Re: how to override a conffile (not using dpkg-divert)?

[Harald Dunkel <harald.dunkel@aixigo.de>]

Hi Don,

On 02/08/17 23:36, Don Armstrong wrote:
> 
> If this is a private package which you are using to enforce your local
> configuration, just change the conffile in your postinst [possibly after
> checking that the conffile hasn't been modified.]
> 

This can become pretty difficult, depending upon the config file
format (*.xml, *.json, ...). Not to mention the config file
conflicts on the next upgrade, even if the DM changed only a
single comment line. Plus there is no notification to run my
postinst script again.

> If this is a package which you are planning on having anyone else use,
> then you basically shouldn't be touching /etc/ssh/ssh_config or
> /etc/ssh/sshd_config, because you're likely to break things horribly.
> 

I am sorry, but "shouldn't" is not an option. I have to make
sure that the host configuration follows certain rules on all
machines, e.g. for introducing signed host certificates for
sshd, for the ldap/kerberos integration, etc. Of course we all
try to not "break things horribly".

A working divert for config files is missing in Debian.


Thanx very much for your response
Harri