Title: Track changes in /etc with etckeeper | |
Author: Solène | |
Date: 06 July 2021 | |
Tags: linux | |
Description: | |
# Introduction | |
Today I will introduce you to the program etckeeper, a simple tool that | |
track changes in your /etc/ directory into a versioning control system | |
(git, mercurial, darcs, bazaar...). | |
etckeeper project website | |
# Installation | |
Your system may certainly package it, you will then have to run | |
"etckeeper init" in /etc/ the first time. A cron or systemd timer | |
should be set by your package manager to automatically run etckeeper | |
every day. | |
In some cases, etckeeper can integrate with package manager to | |
automatically run after a package installation. | |
# Benefits | |
While it can easily be replicated using "git init" in /etc/ and then | |
using "git commit" when you make changes, etckeeper does it | |
automatically as a safety net because it's easy to forget to commit | |
when we make changes. It also has integration with other system tools | |
and can use hooks like sending an email when a change is found. | |
It's really a convenience tool but given it's very light and can be | |
useful I think it's a must for most sysadmins. |