AMGETCONF(8)

💅 AMGETCONF(8) — like, the amgetconf page, bestie

okay so real talk, this is a System Administration Command (section 8, iykyk) and it's literally the little tool that goes and fetches stuff for you. three whole jobs. we get into it 💖

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✨ NAME ✨

amgetconf — look up configuration parameters and manipulate debug logs

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

amgetconf [-l|--list] [--platform] [--distro] [--client]
          [--execute-where client|server] [-o configoption...] [config]
          parameter

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

k so Amgetconf has three main jobs, bestie, and honestly it's giving multitasking main character:

• fetch configuration information from the Amanda configuration
• fetch build-time configuration values
• open and close debug logs for shell scripts

each one gets its own lil subsection below, don't worry 🫶

If config is not specified, amgetconf assumes it is being run from the configuration directory and that amanda.conf is present. and like, the order of options and arguments does not matter — put 'em wherever, we're chill. parameter is always case-insensitive, and - and _ are treated as identical, just as in amanda.conf(5). iconic behavior honestly ✨

head over to the "CONFIGURATION OVERRIDE" section in amanda(8) for the tea on the -o option 💅

🎀 AMANDA CONFIGURATION

If parameter is a configuration keyword (from amanda.conf(5)), then amgetconf will return the corresponding value. For keywords which can take multiple values, amgetconf will return all values, one on each line. no cap, all of them 💖

Values in configuration subsections are specified with parameters of the form TYPE:NAME:PARAMETER, where TYPE is the subsection type — one of dumptype, tapetype, interface, holdingdisk, application-tool, or script-tool — NAME is the name of the subsection (e.g., user-tar), and PARAMETER is the name of the disired parameter within that subsection. (yes that's a typo in the original, "disired", we're keeping the vibe 😭)

The --list option lists the subsections of a certain type, where the type is givein as the parameter. (another original typo, she's quirky like that, love her 🙈)

The --client option is equivalent to --execute-where client (below).

The --execute-where option tells amgetconf whether to operate on the client or the server; the server is the default.

⭐ BUILD CONFIGURATION ⭐

If parameter begins with build., then the following name is a build environment variable. Variables without a value (e.g. XFSDUMP on a system that does not support that type of file system) will not report an error and will return an empty string as the value. some boolean variables (e.g. USE_AMANDAHOSTS) will return 1 if the flag is set or an empty string if it is not, while others return yes or no, as indicated below — the difference is historical, don't ask, it's a whole thing 💀

Combining the --list option with the parameter build will enumerate all available build parameters. slay.

👑 Build Parameters

• bindir, sbindir, libexecdir, mandir — install directories
• AMANDA_TMPDIR, CONFIG_DIR, AMANDA_DBGDIR, GNUTAR_LISTED_INCREMENTAL_DIR — runtime directories
• listed_inc_dir — same as GNUTAR_LISTED_INCREMENTAL_DIR
• CC, VERSION, ASSERTIONS, LOCKING — build information. ASSERTIONS is 1 or empty.
• DUMP, RESTORE, VDUMP, VRESTORE, XFSDUMP, XFSRESTORE, VXDUMP, VXRESTORE, SAMBA_CLIENT, GNUTAR, STAR, COMPRESS_PATH, UNCOMPRESS_PATH — paths to various utility progarms (empty if they are not found or not used)
• AIX_BACKUP — is DUMP the AIX backup program? (empty or 1)
• DUMP_RETURNS_1 — does DUMP return 1 on success? (empty or 1)
• BSD_SECURITY, BSDUDP_SECURITY, BSDTCP_SECURITY, KRB5_SECURITY, SSH_SECURITY, RSH_SECURITY — indicate which authentication mechanisms are available (yes or no).
• USE_AMANDAHOSTS — should the "bsd" authentication mechanism use amandahosts? (yes or no).
• AMANDA_DEBUG_DAYS — number of days after which debug logs are deleted.
• DEFAULT_SERVER, DEFAULT_CONFIG, DEFAULT_TAPE_SERVER, DEFAULT_TAPE_DEVICE — default values for configuration parameters
• CLIENT_LOGIN — userid under which the client runs (from --with-user).
• USE_RUNDUMP — should Amanda use the rundump wrapper? (empty or 1)
• CHECK_USERID — does Amanda check that userids are correct? (empty or 1)
• COMPRESS_SUFFIX, COMPRESS_FAST_OPT, COMPRESS_BEST_OPT, UNCOMPRESS_OPT — command-line options for the compression program.

🧚 DEBUG LOG MANAGEMENT 🧚

Note: that this application is responsible for debug logs is a historical quirk, but the functionality is widely used. (we don't question it, we just use it 💅)

If parameter begins with dbopen., the string following the period is a program name and an Amanda debug file will be created for the caller. The name of the logfile is returned. 🎀

If parameter begins with dbclose., the string following the period is a program name previously used with dbopen., followed by a colon (:) and the previously opened file name. The name of the logfile is returned.

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

Find out the path to the log file directory:

% amgetconf daily logdir
/usr/local/etc/amanda/daily/logs

Find out the current tape type:

% amgetconf daily tapetype
DLT4000-IV

Find out that tape type's length:

% amgetconf daily tapetype:DLT4000-IV:length
1024000

List the other available tapetype:

% amgetconf daily --list tapetype
DISK
QIC-60
DEC-DLT2000
...

Find out the configuration directory:

% amgetconf build.CONFIG_DIR
/usr/local/etc/amanda/

List all build-time parameters

% amgetconf --list build
AIX_BACKUP
AMANDA_DBGDIR
AMANDA_DEBUG_DAYS
...

On which platform we are running

% amgetconf --platform
Fedora release 22 (Twenty Two)

On which distro we are running

% amgetconf --distro
Fedora

Create, use and close a debug file in a script:

% debug_file=`amgetconf daily dbopen.myscript`
% echo debug information >> $debug_file
% amgetconf daily dbclose.myscript:$debug_file

💀 MESSAGES 💀

• amgetconf: no such parameter param — param is not a known keyword (e.g. not a valid amanda.conf keyword). like, she doesn't know her, sorry bestie 😭

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

amanda(8), amanda.conf(5), amanda-client.conf(5), amadmin(8)

The Amanda Wiki: : http://wiki.zmanda.com/

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Jean-Louis Martineau <martineau@zmanda.com> Zmanda, Inc. (http://www.zmanda.com)

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okay that's the whole page, go forth and configure ✨ this was Amanda 3.5.4, dated 07/23/2025 — mwah, love u, bye 💖🎀🦋