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SYSCONFTOOL(1) SYSCONFTOOL(1)
NAME
sysconftool - install configuration files
SYNOPSIS
sysconftool [ options ] [ filename.dist ... ]
DESCRIPTION
sysconftool is a development utility that helps to install application
configuration files. sysconftool allows an existing application to be
upgraded without losing the older version's configuration settings.
A new version of an application often introduces new configuration set-
tings. Sometimes obsolete configuration settings are removed. Existing
configuration settings may also now have additional options, or certain
options are no longer valid any more. Because of this, an application
upgrade usually installs a fresh set of configuration files, containing
a default configuration that's known to work. Keeping the existing
files carries the risk of the application failing to function properly
due to a configuration that is no longer valid.
A typical application installation script copies over configuration
files with default settings. Existing configuration files are backed
up or overwritten. With sysconftool, an application will install a con-
figuration file names filename.dist, instead of filename. Then, the
application's installation script runs sysconftool. sysconftool copies
filename.dist to filename, but also checks if filename from an older
version of the application already exist. If filename an older syscon-
ftool-installed configuration file, it's configuration settings replace
the defaults in filename.dist, which is then subsequently installed as
filename. sysconftool is smart enough to:
o Remove configuration settings that no longer exist.
o Add new configuration settings.
o Do not preserve an older configuration setting if there's a possibil-
ity that it is no longer valid in the new version of the application.
sysconftool produces a short report when it runs. The report lists
every configuration setting in $filename.dist, and its disposition.
The possible dispositions are:
new This a new configuration setting that wasn't found in the exist-
ing $filename.
unchanged
This setting's value was taken from the existing $filename,
replacing the default value provided by $filename.dist.
UPDATED
This setting has been previously set in $filename, but the set-
ting's value may no longer be valid in the new version of the
application, so its default value is taken from $filename.dist,
and it may need to be manually adjusted.
All this logic is based on some additional metadata that must be
included in each configuration file, that sysconftool reads. For this
to work, both the old and the new version of the application must be
sysconftool-ized. sysconftool operates in a fail-safe mode. If the
old version did not use sysconftool, $filename is backed up to $file-
name.bak, and $filename is copied to $filename. This is what would
essentially happen anyway without sysconftool. The local configuration
needs to be reentered into $filename, so nothing is lost. However, the
next upgrade will see sysconftool do its job.
ADDING SYSCONFTOOL SUPPORT TO AN EXISTING APPLICATION
sysconftool requires the application to use autoconf and automake. The
first step is to run the sysconftoolize script from the application's
source directory. sysconftoolize copies the sysconftool script to the
current directory, and appends a default install-configure rule to
Makefile.am. After running sysconftoolize the macro AC_PROG_SYSCONFTOOL
must be manually added to configure.in, and Makefile.am must be modi-
fied as follows.
Makefile.am must be modified to install configuration files as file-
name.dist instead of filename. The default install-configure rule
assumes that sysconf_DATA lists all configuration files in sysconfdir,
and runs sysconftool on them. This will usually have to be modified,
according to the application's individual needs. Finally, Makefile.am
must be modified to distribute the sysconftool script in the applica-
tion's source distribution. Adding sysconftool to EXTRA_DIST is what's
needed in most cases.
Finally, certain sysconftool magic incantations must be added to the
application's configuration files, see sysconftool(7) for more informa-
tion. The last step involves updating the application's INSTALL
instructions, so that the application can be properly installed. The
following instructions must be added to INSTALL:
1. Run "make install-configure" after "make install".
2. If this is the first sysconftool-ized version, DO NOT simply copy
over the old configuration files, and overwrite the new configura-
tion files. Instead, manually edit each configuration file, and
manually reset each configuration setting. This is because the new
configuration files include the magic code for sysconftool, which
would be lost when the configuration file is overwritten.
3. If this is not the first sysconftool-ized version, the output of
make install-configure must be reviewed in order to manually adjust
or tweak what sysconftool did. Many large configuration files can
result in lots of output, so the output of make install-configure
should be saved into a file, and reviewed.
SEE ALSO
sysconftoolcheck(1), sysconftool(7).
Double Precision, Inc. 16 July 2005 SYSCONFTOOL(1)
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