This document is a WORK IN PROGRESS.
This is just a quick personal cheat sheet: treat its contents with caution!

`dispatch-conf`¶

The dispatch-conf utility is included with Portage and is used to manage configuration file updates. It allows system administrators to review then accept or reject upstream configuration changes, which frequently happens when packages are updated.

Reference(s)

Note

Note that, as alternatives on Portage, etc-update and cfg-update also are tools to merge configuration files. But they are not as simple and fully featured as dispatch-conf.

Install¶

This package should be included by default with Portage.

Config¶

Enable the diff --color switch, which displays the different types of changes in different colors, for dispatch-conf:
```
# vi /etc/dispatch-conf.conf
    > ...
    > diff="diff --color=always -Nu '%s' '%s'"
    > ...
```

Use¶

Run dispatch-conf:
```
# dispatch-conf
```
Update (replace) the current config file with the new config file and continue:
```
u
```
Zap (delete) the new config file and continue:
```
z
```
Skip to the next config file, leaving both the original config file and any CONFIG_PRO‐TECTed files:
```
n
```
Edit the new config file, using the editor defined in EDITOR:
```
e
```
Interactively merge the current and new config files (press enter to list the sub commands of the merge tool):
```
m
```
Look at the differences between the pre merged and merged config files:
```
l
```
Toggle between the merged and pre merged config files (in terms of which should be installed using the u command):
```
t
```
Display a help screen:
```
h
```
Quit dispatch-conf:
```
q
```

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dispatch-conf¶

Table of contents¶

Install¶

Config¶

Use¶

`dispatch-conf`¶