Debian configuration system: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:07, 3 August 2005

Revision as of 05:49, 4 August 2005

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'''debconf''' is a software utility for performing system-wide configuration tasks on [[Unix-like]] operating systems. It is developed for the [[Debian|Debian GNU/Linux]] [[Linux distribution|distribution]], and is closely integrated with Debian's package management system, [[dpkg]].

When packages are being installed, debconf asks the user questions which determine the contents of the system-wide configuration files associated with that package. After package installation, it is possible to go back and change the configuration of a package by using the <code>''dpkg-reconfigure''</code> program. If a file managed by debconf has been changed by another program, debconf will refuse to change it, in order to avoid destroying changes made manually. (It does this by takingstoring the [[MD5]] sums of the generated files and storing them in the /var/lib/dpkg/info directory.)

The design of debconf allows for [[Front-end and back-end|front-ends]] for answering configuration questions to be added in a modular way, and there exist several, such as one for the terminal, one for [[KDE]], one for [[GNOME]], etc.