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SuSEconfig and /etc/sysconfig

The main configuration of SUSE LINUX can be made with the configuration files in /etc/sysconfig. In the past, SUSE LINUX relied on /etc/rc.config for system configuration, but it became obsolete in previous versions. /etc/rc.config is not created at installation time, because all system configuration is controlled by /etc/sysconfig. However, if /etc/rc.config exists at the time of a system update, it remains intact.

The individual files in /etc/sysconfig are only read by the scripts to which they are relevant. This ensures that network settings, for instance, need to be parsed only by network-related scripts. Many other system configuration files are generated according to the settings in /etc/sysconfig. This task is performed by SuSEconfig. For example, if you change the network configuration, SuSEconfig is likely to make changes to the file /etc/host.conf as well, because this is one of the files relevant for the network configuration.

If you change anything in these files manually, run SuSEconfig afterwards to make sure all the necessary changes are made in all the relevant places. If you change the configuration using the YaST sysconfig editor, all changes are applied automatically, because YaST automatically starts SuSEconfig to update the configuration files as needed.

This concept enables you to make basic changes to your configuration without needing to reboot the system. Because some changes are rather complex, some programs must be restarted for the changes to take effect. For instance, changes to the network configuration may require a restart of the network programs concerned. This can be achieved by entering the commands rcnetwork stop and rcnetwork start.

The recommended way to change the system configuration includes the following steps:

  1. Bring the system into single user mode (runlevel 1) with init 1.
  2. Change the configuration files as needed. This can be done using an editor of your choice or with the sysconfig editor of YaST

    Warning:

    Manual Changes to the System Configuration

    If you do not use YaST to change the configuration files in /etc/sysconfig, make sure that empty variable values are represented by two quotation marks (KEYTABLE="") and that values with blanks in them are enclosed in quotation marks. Values consisting of one word only do not need to be quoted.

  3. Execute SuSEconfig to make sure that the changes take effect. If you have changed the configuration files with YaST, this is done automatically.
  4. Bring your system back to the previous runlevel with a command like init 3 (replace 3 with the previous runlevel).

This procedure is mainly relevant when changing system-wide settings, such as the network configuration. Small changes should not require going into single user mode, but you could still do so to make absolutely sure all the programs concerned are correctly restarted.

Tip
To disable the automated system configuration by SuSEconfig, set the variable ENABLE_SUSECONFIG in /etc/sysconfig/suseconfig to no. Do not disable SuSEconfig if you want to use the SUSE installation support. It is also possible to disable the autoconfiguration partially.

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Bulletin:

Vol 25, No.12 (December, 2013) Rational Fools vs. Efficient Crooks The efficient markets hypothesis : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2013 : Unemployment Bulletin, 2010 :  Vol 23, No.10 (October, 2011) An observation about corporate security departments : Slightly Skeptical Euromaydan Chronicles, June 2014 : Greenspan legacy bulletin, 2008 : Vol 25, No.10 (October, 2013) Cryptolocker Trojan (Win32/Crilock.A) : Vol 25, No.08 (August, 2013) Cloud providers as intelligence collection hubs : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : Inequality Bulletin, 2009 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Copyleft Problems Bulletin, 2004 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Energy Bulletin, 2010 : Malware Protection Bulletin, 2010 : Vol 26, No.1 (January, 2013) Object-Oriented Cult : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2011 : Vol 23, No.11 (November, 2011) Softpanorama classification of sysadmin horror stories : Vol 25, No.05 (May, 2013) Corporate bullshit as a communication method  : Vol 25, No.06 (June, 2013) A Note on the Relationship of Brooks Law and Conway Law

History:

Fifty glorious years (1950-2000): the triumph of the US computer engineering : Donald Knuth : TAoCP and its Influence of Computer Science : Richard Stallman : Linus Torvalds  : Larry Wall  : John K. Ousterhout : CTSS : Multix OS Unix History : Unix shell history : VI editor : History of pipes concept : Solaris : MS DOS :  Programming Languages History : PL/1 : Simula 67 : C : History of GCC development :  Scripting Languages : Perl history   : OS History : Mail : DNS : SSH : CPU Instruction Sets : SPARC systems 1987-2006 : Norton Commander : Norton Utilities : Norton Ghost : Frontpage history : Malware Defense History : GNU Screen : OSS early history

Classic books:

The Peter Principle : Parkinson Law : 1984 : The Mythical Man-Month :  How to Solve It by George Polya : The Art of Computer Programming : The Elements of Programming Style : The Unix Hater’s Handbook : The Jargon file : The True Believer : Programming Pearls : The Good Soldier Svejk : The Power Elite

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Last modified: March 12, 2019