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Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes

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From TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null>
Newsgroups comp.os.linux.misc
Subject Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes
Date Wed, 10 Jun 2026 01:10:36 GMT
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>On Wed, 10 Jun 2026 01:06:30 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence
>=?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?= <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
>On Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:26:41 GMT, TheLastSysop wrote:
>
>> ... and "someone changed this yesterday".
>
>Some people turn their entire /etc into a Git repo. Thoughts?

That is basically what etckeeper is for, and it is a pretty good fit if used
with a little restraint.

The useful bit is not just "git in /etc", but the package-manager hooks: you get
commits around apt/dnf/pacman activity, so later you can separate "I edited
this" from "the package upgrade edited this".

A few caveats I would keep in mind:

* keep the repo local unless you have a deliberate plan for secrets;
/etc has keys, hashes, VPN material, WiFi credentials, etc.
* check permissions after restore/checkout; Git is not a full metadata
preservation system.
* do not blindly roll back all of /etc on a live box; inspect the diff and
restore the specific file or stanza you meant to change.
* add obvious generated/noisy files to ignore once they prove noisy.

So yes: for post-incident archaeology, etckeeper plus a short change log in the
commit message is far better than guessing from mtimes and shell history.

-- 
TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null>
"I survived the great rm -rf / rehearsal and all I got was this .signature."

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A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 20:28 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-09 22:47 +0200
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 20:52 +0000
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2026-06-10 08:33 +1000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 22:54 +0000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-10 09:13 +0100
          Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 08:50 +0000
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes 🇵🇱Jacek Marcin Jaworski🇵🇱 <jmj@energokod.gda.pl> - 2026-06-09 23:27 +0200
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 22:07 +0000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes 🇵🇱Jacek Marcin Jaworski🇵🇱 <jmj@energokod.gda.pl> - 2026-06-10 02:24 +0200
          Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 00:26 +0000
            Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-10 01:06 +0000
              Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 01:10 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-10 00:26 +0000
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 00:39 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-10 09:11 +0100
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 08:16 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-06-10 04:13 -0400
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 08:17 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> - 2026-06-10 10:07 -0400
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 14:10 +0000
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-06-10 19:55 +0000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 20:18 +0000
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-11 03:19 +0000
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-06-11 01:49 -0400
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-06-11 06:51 +0000

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