Changed config files overwritten on update!

[Moonbase]

I had vortexbox 0.5 installed, changed some things in the config files, i.e. in


/etc/sysconfig/network (HOSTNAME, DHCP_HOSTNAME)
/etc/dhclient-eth0.conf (added dhcp-client-identifier, changed host-name)
/etc/rsyncd.conf (added list=yes, uid=root, gid=root, incoming chmod=u+rwX,go+rX)
/etc/samba/smb.conf (changed workgroup name)
…


then upgraded to vortexbox 0.6.


Oops! All my changes were gone and replaced again by vortexbox defaults.


Couldn’t we please get something like for /etc/ripit/config that would allow keeping manual changes if an update is made?


I guess this would help a lot of users keeping their vortexboxes up and running in case they made changes and just want to upgrade to the latest version (or even worse: a Linux-knowledgeable friend did the changes, they did the upgrade in good hope and now their vortexbox doesn’t work for 6 weeks because the good buddy has gone to Australia on a 6-week vacation …).

[Brumosporsche]

I got the same problem. I changed web-interface and kicked ut some icons that don't interest me. In /var I tried to solve the problem with with giving root read-only rights


chmod u-w www


But next time I updated my VBA, web-interface has gone to default. does anyone know how to realise personalized settings in the web-interface without getting changed by yum update?

[andrew]

Moonbase, all those changes can be made in the GUI. If you make them there they will survive update. I'm trying to make this as easy as possible for non-linux people but if you change config files yourself make sure you back them up.




Brumosporsche, yes upgrading the GUI will of course overwrite the GUI! if you make changes don't upgrade the GUI or back-up the changes. Keep in mind I change the GUI code quite a bit so a changes that works for one version may not work for the next.

[beancurdy]

Every time I upgrade some of my config files get clobbered, so I have to manually copy across backups.




I edit /usr/local/sbin/flac2mp3.pl to put ALBUMARTIST rather than BAND into TPE2. I'm not sure why you wouldn't have this as default!




I edit /opt/twonkymedia/*.ini to have contentdir=+M|/music/mp3,+P|/pictures,+V/movies otherwise you get spurious entries, again I'm not sure why this isn't default. But this doesn't always get clobbered.

[wuffe]

Hi,




I just pressed the update icon from the GUI in order to get the latest updates for my vortexbox (0.9)...




Amongst the updates was the ripit package - going from ripit-3.7.x.y to ripit-3.8.x




The ripit package just overwrote my customizations in /etc/ripit/config without svaing a copy of the file.




SOLUTION:


I checked the ripit package with this command "rpm -q -c ripit" and the supplied configuration file /etc/ripit/config in the package is not flagged as an actual configuration file - if that was the case rpm would have saves a copy/backup of the file before overwriting it.

[jistirling]

Hiya,


The config needs to be replaced as it has a number of extra items and resolves items not referenced in older config files.


The new config file is well laid out and is simple to make minor changes to with something like SCP.


Unlike the older versions of VB 0.9 and 1.0 both have a nice web interface for most of it.


I change the ripit settings for the folders and add my own comment apart for that dont bother with the rest.


Cheers,


James

[wuffe]

Thanks for your input on how you manually come around the problems with the current vortexbox release.




But that was not really my point here.


I was trying to report an error that already has a quite simple solution.


Vortexbox is an evolving product that rely on a common effort to make the product better for every release... and just accepting the problems and working your way around them by manual brute force every time does not really make the product better.




What I was trying to make clear here is that the rpm package format already has a config-fileflag that can be set on any file inside a rpm package. Upon update the config flag will tell the rpm package manager to backup the current config file before applying the new one config file from the package. You will still have to manualle diff/merge the new and the old file togheter but atleast you have a backup of the config files as they were before upgrading.

[HalfBit]

wuffe said:


Thanks for your input on how you manually come around the problems with the current vortexbox release.


. . .
Vortexbox is an evolving product that rely on a common effort to make the product better for every release... and just accepting the problems and working your way around them by manual brute force every time does not really make the product better.




. . .
atleast you have a backup of the config files as they were before upgrading.





Wuffe,


As a Linux idiot, I agree that VortexBox upgrades should save configurations that can change with the update. I understand that it is not possible to incorporate user-induced configurations automatically, yet having a backup will allow folks to see, possibly understand, and restore changes that they may have forgotten they made or not documented.


I also appreciate the excellent assistance by Andrew and other Linux-knowledgable users in manual work-arounds, especially when that assistance includes explanations of why and what is happening with the commands.


There appears to be zero downside to your recommendation.


HalfBit

[wuffe]

Hi




I do not know if the vortexbox ripit rpm package comes from the ripit maintainer or if it is custom built by vortexbox... but i contated the ripit maintainer (Felix Suwald) about this problem and here is his answer:






Wuffe wrote:
> The config file "/etc/ripit/config" is not flagged as a configuration file.
> In the situation of an upgrade from an older ripit version is means that
> the rpm will not backup the existing config before writing the newer config
> file...
>
> rpm -q -d -p ripit-3.8.1-0.noarch.rpm
> shows lots of correctly tagged doc files
>
> rpm -q -c -p ripit-3.8.1-0.noarch.rpm
> show no configuration files...


Felix wrote:
Thanks for the hint, I was not aware of these options. So, meanwhile I've
updated the Makefile and added a %config section to the spec-file.
While testing with the 3.8.2 version I could not verify the behaviour,
because the config is the same. I then tried it with an unofficial 3.9.0
and the rpm-installation gave me the warning:

Preparing... ########################################### [100%]
1:ripit warning: /etc/ripit/config saved as /etc/ripit/config.rpmsave
########################################### [100%]

Hope this is what you expect!

Keep me informed, if something does not work! The fixed version 3.8.2
is on my site and should be listed in freshmeat.net soon.



If the vortexbox project is pulling the rpms directly form the ripit project then this problem will be solved over time...

/Uffe