Re: Replace line in file based on pattern
On Mon 03 Jan 2022 at 08:38:32 (-0500), Paul M. Foster wrote:
> On 1/2/22 11:03 PM, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> > On Sun, Jan 02, 2022 at 09:59:08PM -0500, Paul M. Foster wrote:
> > > Regarding "patch", let's consider a "stock" config file from a fresh install
> > > (call it NEW), and an existing config which is tweaked for my purposes (call
> > > it OLD). Assume I want the stock config altered to conform to my
> > > existing/working installation.
> >
> > If you're reinstalling after a disk or system failure, you should be
> > able to drop the config files from your backup onto the system, either
> > before or after you install the software packages that use those files.
>
> This is a fair point. In the case of a hardware failure, simply
> reinstalling working configs over the top of "stock" ones would work
> fine.
I use a little scheme to backup the configuration files that I change.
I copy them into a directory /home/system-<hostname>-<debiancodename>-<fslabel>
changing / into ¬ so that the files are all in the one directory.
It makes restoration easy, and also things like comparing systems
with one another, and archival of how I configured things long ago
(the directories remain small enough to keep for good).
Obviously one needs something like this when you don't backup the
entire system but only the information you "own", ie /home and perhaps
/root and bits of /var.
> > The scenario you seem to be imagining involves reinstalling software
> > packages and somehow ending up with a *different* version of the software
> > than you had been running on the failed system. This isn't going
> > to happen if you were running Debian stable, and you reinstall Debian
> > stable.
> >
> > The only way it would be a concern is if you're *not* running Debian
> > stable, or if you reinstall with something other than Debian stable.
> > In those cases, well, you're kinda on your own.
>
> I am running stable. Where this situation arises is when I've been
> running for a couple of years and Debian changes to a new version (10
> to 11, for example). By that time, I have a lot of cruft on the
> machine, and I've just found it best to reinstall. And I've had it
> happen where a package changes its config, and I have to manually
> figure out what they've done, and how to compensate for it, to get
> back to a "working" (for me) state.
>
> There are a lot of folks who like to "fiddle" with their systems
> constantly. I don't. So I'm not keen on having to manually fiddle with
> a lot of configs after an O/S version change.
Cheers,
David.
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