Score:0

Do any of the apt-get update/upgrade/dist-upgrade commands change any of the customized conf files?

cn flag

It appears to me that a standard Ubuntu 20.04 distribution needs to be updated very regularly to protect the Apache server from hacking.

As I understand it, there are several commands to do this. Each one has a dated pedigree driving its usage.

From the Ubuntu manuals:

  • apt update "...is used to resynchronize the package index files from their sources."
  • apt upgrade "...is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in /etc/apt/sources.list."
  • apt-get dist-upgrade "...in addition to performing the function of upgrade, also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of packages."
  • apt full-upgrade NOT IN MANUAL "...performs the function of upgrade but may also remove installed packages if that is required in order to resolve a package conflict."
  • apt-get autoremove "...is used to remove packages that were automatically installed to satisfy dependencies for other packages and are now no longer needed."

From another question: "By default, apt will ask you to overwrite or leave as-is, any configuration file detected to be changed during an upgrade."

But does this include "all" custom files like default, conf, ini, and other non-config-labeled files?

Score:1
cn flag

Yes: Apt should ask you about each one if it detects a difference.

However, packagers are human beings and therefore fallible. Backups of your configs are wise.

If you discover a config file that is silently overwritten, please file a bug report.

mangohost

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