Automated backup and update of configs after pacman upgrade

Question

First, after upgrade do
#updatedb && locate .pacnew >newconfigs
Then, check entries - read caution below
Important - remove any entries (e.g., password files) that need careful, individual updating.
But, for bulk updating these scripts are handy.
(p.s., thanks for the replies)
#vi newconfigs
Make backup directory
#mkdir -p /home/original_configs
To backup original(s)
#for i in $(cat newconfigs |sed 's/.pacnew//'); do cp -v $i /home/original_configs/ ; done
To overwrite original(s) with <file>.pacnew
#for i in $(cat newconfigs); do cp -v $i `echo $i |sed 's/.pacnew//'`; done
You may wish to keep your .pacnew files in their
(1)respective directories, (2)move them all to a central directory, or, (3)delete them
(1) do nothing
(2) choose or make directory to back them up to, say, mkdir -p /home/pacnew_configs,
      then issue this command
     #for i in $(cat newconfigs); do mv -v $i /home/pacnew_configs/; done
(3) #for i in $(cat newconfigs); do rm -v $i; done
Last edited by mssgs (2009-11-13 02:37:24)

Answer 1

I wouldn't like any kind of automated procedure messing around with my system's configuration files. My preferred way of dealing with .pacnew files is using `diff /foo/bar{,.pacnew}' to get an overview of the changes and then either 1) adding the changes to the original config and deleting the .pacnew file, or 2) introducing my modifications to the .pacnew file and moving it to the location of the original file. I'm quite sure there is a better way to handle configuration changes, but the amount of .pacnew files I've dealt with so far is very limited to warrant investigating other ways.
Your instructions are way too dangerous, in my opinion. Imagine the disaster if you happened to overwrite your /etc/{passwd,shadow} with the one that comes with an update. All user accounts and their passwords would be lost.