Debian package management - how are debconf and dpkg-deb related?
 

hi,

I am studying the Debian package management system. I am having trouble figuring out how debconf and dpkg-deb are related.

Heres how i understand the package management system:
dpkg-deb does the actual installation/removal of packages
dpkg is a frontend to dpkg-deb
apt is front end to dpkg
Synaptic,aptitude etc are frontends to apt.

So where exactly does debconf fit in?

thanks in advance

debconf is the tool/system that manages how packages are configured. For example for some pacakges, debconf will ask the user questions, store the answers in a database, and then use that database to write a configuration file.

Cheers,

Evo2.

hi Evo2 thanks for the reply.

Does that mean debconf and dpkg are separate entities? with debconf handling the configuration on packages and dpkg handling the actual installation?

Yeah, I think that is basically correct. Except that during installation (and perhaps removal), the pre and/post install (remove) scripts that are run by dpkg may trigger debconf to be run, so they are in fact linked.

debconf is very well documented ... hint ;-)

Cheers,

Evo2.

thanks again Evo2 :)
I am trying to understand how debconf fits into the Debian-installer. From what i understand so far, debconf configures udebs based on user input and main-menu does the configuration.

Is this correct?

Ohh, I'm not a good person to discuss the installer: the number of years I've been using Debian is probably greater than the number of times I've installed it ;-)

My reference to installation in post #4 was about package, not system installation.

Cheers,

Evo2.