FreeBSD Man Pages

mergemaster(8)

NAME

     mergemaster -- merge configuration files, et al during an upgrade

SYNOPSIS

     mergemaster [-scrvahipCP] [-m /path/to/sources] [-t /path/to/temp/root]
		 [-d] [-u N] [-w N] [-D /path]

DESCRIPTION

     The mergemaster utility is a Bourne shell script which is designed to aid
     you in updating the various configuration and other files associated with
     FreeBSD.  It is HIGHLY recommended that you back up your /etc directory
     before beginning this process.

     The script uses /usr/src/etc/Makefile to build a temporary root environ-
     ment from / down, populating that environment with the various files.
     You can specify a different source directory with the [-m] command line
     option, or specify the destination directory with the [-D] option.  It
     then compares each file in that environment to its installed counterpart.
     When the script finds a change in the new file, or there is no installed
     version of the new file it gives you four options to deal with it.  You
     can install the new file as is, delete the new file, merge the old and
     new files (as appropriate) using sdiff(1) or leave the file in the tempo-
     rary root environment to merge by hand later.

     By default it creates the temporary root in /var/tmp/temproot and com-
     pares the cvs(1) version $Id/$FreeBSD strings for files that have them,
     deleting the temporary file if the strings match.	If there is no $Id
     string, or if the strings are different it compares the files themselves.
     You can also specify that the script ignore the $Id strings and compare
     every file.

     The merge menu option is designed to let you easily combine your cus-
     tomizations from the old version of a file into the new one.  While you
     can use the merge function to incorporate changes from files that you
     have not customized, it is not recommended.

     The mergemaster utility checks your umask and issues a warning for any-
     thing other than 022.  While it is not mandatory to grant world read per-
     missions for most configuration files, you may run into problems without
     them.  If you choose a umask other than 022 and experience trouble later
     this could be the cause.  /etc/master.passwd is treated as a special
     case.  If you choose to install this file or a merged version of it the
     file permissions are always 600 (rw-------) for security reasons.	After
     installing an updated version of this file you should probably run
     pwd_mkdb(8) with the -p option to rebuild your password databases and
     recreate /etc/passwd.

     The script uses the owner and group id's that the files are created with
     by /usr/src/etc/Makefile, and file permissions as specified by the umask.
     Unified diffs are used by default to display any differences unless you
     choose context diffs.

     The mergemaster utility will source scripts that you specify right before
     it starts the comparison, and after it's done running.  The easiest way
     to handle this is to place the path to the script(s) in the appropriate
     variables in your .mergemasterrc file.  The script sourced before compar-
     ison is named in MM_PRE_COMPARE_SCRIPT, and the one sourced after the

     The options are as follows:

     -s 	 Perform a strict comparison, diff'ing every pair of files.
		 This comparison is performed line by line, without regard to
		 CVS $Id's.

     -c 	 Use context diffs instead of unified diffs.

     -r 	 Re-run mergemaster on a previously cleaned directory, skip-
		 ping the creation of the temporary root environment.  This
		 option is compatible with all other options.

     -v 	 Be more verbose about the process.  You should probably use
		 this option the first time you run mergemaster.  This option
		 also gives you a list of files that exist only in the
		 installed version of /etc.

     -a 	 Run automatically.  This option will leave all the files that
		 differ from the installed versions in the temporary directory
		 to be dealt with by hand.  If the temproot directory exists,
		 it creates a new one in a previously non-existent directory.
		 This option unsets the verbose flag, but is compatible with
		 all other options.  Setting -a makes -w superfluous.

     -h 	 Display usage and help information.

     -i 	 Automatically install any files that do not exist in the des-
		 tination directory.

     -p 	 Pre-buildworld mode.  Compares only files known to be essen-
		 tial to the success of {build|install}world, including
		 /etc/make.conf.

     -C 	 After a standard mergemaster run, compares your
		 rc.conf[.local] options to the defaults.

     -P 	 Preserve files that you replace in
		 /var/tmp/mergemaster/preserved-files-<date>, or another
		 directory you specify in your mergemaster rc file.

     -m /path/to/sources
		 Specify the path to the directory where you want to do the
		 make(1).  (In other words, where your sources are, but -s was
		 already taken.)

     -t /path/to/temp/root
		 Create the temporary root environment in /path/to/temp/root
		 instead of the default /var/tmp/temproot.

     -d 	 Add the date and time to the name of the temporary root
		 directory.  If -t is specified, this option must follow it if
		 you want the date added too.

     -u N	 Specify a numeric umask.  The default is 022.

     -w N	 Supply an alternate screen width to the sdiff(1) command in
		 numbers of columns.  The default is 80.
     variables are used as described above.  Other variables that are used by
     the script internally can be specified in .mergemasterrc as described in
     more detail below.

EXAMPLES

     Typically all you will need to do is type mergemaster at the prompt and
     the script will do all the work for you.

     To use context diff's and have mergemaster explain more things as it goes
     along, use:

	   # mergemaster -cv

     To specify that mergemaster put the temporary root environment in
     /usr/tmp/root, use:

	   # mergemaster -t /usr/tmp/root

     To specify a 110 column screen with a strict comparison, use:

	   # mergemaster -sw 110

FILES

     /etc/mergemaster.rc
     $HOME/.mergemasterrc

     The mergemaster utility will . (source) these files if they exist.  Com-
     mand line options will override rc file options.  $HOME/.mergemasterrc
     overrides /etc/mergemaster.rc.  Here is an example with all values com-
     mented out:

     # These are options for mergemaster, with their default values listed
     # The following options have command line overrides
     #
     # Directory to install the temporary root environment into
     #TEMPROOT='/var/tmp/temproot'
     #
     # Strict comparison bypasses the CVS $Id tests and compares every file
     #STRICT=no
     #
     # Type of diff, such as unified, context, etc.
     #DIFF_FLAG='-u'
     #
     # Additional options for diff.  This will get unset when using -s.
     #DIFF_OPTIONS='-I$FreeBSD:.*[$]'	     # Ignores CVS Id tags
     #
     # Verbose mode includes more details and additional checks
     #VERBOSE=
     #
     # Automatically install files that do not exist on the system already
     #AUTO_INSTALL=
     #
     # Compare /etc/rc.conf[.local] to /etc/defaults/rc.conf
     #COMP_CONFS=yes
     #
     # Preserve files that you replace
     #PRESERVE_FILES=yes
     #PRESERVE_FILES_DIR=/var/tmp/mergemaster/preserved-files-`date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S`
     #DESTDIR=
     #
     # The following options have no command line overrides
     # For those who just cannot stand including the full path to PAGER
     #DONT_CHECK_PAGER=
     #
     # If you set 'yes' above, make sure to include the PATH to your pager
     #PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin
     #
     # Don't compare the old and new motd files
     #IGNORE_MOTD=yes
     #
     # Specify the path to scripts to run before the comparison starts,
     # and/or after the script has finished its work
     #MM_PRE_COMPARE_SCRIPT=
     #MM_EXIT_SCRIPT=

SEE ALSO

     cvs(1), diff(1), make(1), more(1), sdiff(1), pwd_mkdb(8)

     /usr/src/etc/Makefile

     Nik Clayton, The Cutting Edge (using make world),
     http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/handbook/makeworld.html.

DIAGNOSTICS

     Exit status is 0 on successful completion, or if the user bails out manu-
     ally at some point during execution.

     Exit status is 1 if it fails for one of the following reasons:

     Invalid command line option

     Failure to create the temporary root environment

     Failure to populate the temporary root

HISTORY

     The mergemaster utility was first publicly available on one of my web
     pages in a much simpler form under the name comproot on 13 March 1998.
     The idea for creating the temporary root environment comes from Nik Clay-
     ton's make world tutorial which is referenced above.

AUTHORS

     This manual page and the script itself were written by Douglas Barton
     <DougB@FreeBSD.org>.

BUGS

     There are no known bugs.  Please report any problems, comments or sugges-
     tions to the author.  Several of the improvements to this program have
     come from user suggestions.  Thank you.

FreeBSD 5.4		       February 5, 2001 		   FreeBSD 5.4

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