DEBCONF(7cdebconf)

📦
version 0.280ubuntu1 · 4 versions
, in debian trixie, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 DEBCONF — the cdebconf edition 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this one is literally the glue of Debian configuration. this page lives in section 7cdebconf (iykyk — it's the cdebconf flavour of the manual), and it's all about running a debconf-using program. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

debconf — run a debconf-using program 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

debconf [options] command [args]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so, Debconf is a configuration system for Debian packages. iconic, honestly. if you want the big-picture debconf overview and the docs aimed at sysadmins, go read debconf(7) — that's the main character version. 💅

the debconf program here runs a program under debconf's control, and it sets that program up to talk with debconf over stdio. the way it works: the program's output is expected to be debconf protocol commands, and the program is expected to read result codes on stdin. yes, it's a whole little conversation. 🗣️

if you want the full tea on the debconf protocol itself, that's all in debconf-devel(7). go look, no cap. 📖

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -opackage, --owner=package — tells debconf what package the command it's running is a part of. this one is necessary if you want ownership of registered questions to come out right, and it's what makes the unregister and purge commands work properly. don't skip it, bestie. 👑
  • -ftype, --frontend=type — picks the frontend to use. that's the thing that actually puts questions on your screen.
  • -pvalue, --priority=value — sets the minimum priority of question that will actually be displayed. lower-priority questions just... don't show up. ✨
  • -s, --showold — redisplays old questions you've already seen before. the been there, seen that questions get a second moment in the spotlight. 🎬

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

say you're debugging a shell script that uses debconf — very relatable, we've all been there — you might use:

DEBCONF_DEBUG=developer debconf my-shell-prog

or, alternatively, you might use this one:

debconf --frontend=readline sh -x my-shell-prog

look at that sh -x, tracing away. she's thriving. 🔥

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org> — we stan. 🫶

📜 HISTORY 📜

ngl, this manpage was "borrowed" from debconf. (the quotes are doing a lot of work there, and honestly, we respect it. 🙈)

okay that's the whole thing, bestie!! go forth and configure 💅 this was the DEBCONF(7cdebconf) page, brought to you by perl v5.40.1 and the one and only Debconf. mwah, slay, periodt. 🎀✨💖

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