Arch Linux

ArchVortex

Retired AB Overlord

From: Jakarta, Indonesia

Registered: 2011-04-01

Posts: 1,449

Using Gentoo's etc-update in AUR to merge .pacnew files in /etc/

A Gentoo package called etc-update has been added to AUR which can be used in Arch to merge/overwrite .pacnew files with current versions of a file. For me this comes as second nature using etc-update as a long time Gentoo user.

Most recently, we had to merge/overwrite the pacman.conf file with pacman.conf.pacnew during the upgrade to Pacman 4 and etc-update will do that in no time at all plus give you options how you can do it. Installed size is only 0.02 MB in size and might be worth having in the next ArchBang release. Below is an example of using etc-update with ArchBang:

[root@ArchVortex archvortex]# etc-update
Scanning Configuration files...
The following is the list of files which need updating, each
configuration file is followed by a list of possible replacement files.
1) /etc/locale.gen (1)
2) /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf (1)
3) /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist (1)
4) /etc/rc.conf (1)
5) /etc/slimlock.conf (1)
Please select a file to edit by entering the corresponding number.
              (don't use -3, -5, -7 or -9 if you're unsure what to do)
              (-1 to exit) (-3 to auto merge all remaining files)
                           (-5 to auto-merge AND not use 'mv -i')
                           (-7 to discard all updates)
                           (-9 to discard all updates AND not use 'rm -i'): -3
Replacing /etc/locale.gen with /etc/locale.gen.pacnew
mv: overwrite `/etc/locale.gen'? Y
Replacing /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf with /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf.pacnew
Replacing /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist with /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.pacnew
mv: overwrite `/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist'? Y
Replacing /etc/rc.conf with /etc/rc.conf.pacnew
mv: overwrite `/etc/rc.conf'? Y
Replacing /etc/slimlock.conf with /etc/slimlock.conf.pacnew
mv: overwrite `/etc/slimlock.conf'? Y
Exiting: Nothing left to do; exiting. :)

You can see which files need to be merged/overwritten and act accordingly to the editing options. You may not want your file merged and can choose not to merge by discarding the update. You can also back up the original file if you've made custom changes, merge with etc-update and then add your changes back in. And etc-update runs faster in Arch than Gentoo

More info about etc-update is here http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/h … #doc_chap2

More info about .pacnew files is here https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pa … es#.pacnew

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oliver

Administrator

Registered: 2010-11-04

Posts: 1,516

Re: Using Gentoo's etc-update in AUR to merge .pacnew files in /etc/

Interesting... it literally is the gentoo version with a patch for Arch rather than a re-write to include the same functionality.  This means it draws in subversion and patch when you install it which may have ramifications for the live CD

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Mr Green

Iso Developer

Registered: 2010-11-07

Posts: 3,746

Re: Using Gentoo's etc-update in AUR to merge .pacnew files in /etc/

That is nothing

http://lifehacker.com/5880003/pacapt-br … ll-sort-of

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handy

ArchBanger

Registered: 2011-11-03

Posts: 422

Re: Using Gentoo's etc-update in AUR to merge .pacnew files in /etc/

I used to use dotpac , these days I'll just have a look with text editor. Most of the time there is nothing new to worry about in a .pacnew file anyway.

Last edited by handy (2012-02-04 16:30:51)

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