63 |
and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman in |
64 |
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/22/rms_interview.html |
65 |
|
66 |
|
67 |
-- |
68 |
gentoo-amd64@g.o mailing list |