Going nuts over debconf

[Peter S Galbraith <p.galbraith@globetrotter.net>]

Hi,

Problem summary: Using debconf and rc.d script hangs package installation

--

I am merging packages `powstatd' and `powstad-crypt' into a single new
`powstatd' package with encryption enabled.  I wrote a debconf script
that displays a warning in certain cases when the configuration file must
be edited for the new package to continue working.

Upgrading to the new package works fine if the postinst script does not
start an rc.d process (e.g. because the package conffile doesn't enable
it).  Upgrading hangs when the postinst process is started.  Here's what
I see with `ps':

 dpkg -i powstatd_1.5.1-3_i386.deb
 /usr/bin/perl -w /usr/share/debconf/frontend /var/lib/dpkg/info/powstatd.postinst configure 1.5.1-1
 [powstatd.postin] <defunct>
 /sbin/powstatd

The defunct powstatd.postinst script is:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
#!/bin/sh
#
# postinst script for the powstatd package

set -e
. /usr/share/debconf/confmodule

case "$1" in
    configure)

        # Versions prior to 1.5.1-3 used file readable by all, but no longer.
        if [ -f /etc/powstatd.conf ]; then
            chmod go-rwx /etc/powstatd.conf
        fi

        ;;

    abort-upgrade|abort-remove|abort-deconfigure)
        ;;
    *)
        echo "postinst called with unknown argument \`$1'" >&2
        ;;
esac

# Automatically added by dh_installinit
if [ -x "/etc/init.d/powstatd" ]; then
	update-rc.d powstatd defaults >/dev/null
	if [ -x "`which invoke-rc.d 2>/dev/null`" ]; then
		invoke-rc.d powstatd start || exit 0
	else
		/etc/init.d/powstatd start || exit 0
	fi
fi
# End automatically added section
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The package installation hangs whether the warning message is displayed
or not.

Here's the debconf file:

--------------------------------------
#!/bin/sh -e

action=$1
version=$2

test -f /etc/powstatd.conf || exit 0
if grep -q "slave" /etc/powstatd.conf || ! grep -q "watch .*tty" /etc/powstatd.conf && ! grep -q "password" /etc/powstatd.conf; then

    . /usr/share/debconf/confmodule
    db_input high powstatd/cryptpassword || true
    db_go || true
fi

exit 0
--------------------------------------


Am I doing something obviously wrong ?

Thanks,
Peter